This Week’s South Florida Deal Sheet (May 5, 2023)

New York-based multifamily investor Pantzer Properties has acquired the 237-unit Milagro Coral Gables for $98M.

Pantzer Properties purchased the 237-apartment Milagro Coral Gables for $98M.

The six-story apartment building at 2263 Southwest 37th Ave. was sold by Wafra, an investment firm backed by Kuwait’s public pension fund, Commercial Observer reported. JLL Real Estate Capital arranged a $59M acquisition loan for Pantzer that will mature in five years.

SALES

QRST Properties paid $12M for a vacant Miami warehouse on a 2-acre parcel, The Real Deal reported. The deal breaks down to around $158 per SF. New York-based QRST acquired the 72K SF warehouse at 3400 Northwest 67th St. from an entity managed by Wendy Beck in Coral Gables. The seller provided a $9.2M mortgage to the buyer, who was represented by Raul Pino and Pablo Vignolo from The Hype Group in the off-market transaction. The Hype Group’s Jade Hernandez represented the seller.

CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT

The third phase of Atlantic Village received its certificate of completion, adding 130K SF evenly split between retail and office to the mixed-use development. The office portion of the new building, located at 601-801 North Federal Highway, is nearly 80% leased, and the retail portion is 98% leased, the South Florida Business Journal reported. The largest lease at the new location is from Key Point Academy, a private preschool that will occupy 12K SF, according to the SFBJ. Orlando-based coworking company The Worx and Juvia Group, a Miami Beach-based hospitality firm, also signed leases for 10K SF or more. 

FINANCING

IHG Hotels & Resorts secured a $19M construction loan to build the 125-key EVEN Hotel Doral. Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. arranged the loan. Robert Bhat, senior managing director of capital markets at Marcus & Millichap, told ConnectCRE that the loan was primarily funded through a “well-established foreign national who partnered with Miami-based ASI Global to raise capital through an EB5 program and manage the development.” Bhat said the venture secured $12.1M in conventional financing with a 10-year term and a $7.1M Property Assessed Clean Energy loan.

LEASES

Specialized Freight Carriers signed a 134K SF lease for a full building at Weston Commerce Center, according to a release from Cushman & Wakefield. The third-party logistics service moved into the Class-A distribution park at 1951 North Commerce Parkway this month. A C&W team led by Chris Metzger represented the landlord, EastGroup Properties, in the transaction. Specialized Freight Carriers was represented by Synergy Industrial. 

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C-AIR Brokers & Forwarders renewed its 50K SF lease at 5959 Northwest 35th Ave. in Hialeah, according to a release from Cresa. C-AIR, which provides import services for the timely release of goods, was represented by Cresa in the transaction. The landlord, RPR Hialeah II, was represented by Thomas Kresse at Transwestern. RPR Hialeah II is a part of RREEF Property Trust, a real estate investment trust operated by DWS, Deutsche Bank’s real estate arm.

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Arbor Realty Trust, a publicly traded lender on residential rental projects headquartered in New York, is opening an 8K SF office on the seventh floor of Wynd 28, the South Florida Business Journal reported. The lender will relocate later this year to 127 Northwest 27th Ave. from its current Wynwood location, the WeWork at 360 Northwest 27th St. Arbor has around 25 employees in Florida and is searching to fill additional positions, according to the SFBJ.

Third-party logistics provider Specialized Freight Carriers signed a 134K SF lease for a full building at Weston Commerce Center.

PEOPLE

Greystone Housing Impact Investors hired Jason Kaye as a managing director, according to a release. He will be focused on originating and structuring tax-exempt loan and bond financing transactions for affordable multifamily development. Kaye joins GHI, an affiliate of Greystone, after working as a senior vice president at Regents Bank and Bank of America. He previously worked at Citigroup Global Markets and the New York City Economic Development Corp.

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Basis Industrial, a Boca Raton-based real estate investor, added Max Ducharme as a managing partner, according to a release. Ducharme will be focused on opportunistic investment strategies, including car wash development, distressed and value-add retail development, and select multifamily projects. Ducharme was previously the senior vice president of investment and development for the Falcone Group, a co-developer of Miami Worldcenter.  

THIS AND THAT

The Sunrise City Commission passed and adopted a resolution creating the Metropica Community Development District. The approval will permit the MCDD to secure up to $65M in bond financing to deliver community development services, including infrastructure improvements and services for the development of the 48-acre Metropica site next to the Sawgrass Mills outlet mall. The announcement comes two weeks after the property’s owner, developer Joseph Kavana, announced he was searching for an equity partner with $250M to construct a “city-within-a-city” at the site.