This Week’s South Florida Deal Sheet: Sawyer’s Walk Retail Comes Online
The first retailer has opened its doors at the 1.5M SF Sawyer’s Walk mixed-use project in Overtown, according to a release.
A 50K SF Target is the first to open at the development, with a 38K SF Burlington set to open this month. A 25K SF Aldi and a 10K SF Five Below are expected to follow, while Ross Dress for Less is set to open in March 2025.
Sawyer’s Walk will include 600 apartments, 130K SF of office space and 175K SF of retail space at 249 NW Sixth St. It is being developed by SG Holdings, a partnership of Coconut Grove-based Swerdlow Group, Virginia-based SJM Partners and Alben Duffie, a managing partner at Swerdlow.
The 3.4-acre project broke ground in 2021 as a public-private partnership, with the housing component of Sawyer’s Walk focused on seniors and limited to tenants making between 40% and 80% of the area median income, which is $79,400 for a single person.
MSC Cruises, a subsidiary of Swiss shipping and cruise firm MSC Group, paid $67M in June to acquire the Sawyer’s Walk office space for its staff and other employees from its Explora Journeys division.
CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
The long-awaited and delayed 830 Brickell office tower received a temporary certificate of occupancy, and the first tenant has moved in.
The 57-story tower, developed by Miami-based OKO Group and London-based Cain International, became a magnet for new-to-market leasing during the pandemic, with more than 90% of tenants at the fully leased, 640K SF tower new to the city, according to a release.
830 Brickell helped propel rents in Miami’s financial district. It started preleasing at $70 per SF before climbing to nearly $200 per SF during the pandemic rush. Santander Bank was the first tenant to move in, taking occupancy of 95K SF and relocating workers from its office building at 1401 Brickell Ave. to make way for a new 41-story tower.
Other tenants slated to move in over the coming months are Citadel, which will anchor the tower with 130K SF across eight floors, Microsoft, Kirkland & Ellis, Mash Insurance, Sidley Austin and Thoma Bravo.
The tower is around 20% occupied and operational, with the rest slated to come online before the end of the year.
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Woodmont Industrial Partners, Butters Construction and PCCP LLC delivered the first of eight planned buildings at the master-planned Palm Beach Park of Commerce at 15430 Corporate Road N. in Jupiter, according to a release.
The joint venture acquired the 1,300-acre development site in 2021 for $6.6M, according to property records, and broke ground on the park in 2023. The first building to deliver spans 303K SF with a 40-foot clear height and 136-foot truck court.
Cushman & Wakefield brokers Christopher Thomson and Chris Metzger are handling leasing at the development, which is vacant.
The Palm Beach Park of Commerce is envisioned as an expansive industrial park with rail access, foreign trade zoning, outdoor storage and the ability to support heavy industrial use.
THIS AND THAT
Chef Michael White, who has collected six Michelin stars in New York City, announced plans for his first Florida restaurant, set to open before the end of the year at The Plaza Coral Gables at 2811 Ponce de Leon Blvd.
The restaurant, called Mika, will feature local seafood and produce with a concept focused on humble hospitality and a Mediterranean menu.
Alex Pirez, the founder of design and development firm Mocca Group, and Matt Safchik, a Miami-based restaurateur, partnered with White, a James Beard Award winner, on the concept.
The Plaza Coral Gables, developed and owned by the family behind the Jose Cuervo tequila brand, has 455K SF of office space across two towers, a 242-key Loews hotel, 170 residences and 165K SF of retail space.
SALES
Florida Power & Light paid $60M across two transactions to acquire nearly 350 acres of mostly vacant land on the western edge of Miami-Dade County, near The Hammocks.
The parcels, which host a single house, are outside of Miami’s Urban Development Boundary and unlikely to see major development. FPL hasn’t announced any plans, but the site is directly north of a solar site it first plugged in to the grid in 2019. That project was FPL’s 18th solar power plant at the time, according to the Doral Family Journal.
EuroAmerican Group and EuroAmerican Krome, both managed by Miami resident Ivan Gonzalez Ruiz, sold the larger 241-acre site at 18655 SW 120th St. for $42M, according to deed records collected by property intelligence platform Vizzda.
Key Krome Partners LLC, an affiliate of New York-based Key International, also sold 108 acres directly north of the existing solar farm and south of the other parcel for $18.3M.
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Coral Gables-based MG Developer and Miami-based Prosper Group acquired two waterfront properties on North Bay Village for a combined $31M, according to a release.
The parcels at 1681 and 1725 Kennedy Causeway total 43K SF, on which the joint venture is planning a 147-unit condo building. The yet-to-be-named property is slated to have units ranging from one to three bedrooms, retail and restaurant space, and resort-style amenities.
One of the sites was sold by 1681 North Bay Village LLC, a Miami-based entity managed by Tharani Haresh. The second was sold by 1725 Kennedy Causeway Owner LLC, an entity registered to Edward Schroeder in Oak Park, Illinois.
Ayush Kapahi, a New York-based broker from HKS Real Estate Advisors, financed the deal and secured a $21.6M loan from New York lender RMWC for the joint venture.
The project is expected to break ground in 2027 and deliver in 2029.
A senior living facility near Lake Worth Beach traded for $23.5M as part of a deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure transaction.
An affiliate of Chicago-based Walton Street Capital purchased the 136-unit Alamar Senior Living at 8785 Lake Worth Road. Dallas-based Silverstone Senior Living handed it over to avoid a potential foreclosure, but the facility doesn't appear to be under any active litigation.
Midcap Funding, a part of Apollo Capital Management, filed notice that it was releasing the previous owner from a $23M mortgage with a term starting in 2021 while also providing a $17.7M mortgage to the new buyer, according to records collected by Vizzda.
The two-story Alamar was built in 2018 and totals 132K SF on nearly 12 acres.
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The AIDS Healthcare Foundation paid $17M to purchase the Days Inn by Wyndham Fort Lauderdale hotel at 1700 W. Broward Blvd., according to records from Vizzda.
The seller was Balaji Investments, an entity managed by Haresh Jariwala in Davie, and the sale breaks down to roughly $123K per room. Balaji acquired the property for $2.6M in 1997.
The hotel will be used as affordable housing and leased as a short-term hotel rental, a spokesperson for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation told the South Florida Business Journal. The foundation’s Healthy Housing arm is leading the effort.
The 55K SF hotel was developed on 3 acres in 1982.
LEASES
The Miramar Park of Commerce secured three expansion leases and a new tenant totaling more than 92K SF, according to a release.
The 600-acre business center is owned by Broward County-based firm Sunbeam Properties. The new leases that commenced were:
- Memorial Healthcare System expanded by 27K SF to a total footprint of more than 200K SF. Bob Banks of R.W. Banks Real Estate represented the tenant.
- Simtec Silicone Parts, a producer of liquid silicone rubber, expanded by 40K SF for a combined 88K SF.
- Sunshine Avionics, which specializes in airline technology, expanded by roughly 15K SF and now occupies 38K SF at the park.
- Kids Spot Rehab, a pediatrics and speech therapy provider, leased 12K SF for its first space at the park, represented by JLL’s Audley Bosch.
An internal Sunbeam team of Peter Apol and Ryan Goggins represented the landlord.
