The joint venture’s first project will be a $500 million luxury Miami property.

Miami. Image by Ryan Parker via Unsplash

Global investment manager Leste Group has partnered with Opportunity Fundo de Investimento Imobiliário, a Brazil-based private investment firm, to form a new real estate development company, LORE Development Group. The new firm will primarily focus on developing upwards of $1 billion in multifamily and condominium projects in South Florida over the next five years.

LORE will source and acquire properties and work with third-party construction teams to build the joint venture’s projects. The first property planned is a 70-story, 442,000-square-foot, 500-unit multifamily building at 1015 SW 1st Ave. in Miami’s Brickell district. Designed by Corwil Architects of Coral Gables, Fla., the estimated $500 million luxury property will feature state-of-art amenities, 2,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space and ample parking in a location near the Brickell City Center shopping center. The project will be near public transportation options. Construction is slated to begin June 2024, with completion scheduled for summer 2027.

Experienced investors

Opportunity, an independent asset management company, operates one of the largest real estate investment funds in Brazil. Over the past 25 years, the firm has developed more than 6.5 million square feet of real estate.

LORE will add multifamily development to Leste’s diverse real estate strategies, which includes equity investment and lending in multifamily and single-family residential as well as healthcare, hospitality and industrial asset classes.

In February 2022, Leste Real Estate U.S. and GVA Management acquired a five-property multifamily portfolio in the southern U.S. totaling 1,670 units for $380 million. Leste and GVA, a repeat partner with Leste, planned to make $17 million in value-add improvements at the Class B properties. At that time, it was one of the largest single transactions completed by Leste Real Estate. Several months earlier, in December 2021, Leste formed a partnership with The Bascom Group and East Hill Capital to purchase Enclave at Lake Ellenor, a 320-unit multifamily community in Orlando, Fla., for $68.5 million.