South Florida By the Numbers: Billion with a “B”

“South Florida By The Numbers” is a web feature that catalogs the most notable, quirky and surprising real estate statistics.

Oil baron Nelson Bunker Hunt once said “a billion dollars isn’t what it used to be.” And maybe he had a point! What was once an unreachable, elusive holy grail of big money numbers has become shockingly regular in Miami real estate and business, a testament to the region’s extraordinary growth and its projected value from investors. But in a world of cryptocurrency, bank collapses, and unprecedented international investment, what does $1 billion actually signify, and what is its real value in a market moving at comparative light speed? We explore that question in this edition of “South Florida by the numbers.”

15.5

Acreage of the bayfront downtown Miami property currently owned by Malaysian gambling operator Genting Group, which agreed to sell the assemblage to an investment group led by Miami developer Terra for $1.2 billion last month. The site, with more than 800 feet of waterfront on Biscayne Bay, could allow for roughly 8,000 units, and includes the former Miami Herald headquarters. [TheRealDeal]

4

Percent of Citadel founder Ken Griffin’s net worth that represents the estimated $1.3 billion of South Florida real estate currently in his portfolio. The Daytona Beach native announced the relocation of his Citadel headquarters from Chicago to Miami last year, setting off a flurry of big-ticket residential and commercial acquisitions in Coconut Grove, along Brickell Avenue, and on Miami Beach’s Star Island. [TheRealDeal]

470

Rental units in an eight-story apartment building recently approved in the first phase of the Southland Mall redevelopment in Miami’s Cutler Bay. Last month, the town also approved the conceptual master plan for Southplace City Center; a $1 billion mixed-use project that would surround the existing 808,776-square-foot indoor mall, adding 4,395 apartments, a 150-room hotel, 60,000 square feet of medical office space, 150,000 square feet of retail out parcels and a community amphitheater. [TheRealDeal]

99

Number of years in a lease approved by the city of Miami last year for the $1 billion development of Miami Freedom Park; the stadium complex housing Major League Soccer team InterMiami CF. Soccer legend David Beckam and Miami businessmen Jorge and Jose Mas are funding the entirety of the project and will pay property taxes and a reported $4.3 million in annual rent. [FrontOfficeSports]

116 – 105

Final score of the Miami Heat’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA’s first Eastern Conference “play-in” game last month. TNT announcer and NBA legend Charles Barkley confidently bet fellow legend Shaquille O’Neal $1 billion that Miami would win, and is fortunate that O’Neal did not accept. Miami went on to win its next play-in game and then shocked the basketball world by beating the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in five games in the opening playoff series. (At the time of this writing, the Heat are ahead of the New York Knicks three games to one, putting them just one win away from a return to the Eastern Conference Finals.) [SI] 

This column is produced by the Master Brokers Forum, a network of South Florida’s elite real estate professionals where membership is by invitation only and based on outstanding production, as well as ethical and professional behavior.