South Florida Fundamentals Are Solid. Here's Why.
Never mind the strong dollar or what interest rates are up to, the world is still coming to South Florida, looking to buy property. That's why we're excited to talk about its strong fundamentals at Bisnow's 3rd annual South Florida State of the Market beginning at 7:30am on Sept. 22 at Soho Studios.
Newgard Development Group CEO Harvey Hernandez, who will be one of our speakers, tells us that in the case of One Flagler, Newgard's office condo project, what drove demand was "the fact that there's a huge buyer base that's looking for assets that generate immediate income from the moment they close and into the future." Or, to put it another way, there's a lot of cash in the market and not enough income-producing options for this type of buyer.
Another fact: Miami's a genuine global city now, with international and domestic businesses looking to establish a presence. Newgard and JV partner Midgard Management started offering office condos late last year at One Flagler, a 15-story building at 14 NE First Ave in Downtown, and now buyers are closing. Besides existing tenants and buyers from greater Miami, investors from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Israel, Uruguay and Venezuela have all bought condos.
“The South Florida real estate market will continue to attract more demand than the supply availability in all sectors,” Aztec Group chairman Ezra Katz, who will also be a speaker at our event, tells us. “The barriers to entry for new developments have increased due to lack of entitled land, as well as lack of owners who wish to sell, thus the normal growth of inventory for most property types is slowing down.”
Even so, there are still ground-up development opportunities in Miami for the most nimble players. Recently the site formerly occupied by WPLG-Channel 10 at 3900 Biscayne Blvd traded between two LLCs for $18M in a deal brokered by Aztec Group. Well-funded developers are focusing only on the most strategic pieces of land, explains Aztec's Jim Fried. The site is a prime candidate for mixed-use development. Come hear more about the market at Bisnow's 3rd annual South Florida State of the Market beginning at 7:30am on Sept. 22 at Soho Studios. Sign up here.
