This Week's South Florida Deal Sheet: Related Pays $195M For West Palm Beach Site
Related Cos. purchased a 3-acre development site in West Palm Beach where Stephen Ross’ firm plans to build a 28-story tower that will be the New York-based developer’s first luxury condo project in Florida.
The sellers were the global real estate development firm Hines and Palm Beach-based Frisbie Group, which had originally proposed the project, dubbed South Flagler House. Related paid the pair $195M for the site, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources. Hines and Frisbie paid $44M for the property just last year.
The project, located at 1355 South Flagler Drive, will include two 28-story towers connected by a base lined with stepped gardens. It will offer two- to five-bedroom residences described in the release as “expansive in scale” and starting at $7.5M.
The development is planned to include a wide range of amenities, with health-related offerings like a pickleball court, Pilates studio, golf simulator and a spa with multiple pools, ice plunges and a sauna. It will also offer private dining rooms, a wine cellar, multiple game rooms and business amenities including private offices, conference rooms and coworking spaces.
South Flagler House is being designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects with interiors by Pembrooke & Ives. Construction is expected to start next year.
SALES
Edens, a developer and owner of retail centers with offices throughout the U.S., paid $88M for the Shadowood Square shopping plaza in Boca Raton, The Real Deal reports. The outdoor mall at 9887 Glades Road was purchased from a partnership led by South Florida real estate investor Evelyn Langlieb Greer, who is also the former mayor of Pinecrest.
The 29-acre, 261K SF property includes 11 buildings built between 1982 and 2015. It is 70% occupied. Edens said it will redevelop the site and plans on “revitalizing and transforming this corner of West Boca” where the property is located.
Greer told TRD that she and her partners paid $15M for the development in 1994. Cushman & Wakefield brokers Mark Gilbert and Adam Feinstein represented the sellers.
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A commercial office property called Rail 71 in Little River was purchased for $34M by New York-based real estate firm Spiegel Associates, the South Florida Business Journal reported. The seller was an entity called Little River Urban Invests, which converted the property from a warehouse into office space in 2014.
Records show Little River Urban Invests is managed by Robert Danial of the Miami-based real estate holding company The Morgan Reed Group and Scott Solomon of New York-based Pan Am Equities, but the SFBJ reported that Pan Am bought out The Morgan Reed Group two years ago. The property is currently 80% leased, and Spiegel is planning a series of capital improvements.
The buyer and seller were represented by Dwntwn Realty Advisors Managing Partners Tony Arellano and Devlin Marinoff.
LEASES
Wells Fargo signed a 19K SF expansion in Boca Raton, according to a release. The deal brings Well Fargo’s footprint at the 1675 Midtown office building, at 1675 North Military Trail, to 45K SF and comes less than a year after the bank first leased space there. The expansion will accommodate 60 employees in addition to the 80 Wells Fargo staff already based in the 70K SF building.
The building is owned by Tricera Capital, which recently completed renovations to the property’s lobbies, common corridors and building systems. Leasing at 1675 Midtown is handled by John Criddle, Joe Freitas and Chris Smith of CBRE.
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Tricera also secured a new tenant at the Workspaces at The Press, the retail and office complex that was previously the headquarters of the Palm Beach Post. Palm Beach Atlantic University leased 18K SF at the 136K SF property, located at 2751 South Dixie Highway, that it plans to utilize for its new Physician Associate Medicine program, according to a release. Robert Anderson, the managing broker and co-founder of Tortoise Realty Group, represented the university in the transaction, while Jon Blunk, Cristina Glaria, Connie Thomas and Laurel Oswald at TCRE represented Tricera.
FINANCING
Broward County Commissioners will vote on Tuesday on whether to award up to $22M in revenue bonds to Miami-based developer Pinnacle for the construction the second phase of its Pinnacle 441 project in Hollywood. The funds would come from the Housing Finance Authority of Broward County, according to the agenda for Tuesday's commission meeting.
The second phase of Pinnacle 441 is planned to include 100 affordable rental units on 1.7 acres at the site of a former trailer park at 6028 Johnson St. The developer acquired the property in February for an undisclosed amount, but property records from October indicate a $3.5M sale price.
The first phase of Pinnacle 441 is scheduled to be completed before the end of the year. It includes 110 rent-controlled apartments for tenants making 60% or less of area median income and three market-rate apartments, according to The Real Deal. Both buildings were designed by Hollywood-based architect Joseph Kaller.
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Israel-based Bank Hapoalim provided a $20M loan to developer Related Group and real estate investment firm BH Group for the acquisition of a waterfront site at the Diplomat Beach Resort, the Commercial Observer reported.
The joint venture between the Miami-based companies paid $30M for the site, located at 3210 and 3690 South Ocean Drive, earlier this month. It purchased the property from Trinity Investments and Credit Suisse Asset Management, which paid $835M for the Diplomat in February, the largest hotel sale in the country this year.
Hollywood officials previously approved plans for a 38-story condo tower with 350 units on the site.
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Biltmore Development, an entity managed by Luis Arevalo and David Torres of Coral Gables-based construction firm T.A. Builders, secured an $18M construction loan for a 25-unit luxury apartment project in Coral Gables, according to a release. The financing was provided by the Miami-based bank Banesco USA.
Biltmore acquired the 17K SF site at 701-711 Valencia Ave. for a combined $2.8M in 2015 and 2016. The site had hosted an eight-unit condo and duplex that will be replaced by a seven-story property with two-bedroom apartments between 1,600 and 1,700 SF, The Real Deal reported.
Construction at the site has already commenced and is expected to be completed in December 2024, according to the release.
