Lisa Ramos, Lisette Nunez’s REO Asset Sells Rental Complex
REO Asset Specialists sold an apartment complex in Miami-Dade County’s West Little River neighborhood for $29.3 million.
REO Asset, led by Lisa Ramos and Lisette Nunez, sold Covenant Palms at 8400 Northwest 25th Avenue in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade, according to records and real estate database Vizzda. The buyer is unknown.
The deal for the 141-apartment complex breaks down to $207,801 per unit.
The entity that purchased Covenant Palms is tied to Coconut Grove-based attorney Javier Baños Machado, records show. Ramos said Machado is a representative of the buyer, adding that she doesn’t know the identity of the new owner. Machado declined to comment.
Covenant Palms consists of 65 one-story and two-story buildings on 12 acres, Vizzda records show. The complex was completed from 1950 to 1967.
The former senior housing complex was once designated for tenants on fixed incomes and was run by social services nonprofit Urban League of Greater Miami, Ramos told The Real Deal.
She and Nunez, through their REO Asset, bought it in 2019 for $12.5 million, according to records. While Covenant Palms is no longer designated as affordable housing, it still offers below market-rate rents, Ramos said. It’s fully leased.
South Miami-based REO Asset owns roughly 400 apartments across Miami-Dade and Broward counties, according to Ramos.
South Florida multifamily investment sales activity picked up this summer and fall following a lull stemming from higher borrowing costs. The real estate players still able to purchase generally are closing deals without financing by relying on capitalized discretionary funds. They also borrow debt from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, which tends to come with more favorable terms than bank loans.
In other recent deals, CaraCo Group of Companies paid $73 million for a 212-unit complex at 8601 West McNab Road in Tamarac last month. Also in October, Berkshire Residential Investments purchased the 248-unit 29 Wyn apartment complex in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood for $135 million.
