Lenders Dole Out $320M For Miami Condo Projects

Developers for a pair of condo projects in Brickell and downtown Miami nabbed construction financing totaling $320 million.

Coconut Grove-based 3650 Real Estate Investment Trust lent $170 million for the construction of Lofty Brickell, a 44-story condo tower that is part of a three-building and marina project planned by Newgard Development Group, the Miami-based real estate firm headed by Harvey Hernandez, according to a press release. The 1.6-acre development site at 99 Southwest Seventh Street is on the Miami River, near Brickell City Centre.

Newgard expects to break ground in the fourth quarter, and 80 percent of the tower’s units are under contract, the release states. 3650 REIT also provided Newgard with a $55 million acquisition loan when the developer purchased the Brickell area property for $50.5 million in September.

In addition to a private marina, Lofty Brickell will have a members-only social club and an NFT art collection for unit owners, the release states.

In downtown Miami’s Park West, Lalezarian Properties scored a $150 million construction loan from Bank of New York Mellon for Miami World Tower, a planned 53-story tower with 565 condos. The developer, New York-based Lalezarian Properties, is led by principal Kevin Lalezarian.

In 2019, Lalezarian paid $43 million for the 2.5-acre former parking lot from an affiliate of Miami Worldcenter Associates, the master developer of the massive 27-acre, $4 billion project led by Art Falcone and Nitin Motwani. Bank of New York Mellon also provided Lalezarian with a $23 million acquisition loan.

In the first quarter, Miami-Dade had 6,849 condos on the market, compared to 17,249 condos in the same period of last year, according to a recent ISG World report. The market has a six- to eight-month supply, the report states.

The average condo sale price jumped to $683,271 in the most recent quarter, compared to $546,617 during the same period last year, ISG found.

Contact Francisco Alvarado