This Week's South Florida Deal Sheet
Starwood Capital Group purchased a set of multifamily properties in various Florida cities, demonstrating the firm's commitment to the property type in the Sunshine State.
Barry Sternlicht’s firm paid $91.8M for four standalone communities totaling 669 affordable housing units, Multi-Housing News reported.
The assets were developed between 1994 and 2007 using the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program and will remain affordable under Starwood’s management. Starwood purchased the properties for about $137K per unit, on average, The Real Deal reported.
Starwood purchased the 94-unit Villas at the Cove Crossing at 2738 Lantana Road and 2735 Donnelly Drive in Lake Worth for $16M from Equity Management Partners.
Equity Management flipped the property for a 62% gain, having purchased the property just five months ago.
The portfolio also includes the 184-unit complex Overlook at Monroe at 100 Wilner Circle in Sanford; Sonrise Villas Apartments, offering 241 units at 53 Sonrise Place in Fellsmere; and St. Luke's Apartments, a 150-unit complex at 915 Quincy St. in Lakeland.
SALES
A Canadian company purchased the renovated Balfour Hotel on South Beach for $39.25M.
An entity managed by Miami-based Moto Capital Group sold the hotel to an LLC affiliated with Toronto's Catalyst Capital Group, the South Florida Business Journal reported.
The acquisition was made with an $18M mortgage and a $2M mezzanine loan, and works out to more than $484K per key.
The Balfour Hotel last traded in 2019 to New York-based Life House, which completed $4M in renovations in 2021, Lodging Magazine reported.
CONSTRUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
The city of Fort Lauderdale gave the green light to a project that seeks to turn a former incinerator into a $164M movie studio.
Los Angeles-based studio owner Christopher Ursitti, developer Michael Ullian and entertainer DJ Viola are behind the project.
The 61-acre plot is on Sunrise Boulevard and Northwest 31st Avenue. The site was shut down more than two decades ago after soil contamination was discovered, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.
Although the site has been clean for over two decades, it failed to lure in any long-term investors until now. The new development is expected to be delivered in 2025.
The proposal lays out a plan for the construction of a production studio, 12 soundstages and indoor and outdoor movie sets, as well as office space and a mill.
FINANCE
MG Developer and Baron Property Group nabbed a $148M financing package for a 600-unit apartment development in Hialeah, The Real Deal reported.
The developers expect to break ground in December and deliver the project by the end of 2024.
The two planned 10-story towers will be the tallest residential towers in the city of Progress.
Developers acquired the site for $12.7M in 2021.
LEASES
Sonny's Enterprises, a manufacturer of car wash equipment, leased 201K SF in Butters Construction & Development's new warehouse project in Tamarac.
The lease encompasses the entire development planned at 5601 North Hiatus Road, the South Florida Business Journal reported.
The facility will include a distribution hub, office space and Sonny’s headquarters. The completed complex is expected by October 2023, Butters CEO Malcom Butters told the SFBJ.
Hiatus Industrial Venture LLC, a joint venture between Butters and New York-based BlackRock, purchased an existing office building at the Hiatus Road site for $16.23M in December 2021. The office building on the 12.5-acre site is being demolished with construction slated to kick off in November.
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Swiss Learning, a consortium of boarding and hospitality schools in Switzerland, plans to open its first U.S. office in Miami's Brickell Financial District later this year.
The school hasn't chosen a specific location, but wants enough space to meet with families thinking about sending their children to one of the consortium's schools, the South Florida Business Journal reported.
Since Miami is seen as a “gateway to Latin America and other countries,” it appealed to the school's administration, according to comments made to the SFBJ by Carla Jakubovic, the organization's regional director of Americas.
