Month: November 2018

Here’s what’s next for Adler Group’s Miami River project

On Tuesday, Miami residents voted to approve a referendum allowing the Adler Group to lease city-owned land along the Miami River, placing the developer one step closer to breaking ground on its multi-tower project. But before that, the city has to decide where it will move its administrative offices. As part of the deal, the developer will build a public riverwalk and a 230,000-square-foot administrative…

End of boom-times: The impact of a looming slowdown in the multifamily market

A decade-long apartment boom may be coming to an end. Federal data shows that multifamily building permits have declined every month since March, suggesting that apartment construction could slow in the next two years, the Wall Street Journal reported. According to the latest Census Bureau data, permits were pulled to build 351,000 units in new properties with at least five units in September.

New Flagler Street civil courthouse meets ‘significant cost inflation’

A new Flagler Street civil courthouse that county commissioners OK’d in July has run into “significant cost inflation” due to costlier construction materials, higher interest rates and need for a taller building, Mayor Carlos Giménez said last week. In late August he predicted costs, first projected as over $280.71 million, would surpass that number for those exact reasons. The first of 30 annual…

Miami Beach Convention Center hotel to open within 5 years

Miami Beach is finally coming into its own as a full-fledged convention destination after voters approved lease components of a hotel adjoining the newly-renovated Miami Beach Convention Center. Developer David Martin says Miami Beach Mixed Use Investment LLC is moving forward with hotel design, engineering and permitting and going through a series of approvals at the city level. He said his goal…

Preserving historic districts pays off in Miami-Dade

Preserving historic districts isn’t just good for protecting Miami-Dade’s past for posterity’s sake; it’s also a smart financial investment, according to recent economic impact reports published by the county. “Together these studies indicate preservation has made a positive fiscal impact on Miami-Dade and its residents,” Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Giménez wrote in an accompanying Oct. 31 memo. The two…

It’s official: Amazon will split headquarters between LIC, Crystal City, and open new hub in Nashville

It’s official: After more than a year of hype, Amazon has announced that it will split its two new headquarters between Long Island City and Crystal City. And in a last-minute surprise, the company also revealed it will be opening a “regional hub” in downtown Nashville. The news comes after several reports indicated that Amazon had settled on moving…

Amazon’s HQ2 was a con, not a contest

To dozens of cities across the United States, Amazon’s widely publicized search for a “second headquarters” looked like thousands of new jobs, up for grabs. To Pivot co-host Scott Galloway, it now looks like a “ruse.” “I lease office space all the time for my businesses and I always tell my real estate agent, ‘We can lease any office in the world as long as I can walk there from where I live,’” Galloway said on…

Miami To Amazon After HQ2 Snub: Call Us When You Want To Set Up A Latin American Hub

Jeff Bezos went to high school in Miami, and Florida loves to dangle its lack of state income tax in front of out-of-state businesses. But despite those factors, South Florida was unable to land Amazon’s second headquarters. Bisnow/Deirdra Funcheon Caoba, left, an apartment building that is part of Miami Worldcenter. The zigzag platform is part of Miami Central station, where Brightline rail service…

The Wynwood Yard Team Is Opening The Doral Yard At Downtown Doral

It’s just been announced that the Doral Yard at Downtown Doral will open in spring 2019. The project is a partnership between Della Heiman and Ken Lyon of Yard Hospitality, Joseph Furst of the Wynwood Business Improvement District and formerly of Goldman Properties, and Downtown Doral developers Armando Codina and Ana-Marie Codina Barlick.

Amazon to officially name New York and Crystal City as new headquarters: report

It’s about to be official: New York City and Crystal City will soon be named the lucky winners of Jeff Bezos’ golden tickets. More than one year and an innumerable amount of free publicity later, Amazon’s planned $5 billion HQ2 will be split among the two cities, the Wall Street Journal reported late Monday. The e-commerce giant is expected to make an official announcement on Tuesday. The competition…

Balans and Skorpios close and other South Florida restaurant news

Balans restaurant in the MiMo District closed in late October and a new concept is moving in next month. Miami.com first reported that Balans closed at 6789 Biscayne Boulevard. Jonathan Balan, CEO of the restaurant group, told the publication that it “just wasn’t doing as well as we’d hoped.” He’s renovating the original location on Lincoln Road and another in Brickell, and looking for a third. In its place…

Starwood Capital proposes office complex – likely HQ – in Miami Beach

Starwood Capital Group is proposing a new office and retail development in Miami Beach, likely the site of its new headquarters. Records show North Bay Owner LLC plans to go before the Miami Beach Planning Board on Nov. 27 for a 144,430-square-foot building at 2318, 2322 and 2340 Collins Avenue, across the street from 1 Hotel & Homes South Beach, which Starwood co-developed with LeFrak.

Opportunity Zones: Watch The Pitfalls

“The Opportunity Zone program is truly a game changer,” Hunt Real Estate Capital director Marc Suarez said at Bisnow’s multifamily event in Miami Wednesday, echoing a sentiment felt by many around the country. But other panelists warned that the new program — which lets people defer or eliminate taxes on capital gains if those gains are invested in certain areas for up to 10 years — could tempt people…

Global Chemical Distributor Inks 44,000 SF Lease Renewal In Miami Airport West

Transwestern’s South Florida industrial team has secured a 44,101-square-foot lease renewal with Univar USA at a 64,086-square-foot industrial building at 7120 NW 74th Avenue in Miami. Transwestern’s Senior Managing Directors Ben Eisenberg and Walter Byrd, Managing Director Thomas Kresse, and Vice President Carlos Gaviria facilitated the transaction on behalf of Terreno Realty Corp., which…

North Miami Beach property approved for hotel development sells for $11.38M

A vacant property in North Miami Beach approved for hotel development has been sold for $11.38 million. The buyer paid $2.74 million an acre for the 4.14-acre site at 17400 West Dixie Highway in North Miami Beach, near Greynolds Park. The city government approved a 10-story, 260-room hotel at the West Dixie Highway site, but the hotel project never advanced to the construction stage. The seller of…

Starwood’s Barry Sternlicht optimistic about rising interest rates: “We’re going to make a lot of money”

Starwood Property Trust’s Barry Sternlicht isn’t worried about rising interest rates. In fact, it’s the opposite. “We’re going to make a lot of money,” he told analysts during a conference call on Friday. The Miami Beach-based real estate investment trust, an affiliate of Starwood Capital, reported slightly lower third quarter earnings due to high acquisition costs, yet its results met analysts’ expectations.  The…

Baptist Health pays $11M for office project across from hospital

A company affiliated with Baptist Health South Florida just paid $11.3 million for a medical office property directly across from the hospital. Baptist Health Enterprises bought the 43,000-square-foot Plaza Galloway at 9055 Southwest 87th Avenue for $263 per square foot. Plaza Galloway sold the five-building property, which is managed by Joanne Mitchell. Plaza Galloway initially bought the property…

Video: PwC Partners Mitch Roschelle and Byron Carlock Discuss CRE Market Outlook and Economic Cycle

Byron Carlock and Mitch Roschelle, both Partners at PwC that are involved with its Real Estate Practice, appear on the host of America’s Real Estate Show in studio to talk about the PwC/ULI Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2019 Outlook. In this segment, the discussions include the current economic cycle and factors affecting real estate.  They note a cautious optimism, and discuss how market players…

Estate Investments Group scores $51M construction loan for apartments in West Miami

Estate Investments Group just scored a $51 million construction loan for its 306-unit Soleste Almeda apartment project in West Miami. The development group, led by Robert Suris, secured the loan from Arkansas-based Centennial Bank and Miami-based LV Lending for its project at 6290 and 6320 Southwest 8th Street. Estate Investments Group has been an active developer in the city of West Miami and…

King of Diamonds loses its throne

King of Diamonds has vacated its castle near Miami Gardens. The strip club — once a famous hangout for hip-hop stars, NFL athletes and undefeated boxing champ Floyd Mayweather Jr. — was evicted last week from the 60,622-square-foot converted warehouse at 17800 State Road 9 that King of Diamonds has called home since it opened a decade ago. The strip club only occupied a little more than half…

Dissent in Surfside: Developer withdraws plans for mixed-use town hall project

A joint venture between Pointe Development and Monceau Realty withdrew its bid for a public-private partnership in Surfside after facing opposition from residents. In September, the developer received the votes to move forward with the $33.5 million project that calls for a new town hall and civic center between 87th and 96th streets. But a group of residents moved to kill the bid ahead of a meeting…

What’s next for David Beckham’s MLS soccer stadium?

Voters gave David Beckham and the Mas brothers the green light to move forward with their plans to bring a Major League Soccer stadium and an ambitious mixed-use project to Miami. But what happens next? The project known as Freedom Park could include a 25,000-square-foot soccer stadium as well as more than 1 million square feet of retail and office space and about 750 hotel rooms…

Byron Carlock and Mitch Roschelle, both Partners at PwC that are involved with its Real Estate Practice, appear on the host of America’s Real Estate Show in studio to talk about the PwC/ULI Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2019 Outlook. In this segment, the discussions include the current economic cycle and factors affecting real estate.  They note a cautious optimism, and discuss how market players almost universally agree, with a stunningly slim 1% of respondents to their survey anticipating a bad year for commercial real estate in 2019.

Metronomic plans Little Havana office project SieteOcho

A new office development is planned for Little Havana. Metronomic just announced plans to build a five-story office project called SieteOcho at 640 Southwest Eighth Avenue. The project would mark one of the first new office developments in the area, amid a surge of new boutique multifamily construction. The company recently acquired the 2,450-square-foot development site, but it has not yet…

Miami election: Voters approve Beckham’s MLS stadium, convention center hotel

Voters in the city of Miami approved two major mixed-use projects in Tuesday’s midterm elections, paving the way for a Major League Soccer Stadium from David Beckham and his partners and a separate riverfront project from the Adler Group. In Miami Beach, voters backed a referendum approving a lease between the city and MB Mixed Use Investment LLC, an entity led by Jackie Soffer and David…

Miami Yacht Show cruising across bay from Miami Beach

Producers plan to move the Miami Yacht Show from Miami Beach to the City of Miami’s Omni area beginning in 2019. Yachting Promotions Inc. is asking the city for a revocable license to stage the annual yacht show offshore of the former Miami Herald site, between the MacArthur and Venetian causeways. The city commission may decide on the temporary license next week. Spencer Crowley, an…

Coconut Grove Business Improvement District gets new lease on life

Property owners have granted another 10 years to the Coconut Grove Business Improvement District’s lifespan. The organization has just won approval by a 61% vote from property owners within its boundaries – 140 of 229 affidavits. The votes now move to the Miami City Commission for formal ratification. Business Improvement District (BID) board members say they are elated at the election results.

Famed Miami Strip Club King of Diamonds Has Been Evicted

Miami’s King of Diamonds is, quite possibly, the most famous strip club in America. It’s a blue-neon-lit beacon on the side of I-95 where TV star Blac Chyna danced. KOD, as it’s informally known, has been referenced in countless rap songs. It regularly showed up in hip-hop videos. But as of this month, the club is basically no more: It was sued for foreclosure in August 2017, and now, according to court…

Midtown Realty Affiliate Buys Miami Shopping Center

In a $78.2 million deal, an affiliate of Midtown Realty Group has acquired Downtown Dadeland, a 126,000-square-foot retail lifestyle center in Miami, from a joint venture between Duncan Hillsley Capital and Pebb Capital. CBRE facilitated the deal on behalf of the sellers, with the firm’s Dennis Carson and Casey Rosen handling the transaction. Downtown Dadeland was 98 percent leased at the time of sale.

Four-block-long street mural coming to Wynwood

A mural spanning four blocks in Wynwood is expected to arrive next spring. The organization leading efforts to revamp Northwest Third Avenue plans to collaborate with 200-plus volunteers in either late February or March to bring the vision of two artists to life. Street Plans Collaborative is overseeing the planning of Walk Wynwood. The county first held a competition called the Miami-Dade County Quick…

Hotel on Miami River to be made of shipping containers

Investors are advancing a plan to build a boutique hotel on a vacant lot on the Miami River, with an adjacent food plaza offering dining options. On Monday, the Miami River Commission unanimously recommended city approval. The conditional approval directs the owner-developers to come back to the river commission when the project is more defined. The site is on South River Drive, between the…

Issues aplenty face a growing, successful Wynwood

In many ways, Wynwood is a victim of its own success, as leaders face issues that weren’t even on the radar years ago, when the area was a hive of factories, warehouses and body shops. The Wynwood Business Improvement District (BID) is determined to find workable solutions while preserving the area’s character, leaders say. “Being a good neighbor is a priority for the BID and we are working to build…”

Florida governor’s race: DeSantis defeats Gillum; both had strong real estate backing

Former Rep. Ron DeSantis won the race for governor of Florida on Tuesday night, defeating Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum in one of the most closely-watched races across the country. Gillum conceded to DeSantis at about 11 p.m. on Tuesday and delivered an emotional speech to his supporters vowing to continue to fight for his beliefs. Both candidates secured significant donations from real estate…

Miami City Self Storage Opens New Storage in South Florida

Miami City Self Storage has added three new storage facilities to its portfolio in Miami, Doral and Ft. Lauderdale, totaling approximately 240,000 square feet. The firm appointed CubeSmart as the manager of the properties. Located at 3951 NW 77th Avenue, the Doral asset is situated near the intersection of freeways 826 and 948. The area is densely populated, with approximately 220,00 people living within…

Don Peebles, Jackie Soffer among last-minute donors to Florida candidates

In a last-minute effort to get their preferred candidates elected, a handful of South Florida developers and investors are making big contributions to political action committees. On Thursday, developer Don Peebles gave $100,000 to Forward Florida, a PAC supporting Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum’s bid for governor, according to the Florida Division of Elections data from the last…

Amazon HQ 2 cities: The company will split new headquarter locations, report says

After months spent deliberating which of the 20 finalist cities will host its second headquarters, Amazon appears to have made a decision. And it’s a surprise. The e-commerce giant will split its planned $5 billion HQ2 between two cities, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The offices will be the same size and both will employ up to 25,000 people each, the Journal reported. The news comes just…

CIM Group pays $17 million for Wynwood Square property

CIM Group just paid $16.6 million for a 1.78-acre site in Wynwood where a 12-story mixed-use project is planned. Los Angeles-based CIM Group, which has more than $29 billion in assets, bought the property for $214 per square foot at 2201 North Miami Avenue from One Real Estate Investment, according property records. According to a press release from CIM, the site is fully-entitled and One Real Estate…

Add Lowe’s to the growing list of retailers shuttering stores nationwide

Lowe’s Companies said it will close 51 stores in the United States and Canada, the latest national retailer to shed its brick and mortar locations amid increasing e-commerce competition. On Monday, the home improvement giant announced it will shutter 20 stores in the U.S. — including two in Manhattan — and 31 stores in Canada, according to the Wall Street Journal. The closures affect 13…

Bloomberg relocates to Brickell City Centre & other news in South Florida leasing

Media company Bloomberg just expanded and relocated its Miami office to Two Brickell City Centre. Bloomberg inked a 3,642-square-foot lease at 78 Southwest Seventh Street at Swire Properties’ 4.9 million-square-foot mixed use project. It previously had a 2,600-square-foot office at 1111 Brickell Avenue in the Sabadell Financial Center. According to…

S&S Diner’s relocation doomed by Miami’s building boom: lawsuits

Two years after moving from its longtime Miami home on Northeast Second Avenue, S&S Diner has been kicked out of its current location at 2699 Biscayne Boulevard amid a three-way legal battle with its landlord and the developer of a neighboring mixed-use project, Biscayne 27. Alexis Read, the attorney for landlord Biscayne Rentals, said S&S was evicted from the premises last week. “We did try to…”

Amazon “close” to picking HQ2 location: sources

Crystal City in Northern Virginia seems to be the front-runner in the drawn-out competition to win Amazon’s $5 billion second headquarters, widely known as HQ2. Sources familiar with the company’s negotiations say Amazon is in advanced stages of discussing the location of HQ2 in Northern Virginia, according to the Washington Post. Topics such as the timing for a public announcement and…

Arrests shed light on how an ex-president of Argentina may have used bribes to buy properties in Miami and New York

Following the arrests of four people, authorities in Argentina have uncovered how a former president of the South American country may have used bribe money to buy U.S. properties, including luxury condos in New York City and South Florida. The arrests were ordered by an Argentine judge overseeing a corruption case against the former president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. She is accused of accepting…

Owner of South Beach hotel development site faces foreclosure suit

The owner of a mortgage loan secured by a Miami Beach hotel development site filed a foreclosure lawsuit against the developer that owns the site. The defendant in the foreclosure lawsuit, a limited liability company managed by Gianfranco Rondón of RG Group, listed the development site for sale with an asking price of $10.95 million in August. Rondón, a Venezuelan businessman, manages RG…

Co-working firms aren’t happy about CBRE launching competitor company

Some co-working companies aren’t happy about CBRE’s new flexible workspace venture. The brokerage announced on Wednesday that it will start inking property management agreements with landlords to provide flexible office space to large corporate clients. But some of CBRE’s would-be clients aren’t thrilled that the brokerage will now compete in the co-working space, Crain’s reported. “Going forward…”

Florida AG candidates draw contributions from Philip Levine, Jimmy Tate and others

In the race to replace Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, Democrat Sean Shaw and Republican Ashley Moody have scored contributions from real estate developers, investors and brokers. Moody, who’s raised significantly more than Shaw, has drawn donations from industry executives across the state, including Walt Disney Company’s The Celebration Company, development companies tied to the Villages…

EB-5 immigrant petitions are at lowest levels in at least five years

Only 617 new EB-5 immigration petitions were filed with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services in the third quarter of 2018, the lowest quarterly figure for new applications in at least five years, according to data released by USCIS this week. Last quarter, there were 1,607 applications and 4,402 a year ago. The drop comes as Chinese investors increasingly express their dissatisfaction with long…

Miami-Dade judge faces suspension after allegedly accepting free RIU Hotel stays

The fallout continues in the case of the former Miami Beach building department director who allegedly accepted bribes. His wife, a Miami-Dade County judge, now faces a possible 30-day suspension for failing to disclose free and discounted hotel stays from RIU Hotels & Resorts. Judge Maria Ortiz of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit received the free trips after her husband, former Miami Beach Building…

Soffer family, Stephen Ross among big donors to Florida Senate candidates

Citadel founder and Palm Beach property owner Ken Griffin is the biggest donor to the New Republic PAC, giving a whopping $7.5 million since June to the committee backing Gov. Rick Scott’s bid for Senate. The PAC has spent nearly $10 million on media buys over the past week, according to Florida Politics. Scott is running against incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson in Tuesday’s midterm elections. In addition to…

LDG scores $10M construction loan for Aventura Village

Land Developers Group just scored a $10.4 million construction loan from New Wave Loans to finish building its 108-unit Aventura Village townhome project. Aventura-based LDG’s new construction loan increases its financing for the project to $13.9 million. The development will include 96 townhouses and 12 lofts at 19380 Northeast 26th Avenue. The townhomes will be built close to Aventura Mall and…

Contract disputes over revocation of offers

People and businesses in Florida generally conduct their businesses by offering certain goods and services in exchange for money or other consideration. At a very basic level this type of offer and acceptance creates a contract between the parties. These can be very complicated, though, so many times these contractual relationships are put into writing and signed by the parties to ensure the…

CBRE is launching its own co-working company

CBRE is entering the co-working business. The brokerage announced on Wednesday that it is launching Hana, a subsidiary that will enter property management agreements with landlords to provide flexible office space to large corporate clients. In getting into the co-working business, the world’s largest real estate services company is betting that landlords want co-working components in their buildings but…

Coconut Grove’s Villa Woodbine to become a private school?

There is talk about Carrollton School purchasing Villa Woodbine at 2167 South Bayshore Driveto turn it into a boys school. Their current location at 3747 Main Highway is an all girls school. This brings up the issue of added traffic to the area. This would affect S. Bayshore Drive, Kirk Street, SW 22nd Avenue and Tigertail. Currently traffic is a mess at school start and end dates due to Ransom Everglades…

Report: Amazon In Advanced Talks To Put HQ2 In Northern Virginia

Amazon appears to be closing in on Northern Virginia as the long-awaited winner of its HQ2 competition. The tech giant is in advanced discussions about selecting Arlington’s Crystal City neighborhood, the Washington Post reports, citing anonymous public and private sector officials. The discussions are reportedly more detailed than those Amazon has had with other jurisdictions. The Post reports…

The Shipyard hotel and food court proposed along Miami River

A team of investors is proposing a new hotel and food court along the Miami River. Levy Gomez, Marcos Corminas and chef John Gray presented their proposal for The Shipyard on the River to the Miami River Commission, which will take up the project at its next meeting on Monday. The project would be built on a vacant site at 5 to 27 Southwest South River Drive. Records show South River Warehouse…

Video: PwC Partners Mitch Roschelle and Byron Carlock Discuss Emerging Trends in Real Estate Report 2019

Mitch Roschelle and Byron Carlock, both Partners at PwC involved with its Real Estate Practice, join the host of America’s Real Estate Show in studio to discuss the PwC/ULI Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2019 Outlook. Discussions include the current economic cycle, REITs, and the democratization of real estate. In this segment, the CMBS market, the advent of REITs, lending sources, and assets sources are…

Two Developers Leverage Art and Placemaking in Miami

Perhaps it is no coincidence that both Craig Robins, president and chief executive officer of real estate development company Dacra, and Kieran Bowers, president of Swire Properties, were schooled in the humanities before becoming real estate developers. Bowers earned a degree in oriental studies with a concentration in Japanese from Pembroke College at Oxford University, while Robins, himself the son…

Miami or Miami-Dade county is mentioned in 18 places in the most recnet ULI/PwC 2019 Emerging Trends in Real Estate. Some highlights include:

• Pg 22: “A 2018 Harvard study of Miami–Dade County determined that properties at lower elevations are gaining value at a slower rate than those at higher elevations.”
• Pg 22: “Miami Beach is currently investing $600 million to elevate roads and pumps to combat sunnyday flooding, and in 2018, New York City reissued Climate Resiliency Design Guidelines to inform the design of all city capital projects”
• Pg 36: “Florida is a noteworthy story in this year’s survey: Orlando is in the top five, Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg is in the top ten, and Miami and Fort Lauderdale are both ranked in the top 20.”

Click through to the report, then use CTRL-F to search for “Miami” to find all mentions.