This Week’s South Florida Deal Sheet: Bank OZK Lends $498M To 2 Condo Projects
Miami-based CMC Group secured a $239M construction loan for Vita at Grove Isle, a luxury 65-unit condo project on the exclusive island off Coconut Grove, according to a release.
Bank OZK provided the financing for the seven-story project, boosting a $38.5M mortgage the Arkansas-based bank originally provided for the property in 2021.
Vita at Grove Isle broke ground in April at 5 Grove Isle Drive and is slated to deliver in late 2025. More than 70% of its units are sold, with condos ranging from three to four bedrooms and priced between $5.7M and $19.5M.
CMC Group, led by Ugo Colombo, is building Vita at Grove Isle on a nearly 6-acre site on the gated island. It acquired the site in 2022 from Eduardo Avila for an undisclosed price. The project was designed by CallisonRTKL, S & E Architects and Italian designers Carlo and Paolo Colombo of A++ Architecture.
FINANCING
Bank OZK also provided a $259M loan to Fortune International and Oak Capital, both based in Miami, to fund the construction of The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Pompano Beach, according to a release.
The beachfront condo project at 1380 S. Ocean Blvd., which recently broke ground and is planned to deliver in 2026, is more than 90% sold.
Designed by Miami-based Revuelta Architecture International, the project consists of the 32-story Beach Tower with 117 units and the 14-story Marina Tower with 88 units. It will have more than 35K SF of amenities, including a marina, beach club and on-site dining.
Fortune International, led by Edgardo Defortuna, acquired the 4.6-acre site in September 2020 for $27.5M, the South Florida Business Journal reported at the time. It was sold by an affiliate of Miami-based Lionheart Capital.
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Pebb Capital landed a $173M construction loan for Sundy Village, a 7-acre mixed-use development in Delray Beach, according to a release. The funding was provided by Chicago-based Monroe Capital and JPMorgan Chase.
Sundy Village, located on the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Swinton Avenue, broke ground early last year and is slated to deliver this summer. It will include 180K SF of office space and 28K SF of ground-floor retail.
Designed by Gensler and Boca Raton-based RLC Architects, which was recently acquired by IBI Group, Sundy Village includes six new buildings and several structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places that will be preserved and renovated into retail space.
Pebb, which has offices in Boca Raton and New York, assembled the properties through purchases from Marshall Florida Holdings in 2019 that totaled around $40M, The Real Deal reported at the time.
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MF1, a joint venture of Berkshire Residential Investments and Limekiln Real Estate, provided $115M in financing for the recently completed Metro Edgewater apartments at 452 NE 31st St., according to a release. The 32-story tower with 279 units is owned by Miami-based Lujeni Corp. and Building Block Realty, along with Camino Capital Management, based in Washington, D.C.
The developers broke ground on the project in the summer of 2021 and completed it last month. Its one-to-three-bedroom units, which average 955 SF, are being leased from around $3K to $5,600 per month.
The floating-rate debt will pay off a $55M construction loan provided by Madison Realty Capital in 2022 and provide bridge financing while the tower, which is 20% leased, reaches full occupancy, TRD reported.
The owners were represented by a JLL Capital Markets team that included Jesse Wright, Elliott Throne, Kenny Cutler, Joshua Odessky and J.J. Hovenden. The MF1 capital financing was led by Michael Squires, Phil Pesant and Connor Pensabene.
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MetLife Investment Management, a subsidiary of New York-based MetLife, provided a $185M loan to refinance the 650-room Marriott Harbor Beach hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Commercial Observer reported.
The five-year, floating-rate loan was provided to Lauderdale Beach Association, which Securities and Exchange Commission filings indicate is a subsidiary of Maryland-based REIT Host Hotels & Resorts.
The entity first entered into a ground lease for the property at 3030 Holiday Drive in 1981, and the hotel opened in 1984. The loan will fund capital improvements, including guestroom renovations and upgrades to the property’s exterior and event space, according to Commercial Observer.
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Miami-based Treo Group landed a $53M construction loan to build student housing next to the South Miami Metrorail Station, Commercial Observer reported. The debt includes $29M from FirstBank Puerto Rico and $24M from Spanish bank Abanca. It adds to a $10M loan Treo secured in 2020 from Granada Financial, a subsidiary of Miami-based Granada Insurance Co.
The loan will finance the construction of a 13-story apartment building at 5949 SW 72nd St. that is part of the Vox Miami apartment complex, 1.4 miles south of the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables. Treo has a ground lease with Miami-Dade County for the 6-acre site.
The project will have 163 units with a total of 400 beds and around 13K SF of retail space. It is the second phase of the Vox Miami development, the first of which was completed in 2021 and included 99 apartments above a five-story public parking lot built in 1992.
SALES
Witkoff Group, the New York-based vertically integrated real estate firm, acquired Banyan Cay Resort & Golf in West Palm Beach, the South Florida Business Journal reported.
The 200-acre property at 2020 Banyan Resort Way was acquired by Los Angeles-based Calmwater Capital in September as part of a bankruptcy auction. The investment firm was the primary creditor in the bankruptcy case and bid $97M on the property.
The resort was refinanced for $75M, and the mortgage showed management of the USREC Banyan Cay Resort & Golf entity controlling the property moved from Calmwater to Witkoff. A fund affiliated with Calmwater remained as the lender. Access Real Estate, a subsidiary of New York-based investment firm Access Industries, partnered with Witkoff on the transaction.
The resort was still under construction before the prior owner filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March. It is slated to include a 150-room hotel, three restaurants, a wedding venue, a meeting space and a banquet facility set on a 130-acre golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus.
The golf course is finished but was recently undergoing renovations. The property is also approved for 179 condos, 28 single-family homes and 22 villas, none of which have broken ground.
Tricera Capital, the Miami-based real estate investment firm led by Ben Mandell, entered a joint venture with undisclosed partners to acquire The Offices at Doral Square, TRD reported.
The buyers paid $28.5M to acquire the property from Utah-based Bridge Investment, which paid $37M in 2019. The 141K SF office building on 4 acres at 8600 NW 36th St. was completed in 2004 and underwent a $10M renovation. It was purchased at a roughly 10% capitalization rate and is 88% leased.
LEASES
MN8 Energy, a renewable energy solutions provider, signed a 20K SF lease at the former Office Depot headquarters in Boca Raton at 6600 N. Military Trail, according to a release.
The 29-acre property was acquired by Boca Raton-based Pebb Enterprises and Aventura-based BH Group in April for $104M. It includes 650K SF of office space across three buildings that BH and Pebb are preparing to partially redevelop.
The joint venture, in partnership with Related Group, filed plans in late December that propose replacing a 215K SF office building at the property with a mixed-use building with 500 residential units and 42K SF of retail space, TRD reported.
Office Depot, which paid $132M for the campus in 2017 before downsizing its footprint last year, has a five-year lease for 300K SF at the property, according to TRD. Pebb and BH Group are also converting one floor at the development into spec suites, according to the release.
