Jared Kushner Reportedly Buys $30M Miami Property As Company Expands Reach
Miami is abuzz with a New York Post report that Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are buying a $30M lot for a residential property in Indian Creek, a tiny 0.46-square-mile village next to Miami Beach with 41 home sites and a country club.
Indian Creek has been called "Billionaires' Bunker" because of its high concentration of wealthy residents, including billionaires Carl Icahn and Jeffrey Soffer, model Adriana Lima and hedge funder Eddie Lampert. The parcel that's reportedly being bought by Trump and Kushner is currently owned by singer Julio Iglesias.
When Jared Kushner began working in the White House as a senior adviser to his father-in-law, President Donald Trump, he stepped down as CEO of his family’s commercial real estate firm, Kushner Cos., but retained a substantial ownership stake, The New York Times reported in 2018.
A spokesperson for Kushner Cos. declined to comment to Bisnow on Jared Kushner or whether he might rejoin the company. Kushner Cos. has several projects underway in South Florida.
Company President Laurent Morali told The Real Deal in October that Kushner Cos. decided to enter the South Florida market because of demographic trends, with Florida’s population expected to grow from 21.3 million to nearly 26 million.
“These people are going to need to find housing. That’s the case for development,” Morali said.
In Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood, which is in an opportunity zone, Kushner Cos. has planned a $500M, highly amenitized apartment community at 1900 to 2000 Biscayne Blvd. Plans call for three towers in three phases, with more than 1,000 units total. Morali told The Real Deal that rents will exceed $3 per SF.
In 2019, Kushner Cos. also bought two parcels, one in Wynwood and one in Fort Lauderdale, for a combined $81M.
A Kushner Cos. project book for 2020 says the company partnered with Block Capital Group in Wynwood and plans to develop a mixed-use project there with 55K SF of retail, 55K SF of office and 138 luxury rental units.
The Fort Lauderdale assemblage at 200, 300 and 520 West Broward Blvd. is near a station for Brightline, a privately operated train. Few details about that have been publicly announced, but The Next Miami reports that Kushner Cos. is rumored to be planning a major project there called Fort Lauderdale City Center with three towers and 1,100 units, and is looking for a development partner.
The Kushner Cos. 2020 project book says, “Kushner has staffed operations in Miami and is actively seeking other development and acquisition opportunities in South Florida.”
The Real Deal reported in July that to lead its South Florida efforts, Kushner hired Gabriela Toledo as project manager of development and construction. Previously, she led project planning, general contractor work and budget management for Paramount Miami Worldcenter.
During his years in the White House, Jared Kushner has been criticized for perceptions that he may have used his government role for profit.
Kushner was criticized in 2017 when his sister touted her connection to him while soliciting EB-5 investors in China. That same year, he met executives from Apollo and Citigroup at the White House; the firms later made $184M and $325M loans, respectively, to Kushner Cos.
Jared Kushner also held a stake valued at $25M to $50M in real estate firm Cadre, whose investors included Saudi Arabia. Cadre stood to profit from opportunity zones, which were created by Donald Trump's signature Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017. Critics also floated concerns that Kushner Cos.' pursuit of funding from foreign sources to cover debt for its $1.8B building at 666 Fifth Ave. in New York could pose national security problems.
