This Week's South Florida Deal Sheet
The state of Florida is offering up more than 4 acres in Downtown Fort Lauderdale to developers, who it wants to get creative.
The state has selected CBRE to market the 4.33-acre property, which includes a 114K SF office building at 201 West Broward Blvd., according to a press release. CBRE brokers David Wigoda and Lee Ann Korst have the assignment, and call for developers to bring proposals to build multifamily, office, medical, hospitality, entertainment or retail.
Blind bids are due Oct. 25 and bidding starts at $52M, the South Florida Business Journal reports. The office building houses several state agencies, including the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Department of Children and Families and Adult Protected Services, and the Bureau of Fire, Arson, and Explosives Investigations.
DEVELOPMENTS
Less than two weeks after acquiring the Regency Condominium in Tequesta, Jeffrey Soffer’s Fontainebleau Development is moving forward with plans to redevelop it.
Soffer, who paid $102.3M for the 40-unit condo, seeks to demolish the property and replace it with a new 10-story, 34-unit complex. Records filed with the village of Tequesta show that the development will cost about $62M to build and will be designed by Arquitectonica, Commercial Observer reports. The property is located at 250 South Beach Road on Jupiter Island. Soffer is also developing the adjacent site at 300 South Beach Road. The development called the Savoy will also replace another condo that Soffer demolished in 2021.
The Tequesta Village Council is meeting Wednesday, when it will evaluate the developer’s application for 250 South Beach Road and will address design status updates from Arquitectonica for 300 South Beach Road regarding concerns with elevating the building.
LEASES
Sports & Social is debuting its Miami location minutes from American Airlines Arena and the central business district. The entertainment venue secured 20K SF in the all-glass “Jewel Box” retail complex at Miami Worldcenter, The Real Deal reported. Sports & Social will feature a 53-foot LED screen tol show various sports events simultaneously, live music and other activities, such as shuffleboard and foosball.
Miami Worldcenter is a 27-acre master development spearheaded by Art Falcone and Nitin Motwani, in partnership with CIM Group. TRD reports that 100K SF of retail space has already been leased at Miami Worldcenter and 170K SF of retail space has already been delivered. The Paramount condo building, the Bezel Miami building and the Caoba apartment tower have already been delivered at the megaproject.
Two law firms are trading the Windy City for the Magic City.
Winston & Strawn LLP and Baker McKenize each signed leases at Miami's most expensive office building, 830 Brickell, the developers announced last week. Winston & Strawn is taking 35K SF, while Baker McKenize signed an 18K SF lease at the under-construction, 55-story tower from developers OKO Group and Cain International.
Savills' Mark O’Donnell and Tom Capocefalo represented Winston & Strawn, while Capocefalo, John Mambrino, Brian Day and David Goldstein repped Baker McKenzie. Cushman & Wakefield's Brian Gale, Ryan Holtzman and Andrew Trench worked on the deal for the landlords.
Baker McKenzie is relocating and expanding from its space at the Sabadell Financial Center at 1111 Brickell Ave., while the lease represents Winston & Strawn's first Miami outpost. Asking rents in 830 Brickell reach up to $150 per SF.
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The Sun Sentinel is staying put in its Deerfield Beach distribution center as the news publication renewed its 291K SF digs. Currently, the news outlet, which is responsible for printing local sections of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the New York Daily News and the New York Post, occupies the 23-acre property that has 50K SF of allocated office space, Commercial Observer reports. The property is located at 333 Southwest 12th Ave. It is one of the handful of properties that the Sun Sentinel owns in Florida.
The landlord, Gramercy Property Trust, acquired the building from Tribune Publishing Co. in 2016 for $25.5M. Berger Commercial Realty represented the Sun Sentinel and CBRE represented Gramercy Property Trust.
FINANCING
Neology Life Development Group landed a $57.5M mortgage from Churchill Real Estate for a deal to break ground once again in Allapattah, the South Florida Business Journal reports. Its newest project is called Fourteen Allapattah Residences, and will feature 5K SF of retail and two buildings comprising 237 units connected via a pool deck, a Neology spokesperson told Bisnow.
This is Neology Life’s third project in Allapattah, a predominantly Dominican American neighborhood. The development encompasses a 1.5-acre site at 1482-1454 NW 36th St. and 1495-1455 NW 35th St. The larger building will reach 14 stories and hold 180 units and connect to a five-story, 57-unit building.
Neology agreed to deliver 144 workforce housing units affordable for those earning up to 140% of the area median income, allowing the developer to save $846K in impact fees, the SFBJ reported.
PEOPLE
Canadian brokerage giant Avison Young has Lisa Jesmer as principal and national director of its Investor Services Business Development division, the firm announced Tuesday. Jesmer will focus on growing the firm’s investor pool in varied channels and service lines across the country, but she will be based in Miami.
She also has over 30 years of experience in CRE, including 18 years at JLL before stints at CBRE, Franklin Street and, most recently, SE Property Advisors, according to her LinkedIn page.
SALES
Hines Global Income Trust purchased the 1.2M SF Gables Station mixed-use property for $430M, one of the largest deals in South Florida to date. The Houston-based firm acquired the 14-story building at 251 South Dixie Highway rom 54 Madison Partners and Nolan Reynolds International. The includes approximately 500 units over 105K SF of retail space. Cushman & Wakefield brokered the sale.
