This Week's South Florida Deal Sheet
Coral Gables-based MG Developer and New York-based Baron Property Group are partnering to develop a 2.3M SF apartment and retail complex near the Metrorail and Tri-Rail Transfer Station in Hialeah.
The $600M development called Metro Center will be completed across three phases and will include 1,526 apartments across three buildings along with 35K SF of ground-floor retail space, the developers announced.
The developers broke ground in 2022 on the 559-unit, 10-story Metro Parc at 955 Northwest 79th St. and are planning to build a 620-apartment building called Metro Parc North at 983 East 26th St. The second building is expected to deliver in 2026, a year ahead of the third apartment building, a 347-unit property called Metro Parc South, at 954 and 934 East 25th St.
MG Developer acquired the site of the initial Metro Parc development for $10.8M in May 2021. In February, MG Developer announced it had purchased 14 out of the 20 homes on the 3.84-acre site that will host the second and third phases of the development. The developer said at the time that it was negotiating the sale of the remaining six homes.
SALES
The Connor Group, an Ohio-based investment firm focused on luxury apartments, paid $121M for a 332-unit complex called The Villas at Wyndham Lakes in Coral Springs, The Real Deal reported. Global real estate investment manager AEW Capital Management, which is headquartered in Boston, sold the 20-acre development at 11500 Northwest 56th Drive. Connor Group assumed a $51.6M loan on the property and boosted it to $78.7M as part of the sale. The Villas consists of 22 three-story apartment buildings that were completed in the late 1990s. The sale breaks down to $365K per unit for the garden-style complex, which has apartments ranging from one to three bedrooms with monthly rents ranging from $2,199 to $3,399.
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Virginia-based Harbor Group International acquired the recently completed Locklyn West Palm apartment complex for $106M, The Real Deal reported. The seller was an affiliate of developer Alliance Residential Co. and private equity firm Carlyle Group, which finished the complex last year after paying $11.5M for the development site in 2021. The 280-unit property at 3590 Village Blvd., just west of I-95 in West Palm Beach, includes six four-story apartment buildings on 30.8 acres. The sale breaks down to around $377K per unit for apartments with rents running from $2,399 to $3,874 per month. HGI took out a $56.6M loan to finance the deal, according to TRD.
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Miami-based developer Terra Group, in partnership with the Iowa-based Lion Development Group, closed on the $40M purchase of a 1.6-acre property at 3501 Northeast First Ave. in Miami, according to a release. The developers are planning to build a luxury condo tower on the site designed by Miami-based Arquitectonica and international design studio Yabu Pushelberg. The seller was Miami-based Midtown Development, which acquired the site in 2011 for $4.7M, according to property records. Terra and Lion secured $30M in financing from Metropolitan Commercial Bank in New York for the acquisition and initial site development. Details of the project haven't been announced, but the developers plan to break ground next year and complete the condo tower in 2026.
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A six-building, single-story medical office campus in Plantation sold for $15.5M, according to a release. An entity managed by Miami Beach-based designer and contractor Alberto Dayan purchased the property from PPP Capital LLC, an entity that shares its address with Aventura-based real estate investment firm Triarch Capital Group. The medical office campus spans 63K SF that are 98% occupied and a vacant development site that has been approved for a two-story, 22K SF medical building. The seller was represented by Avison Young’s capital markets team of John Crotty, David Duckworth, Michael Fay and Brian de la Fé.
LEASES
Law firm Holland & Knight renewed its 121K SF lease for six floors at 701 Brickell Ave., according to a release. The landlord, Nuveen Real Estate, was represented by Brian Gale and Edward Quinon at Cushman & Wakefield. The 33-story building is 96% occupied after the Cushman & Wakefield team executed nine leases totaling 71K SF in 2022. Holland & Knight’s renewal represents the largest lease by square footage in Brickell in the last five years, according to the release. Holland & Knight was represented by Todd Lippman and Shay Pope at CBRE.
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Five leases totaling 35K SF were signed at the 200 East Broward office building in Downtown Fort Lauderdale, according to a release. The 21-story, 227K SF office tower is owned by a joint venture of Banyan Street Capital and an Oaktree Capital Management fund. In the largest lease, national law firm Baker Donelson signed on for 12K SF on the building’s 20th floor. The other tenants that signed leases were Cohen Seglias, a construction and corporate law firm; Venable LLP, a national law firm; Ryan LLC, a global tax services and accounting firm; AvalonBay Communities, a real estate investment trust focused on apartment buildings; and OM Diamonds, a diamond seller. Colliers brokers Jarred Goodstein and Jonathan Kingsley lead office leasing at the property.
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Dana Safety Supply signed a 15K SF, seven-year lease for an industrial property at 750 McNab Road in Fort Lauderdale, according to a release. The company was established in 2005 and provides equipment and consulting services to law enforcement, fire rescue, public utilities companies, construction firms and security companies. Dana Safety Supply, which has 32 locations across the country, will use the new location as a sales office and site for installing vehicle upgrades. Property records indicate the property was sold in July 2022 for $3M to five LLCs that are all registered to Matthew P. Flores Law in Naples, Florida. Jeffrey Cebula at NAI/Merin Hunter Codman represented the tenant in the lease transaction.
THIS AND THAT
Miami-based global investment manager Leste Group is partnering with a private investment firm based in Rio de Janeiro called Opportunity Fundo de Investimento Imobiliário to form Lore Development Group, according to a release. The new venture will focus on developing multifamily properties in South Florida, and the partners plan to develop more than $1B in multifamily projects in the state over the next five years. Lore represents the first foray into development for Leste Group, which had previously only provided equity investment and lending for projects. The partnership’s first project will be a 442K SF multifamily building with 500 units at 1015 Southwest First Ave. in Brickell.
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A 1.24-acre development site at 678-720 Northwest North River Drive has hit the market with a $26M asking price, according to a release. The site is owned by Babba Joshua Yesharim, a local investor active in Miami’s Riverside District. The property is the only development site over an acre on the Miami River east of 12th Avenue, according to the release. It is being marketed for luxury waterfront townhouses or condos and is zoned for up to 44 housing units up to three stories in height and a total buildable area of 126K SF. Colliers brokers Virgilio Fernandez and Mitash Kripalani are handling the listing.
