This Week's South Florida Deal Sheet: PMG, Greybrook Land $226M Construction Loan In Fort Lauderdale
Miami-based developer Property Markets Group and Toronto-based private equity firm Greybrook secured a $226M construction loan to build the second phase of a Downtown Fort Lauderdale apartment complex called Society Las Olas, according to a release.
Related Fund Management, Related Cos.' third-party investment manager, and Philadelphia-based real estate investment fund Lubert-Adler provided the loan for the 42-story apartment project at 140 Southwest Second St. along the New River.
Jon Moriarty & Associates is the general contractor for the project, which is wrapping up groundwork and is slated for completion in the first quarter of 2026. The building was designed by FSMY Architects + Planners and will have 583 units that are planned to be a mix of traditional apartments and “rent-by-bedroom” co-living units.
The first phase of Society Las Olas, a 639-unit apartment building, was sold in 2021 for an undisclosed price to an entity controlled by WeWork founder Adam Neumann, The Wall Street Journal reported.
FINANCING
Fontainebleau Development secured a $72.8M construction loan to finish a conference center at its eponymous Miami Beach resort, Commercial Observer reported. Goldman Sachs provided the loan, which is being disbursed incrementally and under certain conditions. The 50K SF center is being built by the Aventura-based developer on a 1-acre site at 4360 Collins Ave. The five-story meeting space is just south of the project’s condo component and will include two divisible ballrooms, 10 breakout rooms and a 9K SF rooftop deck. The property, which was acquired by the Jeffrey Soffer-led development firm in 2005 for $13M, will be connected to the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel by a sky bridge.
SALES
An affiliate of PGIM Real Estate sold the 293-unit Verona View apartments in Plantation for $86M, the South Florida Business Journal reports. PRIII Verona Owner LLC sold the development at 10900 Northwest 17th St. to an entity controlled by Miami-based Atlantic Pacific Cos. and Philadelphia-based LEM Capital called 10900 NW 17th Street Owner LLC. Berkadia Commercial Mortgage provided a $53M mortgage to the buyer that matures in 10 years. The price breaks down to about $293K per unit for the development, which was built on 28.8 acres in 1990 and last sold in 2019 for $75M.
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Walton Street Capital paid $51.5M for three warehouses in Miami’s Brownsville neighborhood northeast of Miami International Airport, The Real Deal reported. The Chicago firm purchased the properties at 5530 Northwest 32nd Court from HighBrook Investors, a private equity firm with offices in West Palm Beach, New York, London and Luxembourg. The warehouses total around 340K SF and were built in 1959 and 1968. Tenants at the properties include the roofing supply store Beacon Building Products and records storage facility Archive America. HighBrook paid $33M for the three warehouses in 2021.
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Investment giant Blackstone sold a warehouse in Medley to Prologis for $51M as part of a larger portfolio deal, SFBJ reported. The 188K SF warehouse at 10736 Northwest 123rd St. was sold by a Blackstone affiliate called Western B Southeast FL LLC. Prologis acquired the property through an entity called NW 123rd St FL LLC. The multitenant property, known as Pan American North Business Park, was built on 8.8 acres in 2013. It was sold as part of a $3.1B deal announced in June through which Prologis acquires nearly 14M SF of industrial properties in 10 metro areas from Blackstone, including the Cypress Pointe Distribution Center in Pompano Beach.
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The Tropics Hotel, a three-story art deco building at 1550 Collins Ave. in Miami Beach, sold for $20M, according to a release. California-based investor Anish Khimani purchased the 70-key property in a 1031 exchange, Commercial Observer reported. Khimani paid $15M in cash and received a $5M, five-year mortgage from the seller, Swiss investor Armando Opprecht. Khimani is planning cosmetic upgrades to the site and has struck a deal with Miami Beach-based Red Group to lease the building as short-term rentals. Susan Gale with Gale Group International at One Sotheby’s International Realty represented both sides in the transaction, according to the release.
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Multifamily developer Resia has canceled its plan to build a headquarters office in Kendall after the property was sold for $3.7M to Bravo Partners Three Lakes LLC, an entity managed by Armando Bravo in Miami, SFBJ reported. The seller of the property on the northwest corner of Southwest 136th Street and Southwest 132nd Avenue was Three Lakes LLC. Resia filed plans in early 2022 to build a 75K SF office building on the site without purchasing the property as part of a build-to-suit arrangement that never moved forward. The developer, which reduced its staff by around 100 employees in late 2022, said it will continue to operate out of its current office at 12895 Southwest 132nd St.
LEASES
The city of Fort Lauderdale will expand its office footprint at 1 East Broward Blvd., relocating staff from City Hall after the building flooded during historic storms three months ago, SFBJ reported. The city commission and mayor’s office approved a 38-month lease for 16K SF at the 350K SF property, including a 3,573 SF renewal for space that has been used as the city attorney’s office since 2017. The rest of the spread will be occupied by charter offices and city staff.
The city will pay $25 per SF at a triple-net rate for the first year of the lease with 3% annual escalations. The Downtown Fort Lauderdale office tower is owned by 1 East Broward Owner LLC, an entity that shares its address with California-based investment management firm PCCP.
Fort Lauderdale city officials are also negotiating a sublease agreement with West Marine for the first and second floors of the 19-story building. The boating and fishing supplier leases 50K SF for its headquarters at the property, according to the SFBJ.
Fort Lauderdale City Hall on North Andrews Avenue was rendered unusable following flooding in April that filled the building’s basement with 8 feet of water and destroyed its power systems. Prior to the storm, the 62K SF building had housed around 300 employees.
THIS AND THAT
The Miami City Commission unanimously approved an amended ground lease agreement with Miami-based Gencom and Hyatt Hotels Corp., moving the joint venture closer to the demolition and replacement of the Hyatt Regency in Downtown Miami and adjacent to the James L. Knight Center.
The vote clears the way for the construction of a three-tower complex on the site called Miami Riverbridge, which will include 615 hotel rooms, 1,500 market-rate apartments and around 190K SF of meeting space.
Under the terms of the ground lease, the joint venture will pay a minimum of $2.5M in rent annually once the project is built. While the property is under construction, the partnership will pay $1M a year with $250K annual escalations. Hyatt and Gencom will also contribute $25M to the city for affordable housing initiatives and upgrade a 480-foot stretch of riverwalk at the property.
Hyatt has been trying to redevelop the 41-year-old hotel at 400 Southeast Second Ave. on the Miami River since 2017, and most recently the city commission failed to approve the ground lease last month during a special meeting held solely to address the topic because of a lack of quorum. Gencom and Hyatt will work with the city “over the coming year” to finalize construction plans, according to the release.
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South Florida real estate brokerage ISG World is expanding beyond residential offerings after being selected as the exclusive sales and marketing team for office space at the fourth phase of Atlantic Village. As its first office listing, ISG will be marketing move-in-ready suites on the top five floors of the under-construction building at 801 North Federal Highway in Hallandale Beach. The 12-story building has 7,745 SF of ground-floor retail, a 298-space parking garage on the second through seventh floors, and 98K SF of office space on the upper floors. It is the final planned phase of Atlantic Village, a mixed-use project built by the Mexican development firm Grupo Eco. The office building is expected to deliver in October and will offer suites ranging from 1,200 SF to 20.3K SF, with prices starting at $600K.
