Month: July 2019

Miami Tops The Nation For Retail Rent Growth

Miami-area retail rents increased almost 2% from Q1 to Q2 this year, a pace of rent growth that leads the nation, according to Colliers International’s most recent market reports for South Florida, released last week. Miami’s retail rents now average just under $37 per SF. Roughly 460K SF of retail space was leased last quarter in Miami-Dade County. The largest lease, 30K SF, was to Pinstripes, a bowling…

Resident sues to stop Magic City Innovation District project

Rendering of Magic City Innovation District A resident of the city of Miami filed an appeal against the city tied to the approval of the Magic City Innovation District project in Little Haiti. William Perry, a renter affiliated with the Family Action Network Movement (FANM), is suing the city, alleging that the Miami City Commission denied his client intervenor status “based upon his status as a renter in…”

Little Haiti Activist Sues to Stop Massive, Controversial Magic City Development

Miami officials seem hellbent on paving over one of the city’s last vibrant immigrant communities. Activists in Little Haiti for years have been pushing back against plans to build the Magic City Innovation District — a 17-acre luxury living and shopping complex that is unlike anything else in the working-class neighborhood of Little Haiti. But despite residents’ consistent complaints about the project, the City…

PortMiami To Receive $8 Million Federal Grant For Infrastructure Improvements

Millions of dollars to improve PortMiami is on its way from Washington. The PortMiami project will rebuild aging bays and create new capacity for loading and unloading cargo containers. The port is getting an $8 million federal grant to rebuild aging bulkheads at the Seaboard Marine terminal. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao made the announcement Thursday in Washington as part of a plan…

Thomas Neary buys Brownsville Opportunity Zone apartment complex

Jacob Serure and St. George Apartments An investment group led by Thomas Neary paid $7.56 million for an apartment complex in a Brownsville Opportunity Zone. The group paid about $90,000 per unit for the 84-unit St. George Apartments at 5200 Northwest 26th Avenue, according to broker Jacob Serure. Serure’s SRE Commercial Group at Investment Brokers Realty brokered the deal. Property…

Michael Dell’s firm lends $300M to Brickell office tower project

Vlad Doronin, a rendering of 830 Brickell, and Michael Dell UPDATED, July 31, 4 p.m.: Russian developer Vlad Doronin closed on the largest office construction loan in South Florida this year for a new tower in Brickell. MSD Partners, the private investment firm of Dell Technologies billionaire Michael Dell, is the lender for the $300 million loan, according to a spokesperson for Doronin’s OKO Group.

Kushner and Block Capital pay $32M for Wynwood sites of mixed-use projects

Rendering of the Wynwood development, Charlie Kushner and Laurent Morali Kushner Companies and its local partner Block Capital Group paid $32 million for an assemblage in Wynwood, marking Kushner’s second acquisition in Miami… Kushner and Block Capital are planning to build two mixed-use developments on 1.5 acres at 127 Northwest 27th Street and 129 Northwest 26th Street, according to…

Video: Real Capital Analytics SVP Jim Costello Discusses Investing in Office 2019

Jim Costello, Senior Vice President at Real Capital Analytics, appears on this commercial property related show to discuss the office property sector, including performance, capitalization rates, and suburban markets. He notes that there are mixed signls in the office market. Activity grew in May as it fell for other sectors, including sectors considered more “hot” in this market. At the same time, there…

Lawsuit accuses Aventura condo board of election violations

Turnberry Village North Tower For Harry Catton and two unit owners at the Turnberry Village North condominium in Aventura, their two-year effort to force new elections for the building’s board of directors has been a futile exercise – even with the assistance of state regulators, according to a recently filed petition in Miami-Dade Circuit Court. The trio are seeking a court-appointed receiver to take…

South Florida investors are still wary of investing in Opportunity Zones: report

Miami Innovation District Months after the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service released the latest round of regulations for Opportunity Zones, South Florida investors and developers are still wary enough about the rules to prevent them from investing. A report by Bilzin Sumberg and the Urban Land Institute found that only 28 percent of respondents surveyed said that they intend to invest…

Notable Retail Leases Signed in South Florida Q2 2019

South Florida Retail Leases 2019 We’ve compiled a comprehensive list of the top retail leases signed by square footage in South Florida during Q2 2019. This quarter was very busy overall and saw several big box leases signed and sealed. Despite the sentiment that the traditional retail market is suffering due to several factors, particularly…

Mayor Giménez seeks sweeping county facilities upgrade

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Giménez hopes to leave behind one more legacy when he exits after his final term next year: the Countywide Infrastructure Investment Program (CIIP), a 20-year, $1.8 billion modernization of county facilities. “When I began my tenure as mayor, I set out to make sure that Miami-Dade County would be better off by the end of my term than it had been when I started,” he wrote in…

Robust Population Growth Drives Apartment Construction in Downtown Miami

The apartment construction boom continues in Miami as rapid demographic and employment growth foster rental demand. Employers expanded staffs by 25,900 personnel year over year in February, roughly 6,900 more than in the preceding annual period, which has kept the unemployment rate below 4 percent for 12 consecutive months. Hiring during this period was led by the professional and business…

Hard Rock Stadium getting pedestrian bridges, tunnels

Construction to link pedestrians to Hard Rock Stadium is 70% complete and is expected to conclude in two months. By the end of September, a pedestrian bridge over the Florida Turnpike exit ramp for Hard Rock Stadium, another bridge over Northwest 199th Street (Dan Marino Boulevard) and two tunnels under Don Shula Drive, the stadium perimeter road, are to be ready for public use. The…

$7.7M Sale of Miami Office Building Negotiated

Cushman & Wakefield has negotiated the $7.7 million sale of Bank of America Center, a six-story, 68,174-square-foot office building in Miami. Bank of America Center is situated at 1313 NW 36th Street, within an Opportunity Zone. The property was 88.8 percent leased at the time of sale to tenants including Bank of America and the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s office. Miguel Alcivar, Dominic Montazemi…

Sliver of Brickell that held Babylon can have 24-story tower

Miami commissioners have allowed owners of a Brickell area property that was previously limited to eight stories to build up to 24, despite Chairman Ken Russell and nearly all of about 30 nearby residents, who pleaded to bar what they saw as a more-than-generous rezoning. However, the rest of the commission voted last week for… whose property is at 240 SE 14th Street. where the Babylon building…

Upcoming Coconut Grove Office Building Gets New Tenant

Boyne Capital Partners has signed an 11,597-square-foot lease at One CocoWalk, the Class A, 85,762-square-foot office building underway in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood. The private equity firm will relocate from 2601 S. Bayshore Drive to the fourth floor of the property, which is up for completion in 2020. A joint venture between Federal Realty Investment Trust, Grass River Property and…

Developer closes on land assemblage for big resi complex near Miami’s Overtown

A local developer closed on a land assemblage in the Spring Garden neighborhood, where he plans to build a large residential complex… Marlon Gomez paid $17 million for the land near the Miami Health District and Overtown… An LLC… acquired the roughly 68,000-square-foot assemblage at 1150 and 1180 Northwest Eighth Street Road; 1000, 1008, 1010, 1040, 1050, 1060, 1070 and 1080 Spring Garden Road.

Hedge funder bets on Allapattah with Opportunity Zone site purchase

New York hedge funder Spencer Waxman paid $7.7 million for the Bank of America Center in Miami’s Allapattah neighborhood. Records show a company managed by Waxman and his wife bought the 68,174-square-foot office building at 1313 Northwest 36th Street for $112 per square foot. An affiliate of Miami-based Golden Sands, led by Peter Fedele and Mary Maguire, sold the property. The project sits in…

Galbut family sells Ocean Drive hotel for $28M

Kirk Olson, Shadi Shomar, Drew Kristol and the Bentley Hotel Companies tied to Russell Galbut’s Crescent Heights sold the Bentley Hotel on Ocean Drive for $28 million. Ocean & 5th Commercial LLC, led by Shadi Shomar, acquired roughly the majority of the condo-hotel units and the ground-floor retail at 510 Ocean Drive. Shomar’s Sunnyside Hotels & Resorts is now managing the property, according…

Pep pill needed: As many as 700 more GNC vitamin stores will disappear later this year

GNC plans to close as many as 700 more of its vitamin stores in the second half of the year. The struggling Pittsburgh-based retailer – which already closed 200 stores in the first half of the year – confirmed Monday that its store closures in 2019 will total as many as 900, Bisnow reported. “The negative trends in traffic that we’ve seen in mall stores over the past several years accelerated during the past…

Amazon’s got cash to burn, and real estate is its tinder

Amazon’s officially on a spending spree. After a big week of movement in the world of real estate that included shopping for 1 million square feet of warehouse space in Brooklyn, scoping out the We Company’s historic Lord & Taylor building for office workers , and launching a new partnership with Realogy, the e-Commerce giant’s second quarter earnings report confirmed that the company has…

Funding in hand, downtown Miami Flagler Street project moves forward

The long-delayed downtown Flagler Street project can finally move forward after the city approved $22.5 million in funding on Thursday. The approval was the last step needed before the project, which is expected to take three years, can break ground. The new design was proposed by real estate developer Moishe Mana, who owns many of the buildings on and near Flagler Street, and Zyscovich Architects.

2019 South Florida Opportunity Zone Report Issued by Bilzin Sumberg

Bilzin Sumberg is pleased to share the results of the 2019 South Florida Opportunity Zone Survey and subsequent Forum that we co-hosted with Urban Land Institute Southeast Florida/Caribbean (ULI SE FL/Caribbean)  on June 5, 2019. The Report captures the perspectives of developers, investors, and other professionals who specialize in real estate and finance in Florida, to delve into how…

Leasing Billboard Space On Your Commercial Property

Why looking up is looking good for CRE As soon as people had something to sell, they knew they had to advertise in order to draw in customers—and a business was born. From the outside walls of barns painted with images of fresh corn to LED digital displays turning night to day in Times Square, billboards have evolved and always managed to find a place in the American landscape. Outdoor off…

Family behind La Carreta and Versailles sells Doral shopping center

The owners of the popular Cuban restaurants La Caretta and Versailles sold a shopping center in Doral for $14 million. A company tied to the Valls family sold the 36,160-square-foot property at 9000 Northwest 25 Street for $388 per square foot to Pacheco Group of Doral, records show The buyer secured a $9 million mortgage from the seller, according to the records. Tenants include Synovus Bank…

Stephen Bittel’s Terranova wants in on the hotel game on Miracle Mile

Terranova Corp. is planning to build a mixed-use hotel on the newly revamped Miracle Mile in Coral Gables. Gables Miracle Mile LLC, an affiliate of Stephen Bittel’s Miami Beach firm, submitted a proposal for the Mile Hotel and Shops, a 120-key development at 220 Miracle Mile. The Arquitectonica-designed property would be seven stories and 70 feet, with more than 28,000 square feet…

This MiMo landmark in Miami Beach could be designated historic – but not before owner locks in zoning changes

After more than two years of negotiations, the owner of International Inn in Miami Beach won’t contest a historic designation for the waterfront lodge so long as she can use the property as a full fledged hotel and have the option to build an eight-story addition. On Wednesday, the Miami Beach land use… seeking the height increase for…  at 2301 Normandy Drive in Normandy Isles, according…

César Pelli, the genius behind Armani Residences in Miami died at 92

César Pelli, the prolific and brilliant Argentine architect, died at 92 on July 19, 2019. Among his most famous works are the famous Twin Towers of Kuala Lumpur, the expansion of MoMA, various skyscrapers in New York and around the world and even two architectural jewels in Miami, the Adrienne Arsht Center and Armani Residences, which made it worthy of dozens of professional and academic awards.

Video: PwC Workforce Strategy Lead Bhushan Sethi Discusses the Impact of the Sharing Economy on CRE

Bhushan Sethi, Workforce Strategy Lead with PwC, joins America’s Commercial Real Estate Show to discuss how the flexible talent economy, – the gig economy – is affecting the commercial real estate industry. He begins by talking about the balance, essentially, between community ambiance and its talent ppol, versus cost. They go on to discuss the radical differences in co-working…

Commissioner Eileen Higgins brings groups together to reimagine a new, interconnected vision for Downtown Miami’s Government Center campus and urban core

Miami-Dade County Commissioner Eileen Higgins, together with the Miami-Dade County Regulatory and Resources Department (RER), hosted a visioning public workshop on “The Future of Downtown” at the Main Library Auditorium in Downtown Miami on Saturday, July 27, 2019. The workshop allowed residents, organizations, and public officials to share their ideas and provide input on how to…

‘This Will Impact Florida Healthcare For Years To Come’: Don Steigman At Bisnow South Florida Healthcare

As of July 1, Florida healthcare facilities are no longer required to obtain a Certificate of Need from the state before beginning construction, and Jackson Health System Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President Don Steigman says he has already seen the impact on construction. “There has already been a plethora of planned expansion in the ambulatory arena,” Steigman said. “Hospitals…”

How Do You Build A Guitar-Shaped Hotel? Ask Jessica Chen

Jessica Chen remembers the first time she heard that the Seminole Tribe was going to commission a $1.5B, 35-story hotel in the shape of a guitar, and that she would be in charge of building it. “We were actually building a helicopter pad for the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood when I first saw any renderings of this project,” Chen told Bisnow. “I saw different versions in renderings only, and I could…”

 

Jim Costello, Senior Vice President at Real Capital Analytics, appears on this commercial property related show to discuss the office property sector, including performance, capitalization rates, and suburban markets. He notes that there are mixed signls in the office market. Activity grew in May as it fell for other sectors, including sectors considered more “hot” in this market. At the same time, there remain concerns about what happens with office space and what type of longevity the assets have. Also, he notes that pricing is a question – but then when is it not – with cap rates at historic lows. Year to date, he states that deal growth is down year over year, but deal growth rebounded in May. Cap rates he describes as essentially flat, of late. The discussion moves on to suburban office properties, noting that the suburban office market is heating up.

Gatsby Enterprises pays $126M for 800 Brickell

Deutsche Bank’s RREEF sold a Brickell office building to Gatsby Enterprises for $125.5 million, according to sources. Gatsby Enterprises, a New York-based real estate firm led by principal Nader Shalom, and Master Mind LLC, led by Babak Ebrahimzadeh, closed on 800 Brickell, CBRE said. The 2-acre property includes a 209,122-square-foot office building and an adjacent 9-story parking garage. The firm declined…

Miami Tower Changes Hands in $126M Deal

The Miami office tower known as 800 Brickell has come under new ownership. With the assistance of CBRE, RREEF Property Trust sold the 209,100-square-foot property to Gatsby Enterprises and Master Mind LLC in a deal valued, according to South Florida Business Journal, at $125.5 million. “(The property was) highly pursued by a variety of different investment groups, including institutional, high net worth…

Multifamily arm of Florida Crystals nabs construction loan for Hialeah project

The apartment development arm of Florida Crystals closed on a $38 million construction loan for a new project in Hialeah. FC Hialeah Development LLC scored the financing from PNC Bank for the 245-unit development planned for 11055 West 36th Avenue. The FCI Residential affiliate acquired the 10.8-acre site from Lennar Corp. in 2017 for $9 million. The property is west of I-75 and east of the…

Miami Beach board greenlights new rules for hotel development along Lincoln Road

Hotel development along Lincoln Road is now a step closer to reality. A proposed ordinance that would make it easier to build hotels along the South Beach pedestrian promenade won the endorsement of the Miami Beach Planning Board on Tuesday. Two Lincoln Road property owners who want to redevelop their office buildings as hotels pushed for the new rule. They claim that current city…

Finvarb moves forward with mixed-use apartment project in North Beach

Robert Finvarb and an aerial view of the properties (Credit: Google Maps) Miami Beach developer Robert Finvarb has one less obstacle in his path of building a 220-foot-tall mixed-use apartment complex in North Beach, The Miami Beach Planning Board unanimously approved a land swap in which Finvarb absorbed 4,522 square feet of city-owned land – portions of the Abbot Court and Normandy…

BAC Florida Bank Relocates HQ to Coral Gables Development

BAC Florida Bank has inked a 63,000-square-foot, long-term lease at The Plaza at Coral Gables, the 7-acre, mixed-use development currently under construction in Coral Gables, Fla. Starting 2022, the bank will relocate its headquarters from 169 Miracle Mile and occupy the top three floors of the project’s south tower. Agave Holdings is the owner of the upcoming building. Located at 2901 Ponce de Leon…

Investors buy bayfront apartments in North Beach

An investment group led by Jonathan Politano bought a waterfront apartment assemblage in North Beach for $7.3 million, The Real Deal has learned. The assemblage includes 2050, 2070 and 2095 Bay Drive in Miami Beach, and is composed of a 70-unit bayfront apartment building on two lots, and a vacant lot across the street. Pierre on the Bay LLC, led by Aaron Edelstein, sold the properties. Jose Melgar…

Miami Beach investors head north, buy Broward rental portfolio

Miami Beach investors Jack Avid and Steven Oved paid $8.9 million for a 54-unit portfolio of apartments in east Broward County. Madison Realty Investors sold the following properties: — 15-unit Jasmine Court apartments at 816-822 Northeast 18th Avenue in Fort Lauderdale — 14-unit BV Apartments at 2850 Northeast 30th Place in Fort Lauderdale — 10-unit Victor Apartments at 3451 Northeast 11th Avenue…

Miami Beach Canopy to mark city’s entrance

The Miami Beach Canopy, French artist Daniel Buren’s latest work, has won unanimous approval from City of Miami Beach commissioners. The transparent cylinder pedestrian bridge and gateway off the MacArthur Causeway is lined with curved glass panels that, when hit by sunlight, will allow pedestrians to walk on color. The Miami Beach Canopy or the Pedestrian Bridge Project is one component of the…

Miami Worldcenter residences plan more parking for bikes than cars

The developer of a major mixed-use residential project within Miami Worldcenter plans a building with more parking spaces for bicycles than for cars. So it may be no surprise that the site abuts a Metromover station. Akara Partners, a Chicago-based real estate investment and development company, is proposing the project in the multi-block Worldcenter development, rising in the Park West neighborhood.

Donald Trump’s Doral golf resort may host the G7 summit: report

Donald Trump and Trump National Doral (Credit: Getty Images) The Trump administration has picked Trump National Doral as a finalist for hosting the world’s most powerful leaders at the G7 summit next year. Trump National Doral, an 800-acre golf resort in Doral owned by the Trump Organization, is in the running for the meeting after the Trump administration completed site surveys of possible locations…

Miami explores leasing Allapattah land to Major project

A request for information has been issued on behalf of the City of Miami for about 18 acres of city-owned land in Allapattah as the city considers leasing the property. The two square blocks are between Northwest 19th and 20th streets and Northwest 12th and 14th avenues, north of Jackson Memorial and the Veterans Administration hospitals. Andrew Schimmel, project lead from the city’s real estate…

Baptist Health Inpatient Rehabilitation Relocating to Homestead Hospital

A new, 23-bed inpatient rehabilitation unit opened July 20th at Homestead Hospital, accommodating the relocation of Baptist Hospital’s Inpatient Rehabilitation program. Baptist Health Rehabilitation cares for children (ages 4 and up) and adults who are facing an acute or disabling injury or illness. The program includes certified rehabilitation nurses and a full complement of physical, speech, occupational…

High-flying Melreese golf course development hits county turbulence

A full year after a high-power group sought the City of Miami’s only golf course beside Miami International Airport for a vast office, retail and hotel complex including a soccer stadium, the group finally got around to talking with the airport. That was eight months after voters had OK’d talks about a lease of the city’s largest green space for a project due to be larger than landmark Brickell City Centre, on about…

The New EB-5 Rules Are Out, And The Rush To Invest Is On

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has finalized a new rule for the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program that will nearly double the funds foreign investors need to loan to U.S.-based projects in order to get green cards. The new limit could have a substantial impact on funding for development projects around the country. Allison Berman, the head of the EB-5 group at New York-based real estate lender…

Multifamily Developers Pull Back on Deliveries in South Florida

While apartment demand remains strong in South Florida, multifamily deliveries were down sharply in the second quarter, according to commercial real estate firm Berkadia. According to Berkadia’s recently released Q2 2019 South Florida Multifamily Report, construction was completed on 8,522 units in the second quarter in South Florida, down from 12,562 additions posted in the second quarter of…

Video: PwC Workforce Strategy Lead Bhushan Sethi Discusses the Impact of the Sharing Economy on CRE

Bhushan Sethi, Workforce Strategy Lead with PwC, joins America’s Commercial Real Estate Show to discuss how the flexible talent economy, – the gig economy – is affecting the commercial real estate industry. He begins by talking about the balance, essentially, between community ambiance and its talent ppol, versus cost. They go on to discuss the radical differences in co-working environments…

Residents Scorch Mayor Scholl’s Plan to Cram 9000 Residential Units Into the Town Center District of Sunny Isles Beach

Sunny Isles Beach Mayor George “Bud” Scholl ran in 2014 on a platform that he would stand against high density development on the west side of Collins Avenue. Now that he’s been re-elected, he’s lying down on his promises. Or maybe he was lying all along. Mayor Scholl was fresh off a vacation in Sicily when he breezed back into town with an idea that was so crazy it just might have worked. That…

Blockchain Center’s grand opening attracts local, international leaders

Blockchain Center’s grand opening in June was well received by local and international community leaders including a ribbon cutting by Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and an announcement by Nick Spanos informing the community that the space is open for free during the summer. “Miami is entering its next phase in its technological advancement; the center is part of the redevelopment of Miami’s Central…

Smart Growth in the Heart of Miami-Dade County

The term ‘smart growth’ is repeatedly overused in the real estate development world as a semantics tool aimed at gaining support or other benefit from the community. The end result doesn’t always match the ‘smart’ with the ‘growth’ and too often projects fail to deliver on their promised vision. However, sometimes a project concept comes along that seems to check many of the boxes on the…

Renowned Adrienne Arsht Center architect César Pelli dies at 92

Acclaimed architect César Pelli, whose firm designed some of the world’s most distinctive buildings, died Friday. He was 92. La Gaceta, a newspaper in San Miguel de Tucumán, his hometown in northern Argentina, reported the news. Pelli, who came to the U.S. in 1952 to continue his architecture studies at the…

New owner of Toys R Us plans 2 store openings this year in small-scale U.S. comeback

The new owner of the Toys R Us brand will open scores of new stores this year, but only two in the United States, where the former owner declared bankruptcy in 2017. Several former executives of Toys R Us founded Parsippany, New Jersey-based Tru Kids Brands in January, and it now manages the Toys R Us, Babies R Us and Geoffrey brands. Toys R Us liquidated its U.S. business after its 2017 bankruptcy…

Apartment pricing slowdown: Rents are cooling in downtown Miami, report says

Amid an influx of new high-end apartments in Miami, rent growth is starting to slow down in downtown Miami and South Beach, according to a new report. The report from Berkadia shows that the average monthly apartment rent in downtown Miami and South Beach rose only 0.8 percent in the second quarter of 2019, year-over-year, to $2,112. That compares to an annual increase of 2.7 percent…

Avra Jain, Akara Partners and Mishorim win approvals for hotel and resi projects in Miami

When it came to conceptualizing 555 Riverhouse, a new mixed-use project on the Miami River proposed by an Avra Jain-led development team, New York City-based architect Carlos Zapata made several site visits to soak in the maritime activities along the city’s water way. The result is a design featuring two striking glass-and-steel buildings that resemble cargo ships weighed down by stacks of containers…

Lissette Calderon plans second apartment project in Allapattah

Lissette Calderon and a rendering of the project (Credit: Sonya Revell) Lissette Calderon is firmly planting her flag in Allapattah. The Miami Urban Design Review Board on Wednesday approved the developer’s second planned apartment project in the neighborhood. The proposed mixed-use development would have 323 apartments and a 336-space parking structure at 1625 Northwest 20th Street. Known…

Glasshaus in the Grove lands construction financing

The developers behind Glasshaus in the Grove secured a $13.2 million construction loan to finish building the boutique luxury condo project. The loan was provided by Boynton Beach-based Trez Forman Capital. It was arranged by David Larson of NKF Capital Markets. Javier Lluch and Daniel Ribeiro are developing the five-story, 23-unit condo building at 3161 Center Street that is expected to be…

Tariffs, natural disasters are driving up construction costs in Florida: report

This has been a rough year for Florida’s housing market. A new report by BuildFax found that existing home maintenance construction costs in Florida increased 13 percent in June, on a year-over-year basis. Buildfax’s CEO Holly Tachovsky said via email that natural disasters could have driven up some of the costs in Florida and made it more difficult to find workers. Nationally, she said tariffs on construction…

Foreign investment in US homes plummeted to $78 billion over the past year

A map of the US with flags from China, Canada and India Foreign investment in residential real estate in the U.S. has taken a tumble. Foreign buyers purchased $77.9 billion worth of existing U.S. homes between April 2018 and March 2019, a 36 percent decline compared to the $121 billion recorded the previous year, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors released Wednesday.

Boyne Capital Partners signs lease at One Cocowalk

The Gap has announced that it will depart CocoWalk at the end of August. The Gap is one of the original tenants and they are part of the community, it will be sad to see them go. Starbucks will not return, they have a better rent deal across the street where they are. Their location across the street has not hurt business and it has helped business at Panther Coffee across Main Highway; they sort of feed off…

South Florida by the numbers: Miami, the tax haven

South Florida (Credit: iStock) “South Florida by the numbers” is a web feature that catalogs the most notable, quirky and surprising real estate statistics. One state’s tax is another state’s treasure (or something like that). However the phrase goes, Florida certainly seems to be reaping the benefits of new laws that are driving companies and residents of New York, California, and other tax-heavy states to seek…

Uchi and Wabi Sabi to open in Wynwood, Carrot Express hops to Coral Gables & other restaurant news

Two restaurants inked leases for space at Wynwood 25, a newly completed apartment development at 240 Northwest 25th Street. Related Group and East End Capital are the developers. Uchi Miami, led by chef Tyson Cole, is taking 5,500 square feet. The famed sushi restaurant is based in Austin. Tahini Street Food, a Middle Eastern restaurant based in San Diego, is leasing 2,000 square feet, according to a…

Yardi Kube Regional Manager, Coworking Discusses Coworking Trends

Warren Hersowitz of Yardi Kube joins Michael of America’s Commercial Real Estate Show in Studio One to discuss coworking trends and how they’re affecting office real estate property today. He talks about how buildings are incorporating coworking in buildings, using the concept to increase rent per square foot. Contibuting technologies are discusses, particularly for large coworking / shared space companies. Issues specific to shared space are discussed, including managing conference rooms…

In Palmetto Bay, it’s about time, it’s about space…

Some of you may remember the theme song from a 60s sitcom, “It’s About Time,” probably better than the show itself. It goes like this: It’s about time, it’s about space… It’s about people in the strangest place… In a strange way, it makes me think about Palmetto Bay and the light years it’s taking to launch a downtown. I mean really, isn’t it about time for the Palmetto Bay Council to start delivering…

Is Mayor Gimenez being spiteful over the Coconut Grove Playhouse?

There’s an interesting article in Political Cortadito, which calls out County Mayor Carlos Gimenez regarding the Coconut Grove Playhouse at 3500 Main Highway. It basically calls him a spiteful schmuck. It says, “It is proof positive that Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, who wants to sell off every part of the county he can before he is out of office next year, has become completely delusional or thinks he can…”

Another lawsuit regarding the Coconut Grove Playhouse

Attorney David Winker is filing a lawsuit/petition with the county. “I represent two residents that live within 500 feet of the Playhouse and we will be filing an Amicus Brief in support of upholding the Mayor’s veto,” he said. They have until September to file the suit. Winker said, “The County’s arguments that the Mayor’s veto is illegal are without merit and this is an inappropriate attempt to override the decision…”

Bhushan Sethi, Workforce Strategy Lead with PwC, joins America’s Commercial Real Estate Show to discuss how the flexible talent economy, – the gig economy – is affecting the commercial real estate industry. He begins by talking about the balance, essentially, between community ambiance and its talent ppol, versus cost. They go on to discuss the radical differences in co-working environments versus traditional office environments, not good or bad, necessarily, but most certainly different. Further discussion is given productivity versus well-being, the need to focus on physical well-being in addition to productivity. The overarching theme of this discussion is clearly flexibility.

Headwinds from soccer stadium deal worry MIA

As Miami nears a deal for a soccer stadium and commercial complex beside Miami International Airport, county lawmakers want to know how that will affect the area’s biggest economic engine. A county commission committee Tuesday advanced a directive to administrators sponsored by Rebeca Sosa to detail in 90 days potential impacts of the project sought at what is now Melreese Golf Course. “Our…”

A-Rod Corp. Acquires 12,700 SF of Office Space in Miami’s Coconut Grove, Will Relocate Headquarters

A-Rod Corp., led by former Major League Baseball player Alex Rodriguez, has acquired 12,700 square feet of office space within a two-tower condo called Grove at Grand Bay in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood. The corporation will consolidate its offices to create a new headquarters at 2675 S. Bayshore Drive. In addition to the full floor of office space, the acquisition includes ground-floor space…

Commercial Property Borrowing Cost Quarterly 2019 Q2

At the end of the 2nd quarter of 2019, both short and intermediate yields continued their decline from higher levels reached late in the prior year. Also of note is that the yield curve has inverted, with five year rates higher than short term, as can be seen here with 1 month treasuries yielding more than those with five year maturities. Historically, an inverted yield curve is highly predictive of a looming…

A-Rod scores new Coconut Grove home base for his investment company

Retired Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez is moving his investment company’s home base to Terra’s Grove at Grand Bay. On Friday, Rodriguez’s A-Rod Corp closed on space totaling 12,700 square feet at the luxury Coconut Grove condo development, said Erin Knight, executive vice president of Monument Capital…

Reis: National Retail Vacancy Experiences First Drop Since 2016 Among Neighborhood Shopping Centers

The neighborhood and community shopping center retail vacancy rate fell 10 basis points to 10.1 percent in the second quarter, according to New York-based commercial real estate data firm Reis. This is the first time in which vacancy has declined since the first quarter of 2016. For context, in the second quarter of 2018, the rate had risen 20 basis points to 10.2 percent and remained flat at…

Rialto Relocates to Florida’s Tallest Office Tower

Rialto Management Group has inked a 46,746-square-foot lease at Southeast Financial Center in downtown Miami. The investment and asset management platform will relocate its headquarters from 790 NW 107th Avenue, in the Doral area. JLL Executive Vice President Eric Groffman and Vice President Cameron Tallon represented the landlord, Ponte Gadea Biscayne. Patrick Duffy, vice chairman of Newmark…

Tariffs, natural disasters are driving up construction costs in Florida: report

New homes in Florida (Credit: iStock) This has been a rough year for Florida’s housing market. A new report by BuildFax found that existing home maintenance construction costs in Florida increased 13 percent in June, on a year-over-year basis. Buildfax’s CEO Holly Tachovsky said via email that natural disasters could have driven up some of the costs in Florida and made it more difficult to find…

Where’s my den? Buyers sue Related for allegedly delivering smaller condos than promised

Jorge Pérez with a rendering of Paraiso Bayviews UPDATED, July 17, 4:51 p.m.: Thirteen buyers at the Paraiso Bayviews condo tower in Edgewater are suing the Related Group for false advertising, among other counts, after the developer allegedly delivered units that were smaller than promised. According to a lawsuit filed in late June in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, the 11 one-bedroom units purchased by…

Stricter EB-5 Rules Are Coming Soon. Advocates Hope Trump Kills Them.

The EB-5 program allocates 10,000 visas per year for foreigners and their family members who collectively pitch in billions of dollars toward development projects in the U.S. But the program has been beset by so much fraud and abuse that the U.S. Customs and Immigration Services has spent two and a half years working on updated regulations to stem problems. Those rules have been…

E-Scooters: Boon or Burden to Cities and Commercial Real Estate?

Cities have a love/hate relationship with these two-wheelers Once an oddity only seen in America’s tech centers, e-scooters have now become near-ubiquitous across the U.S. and around the globe. From Columbus to Nashville, Lisbon to Paris, these two-wheelers are taking over the urban world as we know it. Startups like Lime, Bird, and Scoot once had the field to themselves, but are now being…

Coworking is Snatching Up Office Space, But Is More Disruption on the Horizon?

The office investment market is back on track and buoyed by significant sources of capital for deal making, following some political and economic uncertainty over the past year, according to the June 2019 Office Investor Sentiment Report by Real Capital Markets (RCM). Among the key takeaways is that a majority of investors (87 percent) who participated in the survey view coworking as a…

County seeks expedited deal for Biscayne Bay transit route

After years of studies, Miami-Dade lawmakers may soon ask the county administration to act fast in securing arrangements and funding for floating transportation services connecting the City of Miami and South Beach across Biscayne Bay. County commissioners in committee Monday voted 5-0 to advance an item, sponsored by Commissioner Eileen Higgins, that would direct Mayor Carlos…

Jorge Pérez: Condo king transferring control of his Related Group

Jorge Pérez likes to lead by example. “My management style is, ‘Follow me,’” said the reigning condo king of Miami whose real estate firm, The Related Group, has by his estimation built more than 100,000 condo units cumulatively valued at about $50 billion throughout the nation and across the globe. His competitive spirit, he said, is based on the “immigrant mentality” that everything can be lost at any…

Yardi Kube Regional Manager, Coworking Discusses Coworking Trends

Warren Hersowitz of Yardi Kube joins Michael of America’s Commercial Real Estate Show in Studio One to discuss coworking trends and how they’re affecting office real estate property today. He talks about how buildings are incorporating coworking in buildings, using the concept to increase rent per square foot. Contibuting technologies are discusses, particularly for large coworking / shared space…

Nearly complete Le Jardin condo project in Bay Harbor files for bankruptcy

Verzasca Group president & co-founder Darius Kasparaitis and Le Jardin Residences Verzasca Group’s Le Jardin Residences boutique condo project in Bay Harbor Islands is nearly complete with the majority of units presold. Yet, in an unusual move, the project filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court last week. By reorganizing, the project’s developer hopes to close…

South Florida Industrial Market Continues Its Evolution

More than 3.4 million square feet of industrial and flex space is currently under construction in Miami-Dade County, and an additional 50 million square feet of industrial space will need to be constructed over the next five years to meet the region’s population growth, according to research from Colliers International South Florida. Connect Media asked Louis Archambault, partner at Saul Ewing…

Philip Levine lists block-long Wynwood dev site for $25M

Philip Levine and the property at 2215 Northwest First Place (Credit: Getty Images) Developer and former Florida gubernatorial hopeful Philip Levine listed a block-long development site in Wynwood for $25 million. Levine, a real estate investor and a former Miami Beach mayor, is looking to sell the properties at 2215 Northwest First Place, according to a Loopnet listing. The site includes a building known…

Miami’s First Affordable Housing Project For The Developmentally Disabled Approved

Finding an affordable rental is hard enough, especially for anyone with a intellectual or developmental disability like autism or Down syndrome. About 80% of such individuals will never be able to hold jobs. They live on an average of $771 per month from Social Security, which means they can’t afford the average apartment in many U.S. cities — in Miami, the average one-bedroom costs $1,191 a month.

North Miami investor aims for healthy returns on medical office properties

In life, three things seem certain: death, taxes and investor demand for medical office space. A company managed by North Miami real estate investor Allen Chelminsky bought two medical office buildings in Lauderhill for $5 million, records show. The 33,290-square-foot properties are at 7100 West Commercial Boulevard and 7200 West Commercial Boulevard. J & J Properties, managed by John Ekstrom…

Struggling Neiman Marcus scores loan from Credit Suisse for Coral Gables store

Neiman Marcus closed on a $37.38 million loan from Credit Suisse for one of its South Florida stores as the high-end retailer struggles to regain its footing. The company secured the financing on July 3 for its Shops at Merrick Park location, at 390 San Lorenzo Avenue in Coral Gables, less than a month after Moody’s Investors Service upgraded Neiman Marcus Group’s probability of default rating. Neiman…

Co-working finally feels the crunch of supply and demand

(Credit: iStock) Earlier this year, a San Francisco coder set out to create an outdoor co-working space that charged $2.25 an hour. The catch? It was comprised of a table and chair, set up on an empty parking lot. While the cost of co-working has yet to reach the levels of WePark, as the operation was named, it has been becoming more affordable as of late, Bisnow reported. Amid a drastic spike in supply…

Virgin Trains may announce 3 new train station sites in South Florida by year-end

Virgin Trains USA, formerly known as Brightline, may double the number of South Florida train stations it operates to six. Virgin Trains USA may identify three more South Florida locations for new train stations this year. Virgin Trains, formerly known as Brightline, said in a June 28 filing that it wants to increase ridership by opening new stops in addition to its downtown train stations in Miami, Fort Lauderdale…

Developers land $74.5M loan for condo construction project at Ocean Reef Club

John Grunow Jr. and Ocean Reef Club The developers of a condominium at the Ocean Reef Club near Key Largo borrowed $74.5 million to finance construction of the 48-unit project. Long Island, New York-based ACRES Capital provided the construction loan for the condo project, called Residence Club at Ocean Reef. The borrowers include John Grunow III and John Grunow Jr. of The Grunow Group and…

American Landmark closes $460M apartment fund, now seeks to raise $500M

American Landmark Apartments and its equity partner Electra America are betting big on multifamily investments in the Southeast. The two firms just closed on a multifamily fund of $462 million this week and are seeking to raise $500 million in another fund. The closed fund totaled 37 multifamily assets with 12,600 units in the Southeastern United States. Out of the $462 million raised, $392 million…

Stock indexes hit records as market anticipates rate cut. Here’s what that means for real estate

After Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell hinted at an impending interest rate cut, stock indexes hit record highs Thursday — and real estate is going along for the ride. At a congressional hearing this week, Powell said global uncertainty “strengthened the case for a somewhat more accommodative policy.” The Dow climbed after, closing at an all-time high of over 27,000 Thursday. The S&P 500 also…

Historic preservation board rejects Blue Road’s plans for South Beach hotel

Blue Road’s plans to convert a 34-unit South Beach apartment building into a 116-room hotel hit a snag after the project failed to get the minimum votes needed from the Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board. The board voted 4 to 3 this week to approve an amended version of Blue Road’s plans to turn the 61-year-old Park Terrace Apartments at 355 19th Street into the more contemporary Park…

Tech entrepreneur plans private school in South Beach

A tech entrepreneur and inventor plans to convert a 102-year-old South Beach building into a private school. John D. Marshall, founder of the mobile security company AirWatch, bought the 6,500-square-foot property at 224 Second Street in January for $4.8 million. Currently, the South-of-Fifth property consists of a one-story building constructed in 1917 and a two-story addition built in 1937. According to a…

Miami commission rejects proposed Olympia Theater renovation

Olympia Theater and Commissioner Ken Russell An unsolicited proposal to redevelop the commercial portion of downtown Miami’s Olympia Theater was shot down at a Miami City Commission meeting on Thursday. Commissioners voted 5-0 against seeking bids to turn over management of the city-owned Olympia, dealing a quick blow to a developer interested in converting the building’s 72 apartments…

Florida Senate candidate sentenced in Miami area real estate fraud scheme

Anis Blemur In 2016, Anis Blemur was running for a Florida Senate seat in Little Haiti, campaigning on his experience as an entrepreneur and businessman to “empower his people.” But a U.S. District Court found that instead of empowering the Haitian community, the Miami real estate broker preyed on them through a real estate investment scheme that defrauded investors of $1.6 million. Blemur was…

Link at Douglas developers score $47M construction loan

The developers of Link at Douglas scored a $47 million loan to build the transit-oriented, mixed-use project near Coral Gables. Adler Group and 13th Floor Investments secured the loan from TD Bank to build the development’s first tower, which will have 312 apartments and 6,000 square feet of retail, according to a press release. The 22-story tower was designed by Corwil Architects. Link at Douglas…

Miami Building on Palmetto Expressway Sold

The sale of the building located at 5195 NW 77th Avenue was completed, Miami, Florida, located East of Doral, inside unincorporated Miami-Dade County. The building is +/- 36,000 Sq. Ft. on a +/- 1.2  Acres lot, fully fenced. Frontage on Palmetto Expressway. Building has high security with back-up Generator and Heavy power. Sale price was $4,600,000 or $128/Sq. ft. The seller was Larian, LLC; the buyer…

Video: RealPage Market Analysis Manager Carl Whitaker Provides Multifamily Outlook

Carl Whitaker, Manager of Market Analytics with RealPage, providing property management software solutions for the commercial real estate industry, joins the host of America’s Commercial Real Estate Show to discuss the multifamily market, including investment performance, supply, and rent growth. A chart is displayed showing growth of supply, dominated by the western United States, as well…