This Week's South Florida Deal Sheet: Rockpoint Pays $180M For 88-Acre Industrial Site
Rockpoint, a Boston-based real estate private equity firm, acquired an 88-acre development site in Pompano Beach where it’s planning to build around 1.5M SF of industrial space, according to a release. The sale price was $180M, a source familiar with the deal confirmed.
The infill site is part of The Pomp, a 223-acre, mixed-use development from The Cordish Cos. and Caesars Entertainment that is under construction adjacent to the Isle Casino Pompano. It’s slated to include 1.3M SF of retail and entertainment space, 4,000 residential units, two hotels and 1.4M SF of Class-A office space.
Rockpoint plans to break ground on the first portion of the three-phase project in May 2024. Rockhill Management, the firm’s property services affiliate, will work with Cordish and Caesars on the development and management of the project.
“Despite an overall sense of caution with respect to new investments in the current capital markets environment, we are excited about this opportunity given the attractiveness of our basis combined with significant rent growth that Broward County is experiencing,” Tom Gilbane, managing member at Rockpoint, said in a statement.
SALES
A 103K SF warehouse on a nearly 6-acre site in Plantation sold for $30M, The Real Deal reports. The property, called Sunrise Logistics Centers and located at 6801 West Sunrise Blvd., was acquired by David Rabbani, the president of Hallandale Pharmacy in Dania Beach.
An entity managed by Butters Group partner Arvinder Bajaj paid $2.6M to acquire the site in 2021 and partnered with Coconut Creek-based developer Butters to tear down a 52K SF warehouse on the site and replace it with the new project.
Israel Discount Bank of New York provided a $20M mortgage to Rabbani for the sale, which breaks down to $290 per SF.
FINANCING
Miami-based developers Blue Road and BGI Cos., a subsidiary of BGI Capital, secured a $95M construction loan for a condominium building named Alba Palm Beach, according to a release. Germany-based Wexcor Capital sourced the loan from Kriss Capital in New York.
The 22-story condo tower at 4714 North Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach is slated for completion in 2025. The 55-unit property, which includes two- and three-story condos, is 45% sold with prices starting at $3M. As part of Alba’s marketing, the developers are offering buyers a complimentary membership to the subscription-based private jet operator Magellan Jets.
Trez Capital provided an $82M construction loan last April for the property, Profile Miami reported. The 1.2-acre site was purchased in November 2020 for $5.8M by Scuba Club WPB LLC, which records indicate is registered to the same address as BGI Capital.
LEASES
Miami International Securities Exchange, a global exchange for equities and commodities, signed a 38K SF lease at 545wyn in Wynwood, Commercial Cafe reports. The deal brings the 499K SF property, located at 545 Northwest 26th St., to 82% leased and follows a 45K SF deal inked by Sony Music in October.
The MIAX lease spans a full floor at what is currently the largest office building in Wynwood. The exchange will also maintain its office at 1450 Brickell Ave. in Miami’s financial district.
Chicago-based developer Sterling Bay, which completed 545wyn in 2021, was represented in the deal by Juan Ruiz, vice chairman at Blanca Commercial Real Estate.
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Two tenants signed leases totaling 16K SF at Cypress Corporate Center at 1901 West Cypress Creek Road, according to a release.
National insurance brokerage Morgan Fidelity Associates signed a 10K SF lease, while Control Point Associates, a national land surveying and consulting firm, signed on for 6K SF. Both firms will move into the fifth floor of the 151K SF property in the first half of 2024.
CBRE brokers Gordon Messinger, Joe Freitas and Max Pawk represented the building’s owner, a local investment firm called HS Capital that manages properties in New York, New Jersey and Florida. Both tenants were represented by Michael Feuerman and Daniel Silver at Berger Commercial Real Estate.
The landlord purchased the property in 2020 for $17.5M, property records indicate.
CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
Related Group and Alta Developers broke ground on the 56-story Casa Bella Residences by B&B Italia in Downtown Miami’s Arts & Entertainment District, according to a release. The Arquitectonica-designed tower at 1400 Biscayne Blvd. will have interiors by Piero Lissoni, the creative director at B&B Italia, marking the Italian design house's first foray into residential projects.
The property’s 319 units are more than 80% sold with prices for the remaining condos starting at $1.2M, a Related spokesperson said. Condos at the property range from 711 SF studios to 2,187 four-bedroom units as well as 10 penthouses, including a 5,893 SF unit that went under contract in June for $12.6M, according to a release at the time.
A Fortune International Realty team led by Olga Monson is handling sales at the tower.
Related acquired the 2.8-acre site adjacent to the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in 2014 for $57M, the Miami Herald reported at the time.
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Construction commenced this month on the 48-unit The Avenue Hotel & Residences Coral Gables at 351 San Lorenzo Ave., according to a release. Roger Development Group, a family-owned Coral Gables firm, is building the eight-story property with one- and two-bedroom units ranging from 598 SF to 1,200 SF.
The property’s fully furnished units are more than 75% sold, with prices running from $730K to more than $1.3M., according to the developer. Miami-based Cervera Real Estate is the exclusive sales and marketing agent.
Avenue Hotel & Residences includes 3,800 SF of ground-floor retail and was designed by two Coral Gables-based firms. Bermello Ajamil & Partners is the architect and interior design is coming from Adriana Hoyos Design Studio.
A Miami-based entity called Inmocap 2 LLC provided a $25M construction loan for the project in October, the South Florida Business Journal reported. The developer paid $5.1M for the 11K SF parcel in May 2022, property records indicate.
The project is expected to be delivered in early 2025. Condo owners will be able to live in the units full-time, rent them out annually, or rent them as hotel rooms through SoFla Vacations, which has been hired to manage the development’s hotel operations, SFBJ reported.
A 45-condo project in Coconut Grove is back under construction, according to a release, after it was acquired by a Pembroke Pines attorney via a deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure transaction.
Arbor Residences, located at 3034 Oak Ave., is now slated for delivery in the third quarter of 2024. The property’s owner, an entity controlled by Issac Kodsi called Arbor Grove Development LLC, reimbursed buyers who had put down deposits and invited them to repurchase units with new sales slated to launch this winter.
Prices start at $1.2M, according to the release, up from the $799K they were marketed at when the previous owner launched sales in 2017. Sandra Masis from Cervera Real Estate is leading the second round of sales.
Arbor Grove Development acquired the property earlier this month after lender Trez Capital filed an $18M foreclosure lawsuit in August 2022 against the previous owner, an entity controlled by Nicolas Hamann called 3034 Oak Park LLC. Arbor Grove Development assumed the construction loan, now valued at $21M, and the debt was transferred to Fort Lauderdale-based Oasis Investment Trust.
While the Arbor Grove entity lists Kodsi and another Pembroke Pines attorney named Steven Amster as registered agents, a spokesperson confirmed that Kodsi is the sole developer.
THIS AND THAT
The Miami-Dade Beacon Council held its annual meeting on Nov. 9 at the Faena Forum in Miami Beach, where it outlined its involvement in Miami-Dade’s economic growth over the last year.
The Beacon Council, the county’s official public-private economic development partnership, said it had secured 51 commitments from companies looking to expand in or relocate to the county, according to a release. The corporate activity is expected to generate 5,734 direct jobs with an average salary of $98K and 9,084 indirect jobs.
The Beacon Council said in an annual report that 12 of the commitments came from technology firms, eight from trade and logistics companies, seven from the creative sector, six from financial services firms and five from the life science and healthcare space.
