This Week’s South Florida Deal Sheet: D.R. Horton Buys Land For 1,200-Unit Project
D.R. Horton paid $65M to assemble 97 acres of agricultural land across 11 parcels in Homestead where it is planning 1,170 residential units and 216K SF of commercial space, according to records from property data platform Vizzda.
John and Richard Alger of Alger Farms Inc., which operates at the site, sold the property on Southwest 328th Street adjacent to Florida’s Turnpike.
The Texas-based homebuilder is planning Sandero Landings, an expansive mixed-use community with 691 townhomes, 417 apartments and 47 additional multifamily units designated as live-work.
The commercial mix would include a 30K SF grocery store, 20K SF fitness center, 13K SF urgent care facility and smaller ground-level retail bays, according to site plans submitted to the Homestead Development Review Committee in March.
Buildings would range from two to four stories, with 1,110 parking spaces across a garage and 174 spaces on the street. Valle Valle & Partners in Coral Gables is the project architect.
SALES
The Milestone Group paid $111M for the 488-unit Axis Delray Beach apartments, according to records from Vizzda.
The real estate investment firm with offices in Dallas, Boca Raton and Atlanta acquired the garden-style property from an entity tied to Wellington-based Bainbridge Cos. Milestone assumed a $92M Freddie Mac loan originated by Newmark with a July 2029 maturity date as part of the transaction.
The price breaks down to around $229K per unit, an increase from the $102.5M Bainbridge paid in 2017 to acquire the property at 1495 Spring Harbor Drive.
Bainbridge had invested in unit renovations at the property, and the new owner is planning a multimillion-dollar common area renovation, according to a release announcing the sale.
Units at Axis Delray Beach range from one to three bedrooms with townhome-style apartments across 36 two-story buildings constructed on 57 acres in 1988, 1990 and 2019. Apartments are listed online for between $1,905 per month and $3,714 per month.
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Brookfield Properties paid $107M to acquire the Turtle Cove Apartments in West Palm Beach from Barry Sternlicht’s Starwood Capital Group, records from Vizzda show.
The sale is part of a $1.6B trade of 23 properties and 7,300 units across six states, The Real Deal reported. Starwood bought Turtle Cove for $61.5M in 2016, according to property records.
The recent sale of the 444-unit garden-style apartment complex was closed with a multistate, cross-collateralized loan totaling $1.1B from Citibank, Barclays Bank, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase.
Turtle Cove, which traded for around $242K per unit, includes 28 two-story buildings that were built on 37 acres in 1986. An online listing for the complex shows one- and two-bedroom units available for $1,690 per month to $2,400 per month, along with a $400 bonus for signing a lease by mid-July.
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The University of Miami paid $40M for the Macy’s Furniture Gallery at The Falls shopping center in Pinecrest, property records from Vizzda show. The seller was Federated Department Stores Inc., Macy’s real estate holding firm.
Stephen Woodbridge, the chief facilities and planning officer for the University of Miami Health System, is listed on deed records for the property, meaning it is likely to be turned into a UHealth medical facility.
The 79K SF property was built on 4.6 acres in 1972 at 13251 S. Dixie Highway. The freestanding property is part of a strip center that includes Publix, Home Depot and Office Max. Deed records indicate this is the first time the building traded.
FINANCING
The 32-story Gio Midtown luxury apartments were refinanced with $148M from PGIM Real Estate, according to a release.
The 447-unit property at 3131 NE First Ave. is owned by J.P. Morgan Asset Management. It has 74K SF of amenities and 38K SF of ground-floor retail, including a Trader Joe’s.
Gio Midtown was built on the edge of Wynwood in 2020 and is nearly fully leased, Commercial Observer reported. Units at the property range from studios to three bedrooms, and an online listing has studios available for $2,422 per month and two-bedroom units for $8,300. Prospective tenants who sign a lease within 48 hours of a tour can have their amenities fee waived.
CBRE brokers Tom Rugg, Tom Traynor, Adam Spengler and Arman Samouk arranged the debt on behalf of the borrower, CO reported. PGIM Real Estate is the investment and lending arm of PGIM, the global asset management arm of Prudential Financial.
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Fortune International Group secured a $36M predevelopment loan from Coral Gables-based Amerant Bank for its planned Ora by Casa Tua at 1210 Brickell Ave., according to a release. Groundbreaking is slated for next year.
The planned 77-story Ora by Casa Tua is slated to include 533 fully furnished condos that can be leased as short-term rentals.
Miami-based Fortune closed on the sale of the 46K SF site, according to a release, but deed records still show Patagonian Investment Internacional LLC as the owner. That entity paid $6.3M for the property in 2011, but a spokesperson for Fortune declined to disclose the recent purchase price.
Berkadia’s Scott Wadler and Michael Basinski arranged the debt on behalf of the developer.
Sales for the condo tower kicked off last March. Condos range from 500 SF to 2,400 SF and are priced from $800K to $2.5M. The project is the first foray into housing for Casa Tua, a restaurant and hospitality brand. Sales are being handled in-house by the brokerage arm of Edgardo Defortuna’s Fortune.
CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
Miami-based Barrington Brothers completed The Kavista, a 282-unit apartment building in Miami’s El Portal neighborhood, according to a release.
The eight-story property at 471 NE 83rd St. includes a 351-car parking garage. Units range from one to three bedrooms, with the largest units spanning 1,130 SF. Apartments are available online from $2,151 to $4,206, with two months free for tenants who sign a lease this month.
Barrington broke ground on The Kavista in May 2022. ANF Group was the general contractor. Minneapolis-based Värde Partners provided $61M in construction takeout refinancing on the project in February on a two-year, floating-rate basis.
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13th Floor Homes, the homebuilding arm of Miami-based 13th Floor Investments, announced plans to build 355 single-family homes on the former Woodlands Country Club in Tamarac, according to a release.
The announcement comes after 13th Floor closed on the $13M sale of the roughly 270-acre Broward County golf course that already has homes along its perimeter.
Construction on the homes is expected to commence later this year. The first homes are scheduled to deliver in late 2025 and are priced from $700K to more than $1M.
13th Floor worked with the city of Tamarac and the existing residents in the community on the plan, according to the release. The Woodlands will include 160 acres of permanently preserved open space and lakes, a 5-mile recreation trail and infrastructure improvements benefiting the entire community.
