Month: August 2020

Despite mounting opposition, Miami Beach board endorses taller Aman tower

Developers Vlad Doronin and Len Blavatnik can now go to the Miami Beach City Commission with proposed legislation that would allow them to build a 250-foot tall tower on the site of the Versailles building in the Faena District. The billionaire developers face mounting opposition from nearby residents, including a number of fellow billionaires at Faena House, an ultra-luxury…

Miami Beach board rejects Mast Capital’s plan to build 12-story tower

Miami Beach’s Planning Board unanimously rejected Mast Capital CEO Camilo Miguel Jr.’s request for zoning changes that he needs to build a 12-story condo tower beside the Julia Tuttle Causeway. The project, now called Alton Bay, at 4000 Alton Road in Mid-Beach, is actually smaller than the concept the developer presented to Miami Beach’s Land Use Committee…

Asia Capital Real Estate Provides $86.3M Refinancing Loan for Apartment Complex in Midtown Miami

Asia Capital Real Estate (ACRE) has provided an $86.3 million refinancing loan for Yard 8, a 387-unit apartment complex in Midtown Miami at 2901 NE 1st Avenue. Borrower Wood Partners will use the permanent financing to refinance the construction loan. The Atlanta-based developer opened Yard 8 in May 2019. Daniel Jacobs of ACRE originated the loan on behalf…

Moss Construction Completes University of Miami Development

Moss Construction has completed Lakeside Village, a $134 million student housing project at the University of Miami. Arquitectonica served as the architect for the development. Moss is also slated to manage the property. The 569,441-square-foot development comprises 25 seven-story, interconnected buildings. The 1,115-bed project includes classrooms…

Moss Construction Completes $134M University of Miami Lakeside Village Student Housing Property

Moss Construction has delivered University of Miami Lakeside Village, a $134 million, 1,115-bed student housing community on the University of Miami campus. The 569,441-square-foot, seven-story project features 25 interconnected buildings and several outdoor spaces. The property offers classrooms, music rooms, study areas, recreation rooms, a 200-seat…

Retail’s Flexibility, Versatility in Pandemic Times

The $424.8 million River Landing Shops & Residences project along the Miami River, west of downtown Miami is currently one of the largest mixed-use developments in South Florida. Upon completion, the 2.2 million-square-foot modern urban lifestyle property will offer 345,000 square feet of commercial space—including 25,500 square feet of waterfront dining…

Apartment giant Aimco buys waterfront Hamilton on the Bay tower in Edgewater

A company affiliated with the Arison family sold Hamilton on the Bay, a large waterfront apartment building in Edgewater, to investor Aimco, The Real Deal has learned. Carnival Cruise Line founder Ted Arison built the 28-story apartment building in 1984, and the property, which includes three parcels and a total of 275 units, hit the market last year unpriced. It was…

Miracle Mile to get four murals to stimulate economy

Coral Gables residents and visitors will soon have a new backdrop to photograph and post on social media with the year-long installations of four art murals along Miracle Mile. Presented by the city’s Economic Development Department during Tuesday’s city commission meeting, commissioners voted 5-0 approval of four murals on Miracle Mile to boost…

Miami Hotels see visitor uptick as they market safety

Miami-Dade’s hotels have undeniably taken a hit, but with Covid cases plateauing for the moment they are seeing an incremental, if small, uptick in business and focusing on marketing safety measures, local experts say. “We welcome you to Miami but please, please behave in a responsible way,” said Rolando Aedo, chief operating officer of the Greater Miami…

Felonious CPA Seeks Millions In Lawsuits Involving Developers Jorge Perez, Stephen Ross

While President Donald Trump is fighting efforts to bring his tax returns and financial history into the light, there’s another real estate billionaire whose taxes are wanted in court: Miami “condo king” Jorge Perez, the founder, chairman and CEO of Related Group. As part of two civil lawsuits he filed in Florida’s 11th Circuit Court in Miami-Dade County, Ronald Katz…

Team produces package to battle pandemic economic slide

An advisory team tasked with developing ideas to help Miami-Dade emerge from economic peril caused by the coronavirus pandemic has delivered a score of recommendations. For now, most of those recommendations remain ideas, but each has been designed to be actionable, said Beacon Council CEO Albert Finney, chairman of the Covid-19 Economic Recovery…

President Trump seeks to move federal agencies into Opportunity Zones

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday to push federal agencies to move into Opportunity Zones as he continues to promote the program as a key part of his re-election campaign. The president’s order will direct some federal agencies such as the Department of Labor and Department of Housing and Urban Development to look outside of city…

Concessions stand: Wary of another shutdown, retail landlords sweeten pot for tenants

Some retail landlords are offering additional concessions to tenants in case the government mandates another Covid-related shutdown. Landlords are including language in new leases that allows retail tenants to defer part of their rent if the government requires store closures, according to the Wall Street Journal. Many insurance policies did not cover pandemic…

Restaurants can reopen their dining rooms in Miami-Dade starting next week

Restaurant dining rooms in Miami-Dade County can reopen beginning on Monday, more than a month after restaurants were ordered to close indoor seating due to spiking coronavirus cases. Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said restaurants will be able to operate at 50 percent capacity indoors, as long as tables are spaced at least six feet apart with a…

A few big-box stores now account for 29% of US sales

Despite fears of decreased spending amid the pandemic, big-box stores — plus Amazon — raked in the cash last quarter. Walmart, Amazon, Target, Home Depot, Lowe’s and Costco accounted for 29.1 percent of all U.S. retail sales in the second quarter, up from 25.6 percent a year ago, the Wall Street Journal reported. That’s a 14 percent increase in market share.

Bondholders approve Sapir Corp debt restructuring

Sapir Corp’s Israeli bondholders have decided that it’s a good idea to give the development firm a few more years to pay off its debt, given current economic uncertainty caused by coronavirus. In a Monday vote, investors in Sapir Corp.’s $44 million bond series overwhelmingly approved of the company’s proposal to push back the maturity date from 2022 to 2025.

Wood Partners lands $86M refi for Midtown Miami apartments

Multifamily developer Wood Partners sewed up $86.3 million in refinancing for its 387-unit apartment complex in Midtown Miami. Asia Capital Real Estate provided the first mortgage from its latest debt fund, with a loan-to-value ratio of 57.5 percent, according to a release from the company. The term of the loan is five years, inclusive of extension options. The…

Here are the landlords benefiting from Amazon’s tech workforce expansion

Amazon recently announced plans to expand its tech workforce at the 660,000-square-foot Lord & Taylor building it recently bought in New York, and in five other cities across the country. Amazon has inked leases totaling about 270,000 square feet in those office buildings in Dallas, Denver, Detroit, San Diego, and Tempe, Arizona. Here is a rundown on Amazon’s…

Flower Firm Renews 93,000-SF Industrial Lease At Westpointe Business Park In Doral

Transwestern has arranged a 92,579-square-foot lease renewal at Westpointe Business Park, a three-building industrial facility totaling 260,000 square feet in Doral. Managing Director Thomas Kresse, Executive Managing Directors Walter Byrd and Ben Eisenberg and Vice President Carlos Gaviria brokered the deal on behalf of the landlord, Clarion…

Italian restaurateur lists Sunset Juice Cafe property for $24M

The owner of Sunset Juice Cafe and other restaurants in Miami Beach wants to sell his Sunset Harbour property for $24 million. The corner building, at 1920 Alton Road, is home to the Sunset Juice Cafe, Rosinella Market and Anatomy Gym. Restaurateur Tonino Doino, who owns both Sunset Juice and Rosinella, is listing it with Brown Harris Stevens Miami, led by Phil…

Bal Harbour Shops seeks to give Saks Fifth Avenue the boot

Matthew Whitman Lazenby and Bal Harbour Shops One of South Florida’s longest running retail marriages could be headed for a bitter breakup. For nearly 45 years, Saks Fifth Avenue has anchored Bal Harbour Shops, helping transform the shopping center into one of the most exclusive luxury retail destinations in the world. Now, mall owner Whitman…

Real estate investors raise billions while skipping debt payments

In the real estate investment world, being delinquent on debt doesn’t mean investors have run out of money. They are likely to be cutting losses to shift funds into something more lucrative. Colony Capital, for example, stopped making payments on many of its hotel bonds when the pandemic hit, while raising at least $6 billion to invest in properties such as cell towers and…

How Carl Icahn and others made a killing shorting malls

The pandemic has devastated brick-and-mortar retail, but some investors profited handsomely by betting on shopping malls’ misfortune. Among them is Carl Icahn, one of the country’s best-known investors, who took a calculated risk that malls would suffer. Read more Investors who shorted malls stand to make out big Party’s over: Neiman Marcus to close its…

39K SF Hialeah Warehouse Trades

An industrial team announced the successful sale of the 39,000 SF warehouse facility at 595 E 10th Avenue in Hialeah, Florida. The seller, 595 Realty Corp, was represented by Patrick McBride, Esq. and Edward Redlich, SIOR, CCIM. CarSafe Storage purchased the warehouse for $3,350,000. The property was extensively marketed for lease prior to the seller testing…

Europe tops United States in commercial real estate deal volume

The U.S. property market is no longer on top. For the first time since 2017, Europe saw more commercial real estate deals than the U.S. America saw $19 billion less in property trades above $10 million than Europe during the second quarter, Bloomberg reported, citing data from Real Capital Analytics.

Cast away: Boatmaker Invincible sells Opa-locka warehouses for $11M

The founder of a high-performance saltwater fishing boat manufacturer sold three warehouses in Opa-locka for $11.4 million. Alex Lipworth, who founded Opa-locka-based Invincible Boat Co. in 2006, sold the warehouses at 13185 Northwest 47th Avenue, 13050 Northwest 47th Avenue, and 4700 Northwest 132nd Street, according to a press release. The warehouses…

US hotel occupancy hits highest point since mid-March

As travelers throughout the U.S. try to make the most of a surreal summer, hotel occupancy has slowly improved, and has finally hit the 50 percent mark for the first time since mid-March. While overall occupancy has risen for 17 of the last 18 weeks, growth in demand has slowed, according to the latest occupancy rate from industry tracker STR. Occupancy is also about…

Mall of America, behind on mortgage, fights foreclosure

The country’s biggest shopping mall is trying to stave off foreclosure after falling months behind on its $1.4 billion mortgage. Triple Five Group, which owns the Mall of America, has entered into a cash-management agreement with a special servicer, CWCapital Asset Management, according to the Star Tribune. Canada-based Triple Five began to…

Wiped out: Firm says stakes in Brooklyn, Miami projects now worthless

The private equity firm behind a $1 billion real estate portfolio in Brooklyn and Miami said its investments in two big projects have been wiped out — and one critic is blaming a pair of 20-somethings who were trusted with the company checkbook. JZ Capital Partners recently wrote down to zero its stakes on a Downtown Brooklyn development site and a portfolio of…

Miami Beach to allow short-term rentals in condos, hotels

The city of Miami Beach loosened its restrictions on short-term rentals, more than a month after banning them, as the coronavirus positivity rate falls in South Florida. The city will allow such rentals to operate in condo buildings and hotels beginning on Saturday, Aug. 22. The positivity rate declined to 9.7 percent on Wednesday. In Miami-Dade County, hotels…

Duke Realty Inks 161,000 SF Lease Deal At New Logistics Facility In Medley

The South Florida office of Duke Realty has signed a prelease with a distributor of technology products for 160,793 square feet in a new 221,984-square-foot logistics building in Medley. The building is one of two logistics facilities planned on the 34.92 acre site, which will be known as Miami 27 Business Park. The tenant, which…

Wayne M. Boich Announces Approved 16,000 sq ft Mixed-Use Building in Miami Beach

The City of Miami Beach has approved entrepreneur Wayne M. Boich and Boich Companies plans for a mixed-use building in Sunset Harbour. Construction on the five-story project, located at 1910 Alton Road, will begin immediately. “We at Boich Companies are not only looking forward to developing this project in one of Miami Beach’s most vibrant…”

SunTrust Equity Funding closes on Amazon-leased site at Palm Beach Park of Commerce

SunTrust Equity Funding paid $21.8 million for land leased to Amazon, property records show. An affiliate of TPA Group sold the 100-acre site within the Palm Beach Park of Commerce to AZ Palm Beach FL Landlord LLC, which is tied to SunTrust Equity Funding. Included in the deed is the mention of a lease with the e-commerce giant Amazon. A spokesperson…

Restoration 1 franchise founder buys North Lauderdale office and retail center for $6M

The founder of a restoration franchise that helps with damage from water, fire and other disasters bought a North Lauderdale office and retail center for $6.3 million. A company tied to Andor Kovacs bought the center, called Jefferson Square Plaza, at 6041-6047 Kimberly Boulevard, records show. The 53,000-square-foot center is on about 5 acres of land, with four…

Fifteen Group Proposes Mixed-Use Project On Plantation Office Site

The developer is seeking site plan approval for 442 residential units in three buildings totaling 444,168 square feet, 150,000 square feet of offices, and a 2,500-square-foot retail building, which would likely be a drive-thru fast-food restaurant. The project would have 1,326 parking spaces, including a 238,739-square-foot garage.

Addiction treatment firm Banyan buys Pompano Beach office tower for $6M

An entity tied to a drug and alcohol addiction treatment provider bought an empty office building in Pompano Beach sold for $5.9 million. Banyan Corporate Center LLC, which shares an address with Banyan Treatment Centers, bought The Tower at Avery Place, formerly called Atlantic Tower, at 225 North Federal Highway, records show. Built in 1973, the eight-story…

Convenience be gone: Sunrise suspends small store developments that pose “food desert” threat

Sunrise Imposes Moratorium To Avoid “Food Desert” Threat Convenience stores must stay away from Sunrise, a city apparently at risk of not having enough grocery stores serving fresh food. The city commission last week enacted a one-year moratorium on the development of what it calls “small box discount stores” that are 16,000 square feet or smaller and…

The post Miami Commercial Real Estate News August 26, 2020: Edgewater’s Hamilton Multifamily Sells; Miami Beach Endorses 250-Story Aman Tower; More… appeared first on Hawkins Commercial Realty.

Related Urban Kicks Off $106M Allapattah Redevelopment

Related Group and Miami-Dade County have broken ground on Three Round Towers B&C/Brisas del Este, a $106 million affordable housing redevelopment project in the Allapattah neighborhood. The 383-unit Opportunity Zone project will draw on federal, state and county funds for the rehabilitation of two existing towers and the creation of an adjacent…

Duke Realty Leases 72% Of Yet-To-Be-Built Medley Facility

In another sign that industrial real estate is running strong despite the coronavirus, Duke Realty has already leased up 72% of a new industrial facility in Medley that it hasn’t even started building yet. The news came Tuesday as Duke announced it signed a pre-lease with a tech products distributor to take up 161K SF at a 35-acre site off U.S. 27 that is being…

Hilton and CGI plan $500M fund to acquire distressed hotels

Hilton and a Miami-based partner are planning to launch a $500 million fund to invest in distressed hotels in North America and the Caribbean, The Real Deal has learned. The hotel giant is partnering with private equity firm CGI Merchant Group to acquire about 20 properties in the next few years, said Raoul Thomas, founder and CEO of CGI Merchant Group. The venture…

Mall owner CBL Properties nears bankruptcy

Suffocating under retailers’ inability to pay rent and more than $3 billion in debt, CBL Properties is on its way toward declaring bankruptcy. The company announced that it reached an agreement with some of its creditors to hand control to holders of its unsecured notes and that it is negotiating with senior lenders and others who haven’t yet signed onto…

Tech deals give hope to shaky office market

Amazon and Facebook both made major commitments in the past two weeks to a New York City office market with an uncertain future. But that shot in the arm belies the fact that many companies are still in wait-and-see mode. “A lot of tenants are punting on the whole topic and saying they’re going to continue working remotely,” said Grant Greenspan, head of…

Another drugstore sells: Lauderdale Lakes Walgreens flips for $8M

A Walgreens in Lauderdale Lakes, last purchased in April, changed hands again. Real estate investor and developer Ricardo Carozzi bought the Walgreens-leased property at 3099 North State Road 7 for $8.1 million, according to records. He made the purchase through an entity he co-manages along with Daniela and Nara Carozzi. The seller was a company…

Authentic Brands raises $600 million for retail acquisitions

Authentic Brands Group is on the acquisition hunt, after bolstering its war chest by $600 million. CEO Jamie Salter said the cash injection from BlackRock, General Atlantic and Leonard Green & Partners now brings the apparel licensing firm’s total cash up to $1 billion, according to CNBC. Salter said he’s looking to use that to buy up struggling retailers. Authentic has…

92K SF Doral Industrial Lease Brokered

Transwestern has arranged a 92,579-square-foot lease renewal at Westpointe Business Park, a three-building industrial facility totaling 260,000 square feet in Doral, Fla. Managing Director Thomas Kresse, Executive Managing Directors Walter Byrd and Ben Eisenberg and Vice President Carlos Gaviria brokered the deal on behalf of the landlord…

Aircraft Maintenance Company Triples Footprint, Inks 81,000 SF Lease Deal

Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) announced an 81,250-square-foot lease for Aerotech Ops at Pan American North Business Park, owned by Link Logistics Real Estate. NKF’s Executive Managing Director Steve Medwin and Nick Wigoda along with Associate John Mejia represented the landlord in the transaction. Aerotech Ops (ATOPS) is an organization that primarily…

Target will open 27 new stores as Q2 sales soar

The pandemic has dealt a crushing blow to countless retailers, but for behemoths like Amazon, Walmart and Target it has brought outsized profits. Target said it expects to open 27 new stores between now and the end of the year, part of a rosy second quarter earnings report it released Wednesday. The big-box retailer’s net income soared to…

North Beach Residents Petition to Stop Development of Byron Carlyle Theater

North Beach residents are petitioning against a developer’s proposal to build micro-size apartments at the historic Byron Carlyle Theater, which was most recently home to O Cinema. The petition, which has more than 500 signatures, asks the City of Miami Beach to reject a proposal that would give the theater to a developer to build the apartments. An August 3 letter…

Are office landlords turning a corner or rolling over?

Empty room in a building Office landlords and leasing agents breathed a sigh of relief this month when Facebook inked a massive lease deal at Manhattan’s landmark Farley Post Office building. The deal with Vornado Realty Trust for 730,000 square feet at the $1 billion-plus redevelopment — which includes new commercial space and the expansion of Penn Station…

Annie Lord: Leads Miami Homes For All to increase our housing stock

Housing in Miami-Dade County is expensive, burdening Miamians across the county. Among entities trying to make Miami more affordable is Miami Housing for All, founded in 1985, which strives for everyone in the county to have safe, stable housing and prevent homelessness.   Annie Lord, the executive director, earlier led the South Florida Community Development…

Office is out, school is in: Co-working operators try to lure students into workspace

Laura Kozelouzek, CEO of Quest Workspaces, and a Quest classroom Office is out, but school is in session. Quest Workspaces, a co-working operator with 12 locations in Florida and New York, is turning some of its enclosed office space into small pods where groups of students can gather for virtual learning. The move comes as many school districts are opting to forgo…

Florida Law Keeps Developers From Having To Subsidize Affordable Housing

Affordable housing has long been a crisis issue in Florida, which leads the nation in housing unaffordability. One study by Apartment List shows that 56.5% of renters spend 30% or more of their income on housing. The state fund for affordable housing gets raided by the state legislature year after year, its monies diverted to other issues. So, throughout the state, local…

130-Foot-Tall, High-Tech Marina Coming To Fort Lauderdale

Boating is so popular in South Florida that marinas are getting more dense, just like multifamily buildings. With dockage in short supply, boaters often keep their boats stored on top of one another in dry dock facilities, but top concerns are whether slips are big enough, whether facilities are hurricane-proof, and whether boaters can get their boat down without hassle when…

A ‘New Normal’ for Offices

Stuart Elliott Remember when August was the time of year when the news cycle slowed, there weren’t that many big stories, people were on vacation, and there was the expectation that life would return to its regular rhythm in the fall? Like everything else this year, you can throw those rules out the window. Because we have been living inside the pandemic bubble for…

Amazon plans office expansion in six US cities

Amazon is planning to expand its offices in six major U.S. cities, just weeks after announcing plans to double down on its fulfillment centers and warehouses. The tech giant plans to add new hubs in New York, Phoenix, San Diego, Denver, Detroit and Dallas, which will bring about 3,500 corporate jobs, the company announced on Tuesday, according to the…

August brings no sign of the rent apocalypse

Tenants across the country are largely still paying rent despite high unemployment and waning government aid, a new report found. About 87 percent of apartment households made a full or partial rent payment by Aug. 13, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council’s Rent Payment Tracker. That was only a 2-point drop from the same period…

Superblue, Miami’s First Experiential Art Space, is Coming to Allapattah

If you’re an art lover, you may be feeling a little blue these past months. With the Miami art scene, like many other major art cities, including Art Basel, relying on virtual exhibitions, a seasoned New York Art gallery has the solution to your art blues — and it’s called Superblue and it’s coming to Miami this December. So, what is Superblue? Many people aren’t always…

Not your father’s distress: Down market could be opportunity of a lifetime or a big letdown

As the coronavirus pandemic bore down on the economy, veteran investor Tom Barrack emerged as one of the loudest voices urging a lifeline for the real estate industry. Barrack, the head of Colony Capital and a longtime friend of President Donald Trump, penned a series of much-discussed blog posts and took to the airwaves, warning that the real estate industry…

Drugstores in demand: Pembroke Pines Walgreens flips for $9M

The owner of a Pembroke Pines store leased to Walgreens flipped it for $9 million, just a few months after purchasing it. DS Pembroke Pines Florida Landlord, tied to SunTrust Funding, sold the 15,458-square-foot property at 18410 West Pines Boulevard for $582 per square foot, records show. West Pines EDN RE LLC, led by Enzo Dalmazzo, the CEO of the…

Walker & Dunlop Provides $67M HUD Construction Loan for Shoma Village Apartments in Hialeah

Walker & Dunlop has provided a $67 million HUD construction loan for Shoma Village Apartments, a 304-unit multifamily community that will be located in Hialeah. The borrower was locally based developer Shoma Group. Shoma Village Apartments will include 11,625 square feet of retail space fronting Hialeah Drive, about 15 miles northwest of downtown…

South Florida Property Receives $67 Million Construction Loan via Walker & Dunlop

Walker & Dunlop, Inc. announced today that it structured $67,211,400 in financing for the construction of Shoma Village Apartments, a Class A mixed-use property with 304 apartment units and 11,625 square feet of retail. Located in Hialeah, Florida, just 15 miles northwest of Miami, the local area is experiencing a significant uptick in real estate investment.

North Beach’s Ocean House apartments hit the market for $50M

One of Miami Beach’s largest apartment complexes is hitting the market with a target price of $50 million. Miami-based developer and investor Ytech is listing Ocean House, a 186-unit garden-style multifamily property at 7790 Tatum Waterway Drive in Miami Beach’s North Beach area. Cushman & Wakefield’s Calum Weaver, Robert Given, Zachary Sackley…

Florida Streamlines Requirements for Lease Execution

Florida’s Governor signs into law HB 469, which streamlines the execution of Florida real property leases by eliminating all statutory witness requirements. On June 27, 2020, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law House Bill 469 (HB 469), which amends Section 689.01 of the Florida Statutes, eliminating the requirement for two subscribing witnesses to…

Taurus pays $31M for Civica Center, adjacent building in Miami’s Health District

A shopping center in Miami’s Health District changed hands from one Boston-based private equity firm to another, with plans for a major facelift. Taurus Investment Holdings paid a combined $30.5 million for Civica Center, a two-story, 47,000-square-foot retail center at 1050 Northwest 14th Street and an adjacent 4,200-square-foot building, according to a press…

AMC theaters to reopen next week, but not in New York

AMC theaters will reopen more than 100 of its movie theaters on Aug. 20, with another 300 the following two weeks, according to Newsday. None of those theaters will be in New York, however. The state, where less than 1 percent of coronavirus tests are coming back positive, has indefinitely pushed back the reopening of movie theaters, along with gyms and…

Blackstone snags eight industrial properties in Miami-Dade

Blackstone bought eight industrial properties in Miami-Dade County from Elion Partners as part of a $93.5 million portfolio deal in South Florida. Blackstone’s purchases include properties at 16200 Northwest 49th Avenue and 16100 Northwest 49th Avenue in Hialeah for $11.7 million. The investment firm also bought a warehouse at 7425 Northwest 79th Street…

Developer completes $225M Paseo de la Riviera mixed-use project

Paseo de la Riviera and Brent Reynolds The developer of Paseo de la Riviera in Coral Gables opened the hotel component last week, completing the mixed-use project that has been in the works for about five years. Nolan Reynolds International, led by CEO and managing partner Brent Reynolds, decided to open ahead of the University of Miami’s fall semester that…

Miami’s Bar Invest pays $56M for West Palm apartments

Jonathan Shechtman from Axonic and Herve Barbera from Bar, with 4860 Sandstone Lane Miami real estate investment firm Bar Invest Group bought a 300-unit garden-style apartment community in West Palm Beach for $56.2 million. The apartments, known as Visions at Willow, at 4860 Sand Stone Lane, include 17 two- and three-story buildings with a mix of one- to two…

Bloomingdale’s sued for $2.5 million in missed rent

Bloomingdale’s is getting into some heat with its landlord. The famed retailer began skipping rent payments in April and now owes nearly $2.5 million on its outlet at 2085 Broadway, the landlord alleges in a lawsuit. The lease for the store states Bloomingdale’s will pay the Stahl Organization $437,500 of fixed rent plus a percentage sales. Stahl is also suing its parent…

Richman plans senior housing on Allapattah Opportunity Zone property

The Richman Group is planning a senior housing development in Allapattah. Richman, a major multifamily developer, is planning a 105-unit building for the site at 2137 Northwest 36th Street, and 3629 and 3645 Northwest 21st Court in Miami, according to MSP Group, which brokered the sale of the 0.7-acre assemblage.

Simon, Brookfield in talks to buy bankrupt J.C. Penney

Simon Property Group and Brookfield Property Partners are reportedly in advanced talks about buying J.C. Penney’s retail business. J.C. Penney filed for bankruptcy in May and said it would close 242 stores. Simon and Brookfield — two of the retailer’s biggest landlords — are now competing against other bidders to acquire the retail operations, and the Wall…

The Looming Legal Challenges of COVID-19

COVID-19 has come to mean many things to many people, from a global public health crisis to a logistical nightmare to a political hot potato. It has also presented a new set of legal challenges. With lockdowns, re-openings, and a hodgepodge of rules, business owners are worried about lawsuits related to exposure, workplace health and safety, termination, and…

How Two U.S. Religious Aid Workers, Miami Commercial Property Investors, May Have Helped Launder Millions

In the early 1990s, Mordechai Korf and Uriel Laber traveled to Ukraine as Jewish humanitarian volunteers as the country gained its independence and ended Soviet restrictions on religion. Korf was still a teenager just out of a rabbinical institute when he arrived in 1991. His friend Laber, whom he met at a religious school in Detroit, came a few years later. When…

The post Miami Commercial Real Estate News August 19, 2020: $106 Million Allapattah Redev Breaks Ground; Health District Properties Trade; More… appeared first on Hawkins Commercial Realty.

Carson, Rubio To Celebrate Groundbreaking Of Biggest OZ Project In Miami-Dade

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, Sen. Marco Rubio and others are expected to be on-site in Allapattah Thursday to celebrate a groundbreaking at Three Round Towers, a low-income housing complex that is undergoing a renovation. The $106M redevelopment project is the largest qualified opportunity zone affordable housing project in the…

The Estate Cos. Acquires Former Ramada Inn in Hialeah for $15.3 Million

The Estate Cos. has acquired a former Ramada Inn in Hialeah for $15.3 million. The non-operational hotel was originally built in 1970 with expansions completed in 1973, 1979 and 1988. The property offers 258 rooms and sits on five acres at 1950 W. 49th Street, 15 miles northwest of downtown Miami. Camilo Niño, Ricardo Uribe and Alen Hernandez of…

Former 258 Key Ramada Hotel Trades for $15 Million in Hialeah

The Estate Cos., a developer of luxury multi-family communities in South Florida, has acquired a site occupied by a 258-key, former Ramada Hotel in Hialeah, Fla., for $15.3 million. The company financed the purchase with an $11.5 million acquisition loan arranged by LV Lending. The seller is a joint venture between Urban Commons and several other investors, according…

Estate Companies buys shuttered Hialeah Ramada for $15M

Jeff Ardizon and Robert Suris with 950 West 49th Street, Hialeah High-end apartment developer The Estate Companies bought a former Ramada Inn in Hialeah. The developer paid $15.25 million for the 5-acre property at 1950 West 49th Street. Estate Companies principal Jeffrey Ardizon declined to comment on what the firm is planning to build, but said it will be…

Aviation Company Triples Industrial Space With Move To Medley Facility

In a further sign that industrial real estate is as strong as ever, even amid a pandemic, an aerospace company has tripled its footprint at a Medley site. Aerotech Ops, an aircraft maintenance and repair company, has signed an 81K SF lease at Pan American North Business Park, located at 10733 NW 123rd Street in Medley, owned by Link Logistics Real Estate, Newmark…

Chart: Miami-Dade Commercial Property Sales Within Normal Range ~ July 2020 MLS

In this month’s chart of three year trailing sales of Miami-Dade commercial properties tracking, for the period from August 2018 to July 2020, sales of both improved and vacant land, it is evident that the level is holding within a normal range. This “holding pattern” follows a brief dip in April and May as the coronavirus pandemic had just begun. The Miami Multiple Listing…

Top 10 Office Projects Under Construction in Miami

Despite the pandemic’s severe impact on Florida, real estate development in Miami forged ahead. As of July, the metro’s office pipeline included 18 projects totaling more than 3.7 million square feet, Yardi Matrix data shows. Most of the upcoming projects are mixed-use and transit-oriented, while two of them—included in the list below—are headquarters developments.

Mixed-Use Development Amid Coronavirus: A Case Study in Aventura

The project—a 10-story complex consisting of 25,000 square feet of office condominiums, a 30,000-square-foot gourmet marketplace and food hall, and 160 independent- and assisted-living units—already had construction financing in place and 40 percent of its office condominiums presold. “At that point, we couldn’t stop,” Rieber said. “I had paid $20 million for the…

Construction Tops Off at Miami Luxury Tower

Developers of a 360-unit luxury rental tower in Miami have topped off construction at the 18-story project, marking the first large-scale real estate development to rise in an opportunity zone in the city. The Estate Cos. and PTM Partners are co-developing Soleste Grand Central, a residential community situated in the heart of downtown Miami on NW 8th Street.

Cooper City gives nod to Monterra development makeover

Plans for the remaining vacant land at Monterra, a 500-acre gated community in Cooper City, are pivoting from a grocery-anchored shopping center to a smaller retail hub, age-restricted apartments, and a corporate headquarters. The city commission Tuesday gave initial approval to rezoning and variances that would allow developer Diversified…

Demand For Hotels Is Flattening As Hotel Owners Burn Through Millions In Cash Reserves

Major U.S. hotel companies lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the spring as they gradually reopened hotels this summer to low demand, and their leaders expect there could be a long road back to profitability. The hotel industry, by job losses and debt defaults, has been the hardest hit by the pandemic. The biggest owners and operators of hotels have revealed a…

Airbnb’s Q2 revenue falls by almost 70%

Airbnb’s revenue fell by a reported 67 percent in the second quarter, as the startup weathered the fallout from a halt in global travel. The company’s quarterly revenue plunged to $335 million — down from more than $1 billion in the same period last year, according to Bloomberg, which cited sources familiar with the matter. By contrast, Airbnb generated $842…

Miami Named a Top 5 Florida Market for Self Storage Development

Miami’s self storage market has been benefiting from the market’s diversifying economy and rapidly expanding housing stock. Although the metro started to feel the effects of the coronavirus outbreak, self storage development has not yet been visibly affected. Year-to-date, five storage facilities encompassing a total of 582,562 square feet came online in…

Scoundrels of the skyline: Charles Bagli on the most colorful characters in the real estate biz

When Charles Bagli first started poking into the businesses and lives of New York’s real estate elite more than three decades ago, he made his ground rules clear. “As a former Catholic boy, I make a distinction between sins of omission and sins of commission,” he would tell the likes of Harry Helmsley, Donald Trump and…

Discount retailer Stein Mart files for bankruptcy, plans to close most stores

Off-price retailer Stein Mart is the latest brick-and-mortar chain to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Jacksonville, Florida-based chain plans to close “a significant portion, if not all” of the 281 stores it operates across 30 states, according to a press release. The publicly traded company, founded in the early 1900s, will continue to operate its business in the…

Developer Rishi Kapoor lands approval for mixed-use co-living project in South Beach

Rendering of the project and Rishi Kapoor Developer Rishi Kapoor is a step closer to bringing his Urbin Retreat concept to South Beach. Kapoor and his partners won the unanimous endorsement of the Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board Tuesday afternoon for a mixed-use co-living and hotel development on Washington Avenue. Unless the decision is appealed…

Miami Beach board again delays vote on Michael Shvo’s proposed tower near Raleigh Hotel

New York real estate developer Michael Shvo’s proposal to build a 200-foot-tall tower beside three Art Deco hotels was continued yet again by Miami Beach’s Historic Preservation Board. Tuesday’s unanimous vote to continue the item to Sept. 8 came after four hours of discussion, during which three board members expressed concern about the tower’s massing, height…

$11.7 Million Sale of Naranja Lakes Retail Property Trades

TSCG has negotiated the $11.7 million sale of Naranja Lakes Shopping Center, a 90,450-square-foot, grocery-anchored retail property in Naranja. The property was 95 percent leased at the time of sale to tenants including Winn-Dixie, Family Dollar and La Colonia Medical Center. The asset is situated at the intersection of U.S. Highway 1 and Naranja Lakes Blvd…

Simon, Authentic Brands to buy Brooks Brothers

Brooks Brothers has found its white knight in mall giant Simon Property Group and apparel licensing firm, Authentic Brands Group. A venture between the two companies, known as Sparc Group, has agreed to buy the retailer for $325 million, the Wall Street Journal reports. Brooks Brothers will close 75 of its 200 stores as part of the deal.

Winn-Dixie-anchored shopping center sells for $14 million

A Miami Gardens shopping center anchored by a Winn-Dixie supermarket sold for $14.5 million. A company affiliated with Smithtown, N.Y.-based Island Associates purchased the 94,000-square-foot retail center at 17237 Northwest 27th Avenue, according to records. The seller, a company associated with Peleg Group, had paid $8.2 million for the center in 2013.

Fear and loathing in a pandemic: Insurers battle business interruption claims

As a Las Vegas casino owner, Phil Ruffin is used to taking risks. But this time the odds seem stacked against the billionaire mogul. For months, slot machines sat empty across the Vegas strip, while hotel conference rooms laid bare. And Ruffin’s Circus Circus Hotel & Casino — perhaps best known as the scene of a drug induced bender in Hunter S. Thompson’s “Fear and…”

Legal Magic: Turning Real Property Foreclosures Into Uniform Commercial Code Sales

Remedies for defaults under loans secured by real property varies on a state-by­-state basis. In the eastern part of the country, enforcement is mostly by mortgage foreclosure. In the western states, there are enforcement proceedings by way of a deed of trust. There is a spectrum of debtor protections afforded to borrowers depending on the state involved.

Business bankruptcy rise of 54% may be artificially low

Business bankruptcy filings are on the rise in South Florida as Covid-19 takes its toll on the economy, but government aid programs may be holding these numbers back from what they might otherwise be.  Multiple high-profile businesses have already filed this year including Neiman Marcus, Lord and Taylor and 24 Hour Fitness, and these cases may well be…

Despite pandemic, financial jobs rock solid

For many in Miami-Dade, money is tight and employment tentative amid a lingering global pandemic now in its fifth month. But while some industries have seen steep declines in workforce rolls, one sector has thus far remained largely immune from the crisis’ effects. Miami-Dade’s unemployment rate was 11.5% as of June, the last month for which there…

9,000 applicants force United Way to hit pause on pandemic fund

A flood of 9,000 applications in two days quickly caused the United Way of Miami-Dade to stop accepting more as it distributes $20 million in federal funds for those hammered by the pandemic. Applications are to reopen in several weeks once the initial flood is dealt with in first-come, first-served funding. The county days before had chosen the United Way for the…

Maritime jobs vacant as companies hunt skilled workers

While unemployment is rife in many industries due to the upheavals of Covid-19, maritime jobs continue to go unfilled for lack of skilled employees. In fact, said Horacio Stuart Aguirre, chair of the Miami River Commission, the pandemic may even be contributing to demand. “In the past six weeks I have visited four boatyards,” he said, “and yacht…”

Macerich posts $27M loss; CEO says physical retail here to stay

Macerich CEO Thomas O’Hern and Santa Monica Place mall Mall landlord Macerich posted a $26.7 million net income loss in the second quarter as the Santa Monica-based firm continues its struggle to collect rent across its portfolio. The dismal quarter compared to Macerich’s profit of $13.9 million over the same period in 2019. At its earnings call on Tuesday, the retail…

Here’s the real estate record for Kamala Harris

While serving as California attorney general, Kamala Harris could have gone after Steve Mnuchin for alleged mortgage fraud at his company, OneWest, but didn’t. OneWest foreclosed on more than 36,000 California homeowners in the years following the Great Recession. Harris’ office conducted a preliminary investigation, and deputy attorneys general…

Blackstone pays $46M for Broward industrial properties

An affiliate of Blackstone bought several industrial properties in Broward County from Elion Partners for $46 million. The warehouses are spread between Weston, Coral Springs and Pompano Beach, records show. Elion had paid about $35 million in total for the properties in 2018 and 2019. The sale includes three warehouses at 1800-1880 North Commerce Parkway…

Marriott claims Covid-induced crisis for hotels has bottomed out

Marriott International believes the hotel industry believes the worst is over, so it’s halting its relief measures for hotel owners’ bills and forging ahead with new development. While announcing the hotel company’s second quarter earnings on Monday, CEO and president Arne Sorenson acknowledged the cataclysmic effect the coronavirus pandemic has had…

Vornado will install facial recognition tech in all its buildings

After testing facial recognition technology on users for years, Facebook will soon have to decide whether to opt in or out of facial recognition for its own employees in New York. Vornado Realty Trust, which has operated face-reading systems at a handful of properties for the past five years, now plans to expand the technology across its entire portfolio, Business Insider…

J. Crew said it was bankrupt. Then its landlords forked over $130M

Bankrupt retailer J. Crew is saving $130 million in rent. The retailer, which has 492 stores including Madewell and outlet locations, has negotiated about $70 million in concessions this year and about $60 million next year from its landlords, according to Retail Dive. That includes waivers and rent deferrals, as long as sales are in line with…

Consumption of goods and services during the COVID-19 recession : Some shirts, some shoes, but a lot less service

First, some background on the line graphs shown above and below: The zero “date” is the start of a recession. The x-axis “periods” are the number of months after the start date. And the data are from the BEA’s Personal Income and Outlay survey. Now, what do they show? The main revelation is that real personal consumption expenditures on services have decreased…

The last mile: Amazon in talks with Simon to convert bankrupt megastores into fulfillment centers

Amazon may soon take over the spaces of bankrupt retailers it has left in the dust. The e-commerce giant is in talks with mall owner Simon Property Group to turn anchor stores into distribution hubs, the Wall Street Journal reported. Read more Amazon doubles down on fulfillment centers How Amazon became the leasing king of e-commerce The main target…

TRD Insights: Gentrification happening fastest in least affordable cities

Want to identify the chief culprit behind gentrification in your neighborhood? Look no further than your city’s housing supply — or lack thereof. Metro areas with less affordable housing disproportionately drive high-income home buyers to lower-income neighborhoods, according to recent analysis from the Urban Institute, Washington-based nonpartisan…

Chart: Miami Commercial Real Estate Sales to List Price Ratio Dips in July ~ MLS

The sales to list price ratio as reported by the Miami MLS, after having held up well as coronavirus hit, reached its lowest level in a number of years for properties classified as commercial/industrial with prices from $1 million to $10 million. That this ratio held up so well as-if-no…

Brightline ends partnership with Virgin Trains in South Florida

Brightline and Virgin Trains are headed on different tracks and have ended their partnership agreement in South Florida. The commuter train service will go back to using the name Brightline, it said in its monthly revenue and ridership report. Brightline had been operating as Virgin Trains USA, and was expected to complete the rebranding by this summer. The rail service…

Billionaire Charles Cohen proposes 338-foot tall office tower in West Palm

Billionaire developer Charles Cohen submitted new plans for a Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects-designed office tower in West Palm Beach. The plans reveal a proposal for West Palm Point, a 338-foot-tall tower with 23 floors of office space and a 10-floor parking garage, topped with a reflecting pool and landscaped deck. The late César Pelli’s architecture firm, which designed…

National retail chains paid 80% of July rent, a Covid high

An increasing number of retailers are finding their rent is no longer too damn high. Major retail chains paid 80 percent of their July rent, by far the highest amount in months, according to a new report from Datex Property Solutions. But despite that positive indicator, many retailers are still skipping rent payments, a distressing sign for landlords. The latest rent…

Industrial development, rents and leasing stable in South Florida, but uncertainty remains: panel

Jason Tenenbaum of Prologis, Stephanie Rodriguez of Duke Realty and Ross Giglio of Terrano Realty The industrial sector, a bright spot in South Florida’s real estate market, is seeing shifting strategies, experts say. Some developers, like Duke Realty, are launching new projects, while slowing down in other parts of the country. In mid-March, as the pandemic was…

Bank OZK seeks to foreclose on David Edelstein’s Lincoln Road buildings

Bank OZK is seeking to foreclose on a Lincoln Road property owned by developer David Edelstein. The Little Rock, Arkansas-based bank, one of the most aggressive commercial real estate lenders in the country, is looking to collect on the $12.8 million that’s allegedly remaining on the loan, plus fees and interest, for the buildings at 918 and 920 Lincoln Road in Miami Beach.

Hospitality, retail led job gains in July

The hospitality, leisure and retail sectors led job gains in July, with unemployment levels improving slightly overall. Payroll employment rose by 1.8 million in July and the unemployment rate declined to 10.2 percent, following a high of 14.7 percent in April, according to Department of Labor figures released Friday. Still, 16.3 million Americans remain jobless…

U.S. trade during COVID-19 : Imports and exports have plummeted differently

The recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has included a precipitous decline in U.S. trade: The FRED graph above shows that both imports and exports have declined more than 20% relative to a year ago. This decline may not be too surprising, given that international trade flows are usually more volatile than domestic economic activity. Large changes in economic…

“We’re not crying in our milk”: Hilton eyes new hotels despite $432M loss in Q2

Hilton Worldwide Holdings pressed on with developing new hotels despite heavy losses last quarter. The hotel giant opened 60 hotels with 6,800 new rooms last quarter despite reporting a net loss of $432 million in the second quarter. That’s down almost 66 percent from its net income of $261 million during the same period 2019. Still, the company grew its pipeline by 11…

Brookfield Property’s retail tenants paid 34% of rent in Q2

Brookfield Property Partners’ Brian Kingston Brookfield Property Partners collected just 34 percent of rent across its retail portfolio in the second quarter, helping drive another sharp decline in earnings this year. Its office holdings also took a hit. The real estate arm of Brookfield Asset Management reported a net loss of $1.5 billion from April through June…

TRD Insights: What #WFH could mean for office and resi costs in tech hubs

With many tech companies open to long-term remote work for their employees, questions are being asked about how that will impact the office and residential markets in hubs of tech talent. (iStock) The technology industry accounted for over a fifth of major leasing activity nationwide in 2019, making it the biggest driver of the office market in the U.S. In hubs…

Simon strikes back at the Gap with $107M lawsuit

Call it a retail rumble, with Simon Property Group in one corner and its largest national tenant in the other. The largest shopping mall landlord has filed another lawsuit against the Gap. This one accuses the retailer of “taking opportunistic advantage” of the pandemic to avoid paying $107 million in overdue rent, even though some of its stores have reopened…

Blue Jay Trucking Inks 40,000-SF Lease Deal In Relo To Medley

Agora Real Estate Group President and Commercial Advisor Elias G. Patsalos, CCIM, recently represented the tenant in a long-term, 40,000-square-foot lease at Lakeview Industrial Center, located at 8005 NW 80th Street in Medley. Patsalos represented Blue Jay Trucking in the direct deal with the landlord, Gamma Delta Corp. “This deal was particularly…

Potential CRE Property Improvements To Adapt To COVID-19

In addition to everything else we can blame on COVID-19, the pandemic has altered what’s important in commercial real estate. Not long ago, landscaping, security, and lighting were among the key elements to increase property values, and often ranked high on the list of tenant wishes. But with the pandemic and re-openings, the most significant concern is the…

The post Miami Commercial Real Estate News August 12, 2020: Former Hialeah Ramada, Miami Gardens Winn-Dixie Center Trade; Simon, Authentic Brands to buy Brooks Brothers; More… appeared first on Hawkins Commercial Realty.

In this month’s chart of three year trailing sales of Miami-Dade commercial properties tracking, for the period from August 2018 to July 2020, sales of both improved and vacant land, it is evident that the level is holding within a normal range. This “holding pattern” follows a brief dip in April and May as the coronavirus pandemic had just begun. The Miami Multiple Listing Service (MLS) does not record all commercial property sales, and thus is not fully representative of the asset class, but can nonetheless can be utilized to view general trends.

The post Chart: Miami-Dade Commercial Property Sales Within Normal Range ~ July 2020 MLS appeared first on Hawkins Commercial Realty.

The sales to list price ratio as reported by the Miami MLS, after having held up well as coronavirus hit, reached its lowest level in a number of years for properties classified as commercial/industrial with prices from $1 million to $10 million. That this ratio held up so well as-if-nothing to this point is at least as significant as that it dipped in August, and may hint at August being an aberration. in this ten year chart, one can see how erratic this ratio is over time.

The post Chart: Miami Commercial Real Estate Sales to List Price Ratio Dips in July ~ MLS appeared first on Hawkins Commercial Realty.