The 11 Biggest South Florida Commercial Real Estate Sales Of 2024
As 2024 wraps up its final chapter, we can look back on another big year for South Florida’s commercial real estate market.
While most end-of-year lists keep things tidy with 10 things, we're turning ours up to 11 because it wouldn't be a proper Miami list if it weren't a little over the top.
These deals span hotel, office, industrial and multifamily trades, and they total $2.7B of commercial properties changing hands. Some buyers and sellers made the list more than once, and there was no geographic bias — from Palm Beach all the way down to the heart of Miami.
While these large sales were sprinkled throughout the year, these deals really started to gain traction toward the final months of 2024 as more buyers got off the sidelines. This list was curated with data provided by Cushman & Wakefield, CBRE and the Vizzda database.
11. Ceru
Buyer: Ares Management
Seller: Main Street Capital
Price: $139.6M
Asset Class: Multifamily
Sale Date: May 17
The multifamily sales market was nothing if not consistent last year. There were 10 sales of more than $108M, but none for more than $144.2M. Texas-based Main Street sold the eight-story Ceru apartment building at 5205 Congress Ave. in Boca Raton, which totals more than 373K SF, to Los Angeles-based Ares two years after completing its development.
Main Street broke ground on the 4.1-acre property in 2021 after securing a $60.5M construction loan from Pacific Western Bank. The property consists of 285 units, ranging between one and three bedrooms starting at 700 SF.
10. The Quaye At Wellington
Buyer: Dermot Co.
Seller: Stockbridge Capital
Price: $144.2M
Asset Class: Multifamily
Sale Date: Sept. 30
While the 10th-largest deal of the year overall, The Quaye at Wellington was the biggest multifamily sale of 2024 in South Florida.
San Francisco-based Stockbridge Capital bought the Palm Beach County property, which includes 33 two-story apartment buildings, in 2018 for $120M. Along with its purchase, Dermot assumed a $60M mortgage from State Farm that matures in 2028.
The property at 1090 Quaye Lake Circle was built in 2016 and includes an 11K SF clubhouse, a fitness center, a sports simulator and a dog park.
9. Miami Midway Park
Buyer: Ares Management
Seller: Greystar, Butters Construction
Price: $147M
Asset Class: Industrial
Sale Date: Oct. 8
Ares wasn't done making big deals in South Florida. It completed one of the year's biggest industrial deals when it paid $147M for the four-building, 506K SF Miami Midway Park property.
South Carolina-based Greystar and Coconut Creek-based Butters Construction sold the 23.2-acre property at 9675 NW 174th St. The logistics park has 32-foot clear heights and a total of 120 dock doors. The sellers were represented by a CBRE team led by Jose Lobón.
8. W Hotel Fort Lauderdale
Buyer: Blackstone
Seller: Related Fund Management
Price: $153M
Asset Class: Hotel
Sale Date: May 1
Blackstone appears more on this list as a seller later on, but it also was the buyer on one of the year's biggest sales.
Its purchase of the 346-room W Hotel from Related's investment management arm included $97.7M for the property and an additional $55M for the hotel operations.
The sale happened before Related founder Stephen Ross split his company in July, spinning off its Florida assets into Related Ross. The hotel at 401 N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd. totals 567K SF spanning two 23-story towers. It was built on a 3.8-acre site in 2010 with access to 315 feet of beachfront.
Marriott manages operations at the property, which includes five restaurants, a full spa and 171 additional condo-hotel units that weren't part of the transaction.
7. West Dade Government Center
Buyer: Miami-Dade County
Seller: Hoffman Flagler LLC
Price: $182M
Asset Class: Office
Sale Date: Sept. 11
Miami-Dade's controversial purchase of this office space might have ranked higher on this list if not for pushback over the price it paid.
The county's purchase of the 6-acre site was voted on and approved in June after concerns were raised over the initial purchase price of $203M. The county is also looking at spending $73M to renovate the property, which was built in 1975.
The overall purchase of the 26-acre site at 9250 W. Flagler St. included the six-story office building, parking and undeveloped land. The county noted the possibility of building affordable housing on the site. The building at one point housed the headquarters of Florida Power & Light and is now planned as a centralized hub of departments that work on real estate permitting and approvals.
6. Blackstone's 4-Property Industrial Portfolio
Buyer: Elion Partners
Seller: Blackstone
Price: $205.6M
Asset Class: Industrial
Sale Date: Dec. 5
Blackstone ended the year with a pair of huge industrial dispositions. The first was a four-property Broward County portfolio the investment giant sold to Elion Partners.
The Miami-based investment firm bought Western Marina Business Center at 13800-13900 NW Second St. in Miami for $102.6M in the biggest transfer. It also bought Sawgrass Center for more than $15M, the International Center for $49.6M and the Sunrise Distribution Center for nearly $38M, all in Sunrise.
5. Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa
Buyer: Larry Ellison
Seller: Zinfandel Holdings LLC
Price: $317M
Asset Class: Hotel
Sale Date: Aug. 9
Ellison, the founder of Oracle and the world's third-richest person, purchased the 309-key oceanfront hotel from California-based Zinfandel Holdings LLC after a failed sale attempt in 2019.
Zinfandel, owned by the British Lewis family of the Lewis Trust Group, purchased the property in 2003 for $67.5M and invested in a multimillion-dollar renovation that was completed in 2022. The original name for the resort was La Coquille Club, and it has hosted prominent families such as the Vanderbilts, Fords and Rockefellers. The resort was rebranded as Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa in 2013.
While Ellison reportedly intends to renovate the 8-acre site at 100 S. Ocean Blvd., there are no plans to do so in the near term.
4. Blackstone's 26-Building Warehouse Portfolio
Buyer: Longpoint Realty Partners
Seller: Blackstone
Price: $331M
Asset Class: Industrial
Sale Date: Nov. 24
Longpoint Realty Partners closed the largest industrial deal of the year just before Thanksgiving with its purchase of 26 properties from Blackstone subsidiary Link Logistics.
The acquisition culminated a yearlong buying spree for Longpoint that began in December 2023 with a $262M deal — also the largest industrial deal of 2023.
Boston-based Longpoint, led by Dwight Angelini, got the financing for the deal through a $180M loan from PGIM Real Estate. The buildings are spread among Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties and span a total of 1.4M SF. The properties were built between 1964 and 2003, The Real Deal reported.
3. The Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne
Buyer: Gencome
Seller: Brookfield Asset Management
Price: $400M
Asset Class: Hotel
Sale Date: Jan. 15
Miami-based Gencome started the year off by buying back a two-thirds interest in the 291-key resort that it sold in 2015.
Gencome originally developed the 13-story property in 2000 but sold its majority stake for $325M to Carey Watermark Investors. Brookfield later took control of the property at 455 Grand Bay Drive as part of a larger, $3.8B deal.
Gencome plans a $100M renovation for the 275K SF resort starting in 2025, which will include guestroom, restaurant, public space and amenities upgrades. Citigroup and affiliates of Denver-based KSL Capital Partners financed the deal.
2. W South Beach
Buyer: Reuben Brothers
Seller: RFR and Tricap
Price: $400M
Asset Class: Hotel
Sale Date: Oct. 29
London-based Reuben Brothers bought the 348 hotel rooms and managed condo units from New York-based developers RFR and Tricap, which opened the building on a 3.5-acre site at 2201 Collins Ave. in 2009.
In 2023, the joint partnership became temporarily fraught after Tricap, formerly Tristar Capital, sued RFR over a $157M loan, seeking to enforce a buyout agreement to acquire RFR’s interest in the property for $200M. RFR countersued in New York, claiming Tricap was stalling on the buyout and trying to renegotiate loan terms.
The lawsuits were dismissed in April 2023 when both firms decided to extend the loan and remain partners. The deal, for nearly half a billion dollars, shows that sometimes in the world of big-ticket CRE disputes, all's well that ends well.
1. 701 Brickell
Buyer: Morning Calm Management, Elliott Management
Seller: Nuveen Real Estate
Price: $443M
Asset Class: Office
Sale Date: Oct. 8
Last and most certainly not the least, the biggest sale of the year was of 701 Brickell Ave. in Miami's premier office market. The whopping $443M price tag — paid in cash — made it the second-largest office transaction in Florida’s history.
While the national office market has faced challenges, Brickell stands as an exception with an 11.9% vacancy rate, according to CBRE. Asking rents in Brickell are now above $100 per SF, a number that would have been unfathomable in Miami five years ago.
The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America purchased the office tower in 2002 for $172M and spent $30M since on its renovation. Nuveen Real Estate, the real estate investment arm of TIAA, sold the 685K SF property for $646.45 per SF, which made it not only the largest office sale of the year but also the priciest, according to CBRE.
