“There Are Great Opportunities For Miami, But Traffic And Zoning Issues Must Be Resolved,” Says Developer Peebles

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Miami is a “city of the future” that needs to challenge “cities of the day” like New York and Boston to reach a new level, said developer Don Peebles, founder, chairman and CEO of the Peebles Corp.

Already a culturally developed, international tourist destination, Miami can achieve this by attracting new companies, allowing more construction and developing affordable housing for its workforce, Peebles told attendees at a Bisnow conference on transit oriented development Thursday at the Miami InterContinental.

“The region must get people out of their cars, improve mass transit and allow for denser development,” Peebles said. A strong draw for corporate investors is Florida’s low taxes who divides his time between homes in New York and Coral Gables. Why not go after the highly-taxed financial services industry in New York City, for example and bring them to this low-tax center?”

But there are impediments: traffic congestion and excessive complications for new vertical development and density. Miami employees typically spend as much as three hours a day going to and from work, which deals a major loss to productivity, he said. Miami’s workforce for the most part can’t afford to live where they work and lack access to the public transportation system.

The county has a rail system but it is not broadly developed. To access public transportation here today, people need to use cars. One answer is transit oriented development, which allows people to stay close to employment centers.

“People will need to access every part of their lives without getting into a car,” said Peebles, whose company is working on a variety of projects in Miami and the Northeast.

A major roadblock to developing new projects in the Miami area is a lack of unified zoning oversight, which limits density and structural height. Miami and Miami Beach are made up of many municipalities that each has its own city hall, police force and regulations for real estate.

“I never had to hire a lobbyist until I came here,” Peebles said. “Politicians here tend to reach out to small groups of people regarding real estate permitting. They can get elected with 4,000 votes. In New York City, the mayor has 10 million people, so what if 10,000 people get annoyed with him? In New York, people can express their views, but zoning is decided by people who are qualified. A central issue impeding development is there is no comprehensive oversight for real estate permitting, zoning, density and structural height. Miami has to realize that it is an urban center, and allow more supply.”

Peebles was one of several panelists that included Miami-Dade transport officials, real estate developers and attorneys. Others included Meg Daly, founder and president of Friends of the Underline (a park, path and trail built under the Metrorail), who said that bicyclists and pedestrians using the Underline have so far helped remove about 5 percent of cars from US-1 while attracting new customers to businesses along the route.

“Among other projects, Miami-Dade County is concentrating efforts to make first- and last-mile connections for all its rapid transit corridors,” said Aileen Bouclé, executive director of the Miami-Dade Transportation Planning Organization. “Uber and Lyft are helping, but they both are operating at a loss.”

“Meanwhile, as infill increases in the downtown area, the bare bones Metrorail stations should incorporate amenities, and new stations should be added between existing ones,” said Humberto Alonso, vice president of Atkins North America.

 

Source: The Real Deal

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A Developer Talks Miami River, Market Challenges, And His Project, One River Point

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Despite the condo market slowdown, developer Shahab Karmely is confident his project and the Miami River are poised for big growth.

Click photo to view video of Shahab Karmely discussing the Miami River and One River Point at the TRD Broward Showcase and Forum panel by TRD’s Alistair Gardiner

In a post-panel interview, Karmely and The Real Deal South Florida’s Managing Editor Ina Cordle discussed One River Point and the river at TRD‘s Third Annual Broward Real Estate Showcase & Forum in April.

Presales at One River Point are about to pass the 18 percent to 20 percent mark. Buyers there are mostly from South America, but also from Georgia, New York and Canada.

“We have headwinds – not us, just everybody else,” Karmely said. “On the other hand, we are financially very secure. We have no financing.”

The Real Deal previously reported that Karmely’s silent partner is Daniel Loeb, the billionaire investor who runs one of the most prominent activist hedge funds, Third Point LLC. Karmely’s KAR Properties has spent more than $112 million on acquisitions along the River, in Wynwood and in Hallandale Beach since 2013, and more on pre-develoment costs.

Karmely was part of a panel discussion on the economics of new development amid a new administration and continuing global market fluctuation.

To watch the panel in full, click here.

 

Source: The Real Deal

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Miami’s Real Estate Drawing Middle Eastern Buyers

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Every month, the Miami Association of Realtors announces the top 10 foreign countries that use its website to search for Miami real estate.

As you might expect, this list typically features the “usual suspects” month after month, such as Colombia, Canada, Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina and France. However, the most recently published report (from January 2017) included an unfamiliar newcomer: Turkey, ranked at No. 7.

Miami has always attracted foreign buyers, and we are very used to seeing strong interest from Latin America and Europe. But this marked the first time that a Middle Eastern country was included among that report’s top 10.

While time and circumstances could make this inclusion an outlier, it is also a fairly good demonstration of Miami’s rising profile among wealthy and sophisticated real-estate buyers from that part of the world.

Last September, CBRE Capital Markets reported that commercial investment in Miami from the Middle East totaled $517 million between January and June 2016 alone, making it the 10th most popular global market for Middle Eastern investment during this time period, and the fifth most popular in the U.S.

Why Miami?

A number of factors have coincided to propel this dramatic increase in demand for Miami real estate from the region. First, turmoil and unstable governments throughout the Middle East have pushed wealthy families to seek more and varied residency options, beyond the usual “comfort zones” of London and New York.

Second, Miami is considered a relatively new city, with many recently-constructed buildings and houses that offer state-of-the-art amenities, which appeal to prosperous Arabs.

Third, with the recent addition of world-renowned luxury hotels, restaurants, architecture, retail and cultural offerings (Four Seasons, Zuma, Zaha Hadid, Art Basel, etc.), Miami now enjoys a higher level of sophistication than in years past.

And finally, more direct flights from Dubai, Doha and Istanbul have literally put Miami within reach for more Middle Eastern buyers.

Put all these elements together, and Miami is now viewed as a secure, modern, upmarket, accessible and (important for Middle Easterners!) warm American city, with reasonably-priced real estate and amenities curated for high net-worth individuals.

(Recent buyers from Turkey present specific and compelling evidence of this observation. A few years ago, there was a big spike in their attention to projects like the Four Seasons in Surfside and the Capri in South Beach — just around the time that Erdoğan was elected president and began seriously consolidating power in that country.)

Three Broad Categories

Miami’s Middle Eastern buyers fall into three broad categories:

  • Wealthy individuals seeking pied-à-terres, to enjoy a few months of leisure
  • Investors looking to purchase at big projects like the W Downtown and the St. Regis Bal Harbour
  • Students attending college, usually at the University of Miami. Our country attracts many foreign students, and let’s face it — what 20 year-old wouldn’t love to spend four years here?

The really interesting phenomenon is that many of these Middle Eastern college students become the “gateway” for other family members, encouraging mom, dad, grandma and others to join them in Miami. Family is extremely important to Middle Eastern buyers, and real-estate professionals should be prepared to find housing for them that is suitable for and capable of expansion, or has more available units nearby.

No Trump Concerns

While President Donald Trump’s Middle Eastern travel/emigration policy (or “Muslim Ban,” as it has been described) draws international headlines and lots of cable news chatter, you might be surprised to know that clients from that region pay it little attention.

Prosperous Middle Eastern individuals do not feel unfairly “targeted” in any respect and feel no need to protest or complain. Their concerns are about finding safe, secure and reliable investments should they need to flee their home countries due to political, religious or military turmoil. This would be the case regardless of who occupies the White House.

While the region continues to be very unstable and capable of dramatic change, a mass influx of Middle Eastern buyers is not expected to Miami in the near or distant future. However, the trend of more wealthy individuals choosing Miami over major U.S. cities like New York or Los Angeles is here to stay, and Turkey and other Arab countries may become regulars on that list of online real-estate Web searchers.

 

Source: Miami Herald

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Check It Out: The View From The Top Of Florida’s Tallest Building

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Future tenants of Brickell’s mammoth Panorama Tower are a little closer to being able to look down on the rest of Miami.

Developer Tibor Hollo’s Florida East Coast Realty is celebrating the topping-off of its 830-foot luxury rental tower at 1101 Brickell Ave.. The ceremony is a customary way for builders to commemorate the completion of the top floor of a new structure.

At 85 stories, Panorama Tower will be the tallest building in Florida and the tallest residential building south of Manhattan, according to the developer. The tower will house 821 apartments, ranging in size from one to three bedrooms and starting at 1,135 square feet., along with a sick array of amenities, including a lap pool, sun deck, weight room, pet groomer and a serenity pool for when you’re stressing about your high rent — an average of $3 per square foot.

Another 208 rooms will serve as a boutique hotel. The structure will house 100,000 square feet of office space and 50,000 square feet of high-end retail shops and restaurants.

Construction on the Panorama, which is estimated to cost a total of $800 million, is expected to be completed by the end of this year. The leasing program has not officially started, but more than 100 units are already reserved.

Including the building’s antenna, the Panorama Tower will reach 868 feet into the sky, which is higher than two football fields stacked end-to-end and taller than the Four Seasons Hotel Miami, which measures 800 feet to tip.

Panorama will only hold the crown of Miami’s tallest for a couple of years. The building will be dwarfed by at least two other giant skyscrapers in development, both expected to reach 1,049 feet: One Brickell City Centre and One Bayfront Plaza.

 

Source: Miami Herald

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Coconut Grove Sees A New 30-Year First In Commercial Development

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GlobeSt.com caught up with Chris Dekker, vice president of Mayfair Real Estate Advisors and Tere Blanca, president and CEO of Blanca Commercial Real Estate, to get their take on the office aspects of this project in part one of this exclusive interview.

GlobeSt.com: It’s been 30 years since a new office building was built in Coconut Grove. Why are two new buildings launching at the same time?

Dekker: Coconut Grove is experiencing three decades of pent-up office demand from in and around the area that has led to a submarket vacancy rate of less than 2%—the lowest in all of South Florida. The Grove is coming alive with new condos, restaurants and shops, so we view the development of new Class A office space as the final ingredient that will complete the neighborhood’s comeback. Mary Street, like Terra’s nearby towers at Grove at Grand Bay and Park Grove, represent a new wave of design-driven infill development that is taking advantage of Coconut Grove’s walkability and central location.

GlobeSt.com: Coconut Grove has primarily been known as a retail and residential destination. How does office space factor into the neighborhood’s commercial mix?

Blanca: The addition of new class A office space at One CocoWalk will make the CocoWalk shopping complex more relevant for locals again, after more than a decade of being a destination for tourists. By welcoming new companies and hundreds of additional employees into the neighborhood, we’ll be boosting the area’s daily population and driving more activity on the streets throughout the day, which will benefit the Grove’s retailers and restaurants on a daily basis.

 

Source: GlobeSt.

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Four Major Developments Proposed In Miami

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Four developers will seek to rezone property in Miami for major projects, including a 43-story apartment tower by the Melo Group.

The city’s Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board will consider all four applications on March 15. If approved there, the applications would need to pass two readings before the City Commission. These rezoning applications deal with the allowable height and density on the sites, not the specific building designs, which would go through a different approval process.

1. Apartment Building Proposed By Meo Group In Arts & Entertainment District

Miami-based Melo Group, one of the largest residential developers in Miami with its condo and apartment towers, wants to rezone the 1.22-acre site it owns through affiliate Art Plaza LLC in the Arts & Entertainment District. It paid $16 million in 2014 for the property at 1336, 1348 and 1366 N.E. 1st Ave., 50 and 58 N.E. 14th Street, plus 1335 N.E. Miami Court. It’s near where Melo Group is currently building the Square Station apartments.

The area is zoned for 500 units per acre. Attorney Iris Escarra, who represents Melo Group in the application, said it’s not feasible to build to that density level under the site’s current zoning because it doesn’t allow enough square footage. Melo Group intends to build an apartment building with ground-floor commercial space, she said. That location is ideal for Miami workers because it’s near the School Board Station Metro Mover and Melo Group would but a public entrance to encourage mass transit and walking, she added.

The property’s current zoning of T6-24-A would permit a 22-story building of 518,000 square feet with 304 units. Rezoning Art Plaza LLC’s land to T6-24B would allow a 43-story building of 1.28 million square feet with 630 units, according to Escarra’s estimate.

“Square Station has the same zoning,” Escarra said. “This area is really in need of that particular zoning change. It’s important to get people to take the School Board Stop.”

2. Apartment Tower Proposed In Omni

Developers Damian Narvaez and Alex Karakhanian plan to build an apartment building in the Omni neighborhood.

Their co-owned company 2247 N.W. 17th Avenue LLC paid $6.6 million in May 2016 for the 43,262-square-foot site at 1900 N.E. Miami Court. It currently has a 50,317-square-foot building from 1923 that recently housed Aspira Charter School.

The developer seeks to rezone the property from T6-8 to T6-12, which would increase the permitted height from eight stories to 12 stories. The density would remain at 500 units per acre. Attorney Steven Wernick, who represents the developers, said rezoning the property would allow his clients to propose a building closer to the area’s permitted density. If approved, it will design an apartment building with ground floor retail, he said.

“The site is in need of redevelopment to bring more housing into the area,” Wernick said.

Based on an average unit size of 700 square feet, the current zoning would permit a 266,963-square-foot building with 220 units. The new zoning would allow a 444,226-square-foot building with 358 units. Wernick said the final number of units would depend on the design of the building and the size of each unit.

3. MiMo Site Could Be Rezoned

The owner of a 1.33-acre site in MiMo wants to rezone the property for more density.

Todd Leoni manages the three companies 7000 Biscayne LLC, 7100 Biscayne LLC, and 7120 Biscayne that own the property. It covers 7000, 7010, 7020, 7030, 7100, and 7120 Biscayne Blvd. plus 565 N.E. 71st Street. The property currently has a three-story office building, two restaurants and a car wash.

The property is currently zoned T4 and T5. The proposed zoning of T6-8 would allow 85 units. There would be no change in the permitted height, as buildings in the MiMo historic district are limited to 35 feet.

It’s not clear exactly what the developer plans to build. Attorney Gilberto Pastoriza, who represents 7000 Biscayne LLC, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

4. Mixed-Use Proposed In Allapattah

A mixed-use multifamily project is planned for the emerging neighborhood of Allapattah.

Luar Investments LLC, owned by Raul Rodriguez, owns the 44,442-square-foot site at 2950 N.W. 7th Ave., 720, 730, and 744 N.W. 30th Street, and 735 N.W. 29th Street. It currently has an 8,956-square-foot building that’s used by an ambulance company and the parking lot is utilized for ambulance parking to serve the nearby hospitals.

It’s currently zoned T4 with 36 units per acre. The developer wants it rezoned to T5 with 65 units per acre. This would allow about 48 units on the site.

Miami attorney Ben Fernandez wrote in the application that Luar Investments intends to build a mixed-use multifamily development with ground floor commercial space. He couldn’t be reached for comment.

 

Source: SFBJ

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Tibor Hollo: We’re Starting One Bayfront Plaza In January 2019

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Tibor Hollo will break ground on the 92-story One Bayfront Plaza in January 2019, according to an interview he gave this week with Miami Today.

Completion is estimated within 40 months of starting, he said. The building will top off at 1,049 feet, since that is the maximum permitted by the FAA in the area, Hollo said. He expects other developers will follow him and build at that height.

Most of One Bayfront Plaza will be devoted to apartments, with 1,052 units. The project will also include about 500,000 square feet of office space and 200,000 square feet of retail, along with a 200-room hotel. It will be directly connected to a Metromover station by bridge.

Residences will start on level 22. A sky recreation deck will have two giant pools, including one for hotel guests. A second amenity deck will be located on level 40.

Hollo is 90 years old. He currently has Panorama Tower under construction in Brickell, which is already the tallest structure in Miami. Hollo said that Panorama will top off at 867 feet, surpassing any other building in the area by 100 feet, and the tallest (residential) tower south of New York on the eastern seaboard.

 

Source: The Next Miami

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Commercial Real Estate Indicators Signal Robust 2017 Across South Florida

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Year-end surges in the office, industrial and retail sectors foreshadow robust economic growth across South Florida for 2017, commercial real estate experts say.

A lack of new supply pushed office rents higher, particularly in the downtown corridors, and the optimism displayed by businesses looking to expand is prompting developers to strongly consider shovels in the ground after a decade of inactivity.

West City Partners has proposed a 500,000-square-foot office building in downtown Fort Lauderdale, although the project isn’t expected to break ground until an anchor tenant commits.

The Stiles real estate firm is in talks with Broward College for a ground lease at the two-building site on Las Olas Boulevard. Stiles would tear down the buildings and replace them with a 350,000-square-foot office tower, said Doug Eagon, the developer’s vice chairman.

“It is time to introduce the next generation of office space into the downtown market,” Eagon said.

Last year, Stiles paid $13.1 million for the Bank of America building next to Broward College.

“The firm is considering its options, with retail and residential likely,” Eagon said.

Meanwhile, demand is soaring for warehouse and distribution space as e-commerce suppliers struggle to keep up with online retail sales, according to a report from the Colliers  International real estate firm.

In the fourth quarter of 2016, Broward’s industrial vacancy rate plummetted to 4.4 percent from 6.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015, the Colliers data show. Palm Beach County’s vacancy dropped to a nine-year low of 4.2 percent.

Boca Raton and Jupiter had the county’s two lowest industrial vacancy rates, at 1.2 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively. Those two markets also had the two highest rents — $14.53 a square foot in Boca Raton and $11.43 a square foot in Jupiter.

“Palm Beach County has more than 422,000 square feet of industrial space under construction, the majority of it at McCraney Property Co.’s Turpike Business Park adjacent to Florida’s Turnpike at Belvedere Road,” Colliers said.

In Broward, Butters Construction and Development and Bristol Group Inc. are planning a 925,000-square-foot business park at the site of the former Deerfield Country Club off Interstate 95 and Hillsboro Boulevard.

Tom Capocefalo, senior managing director for the Savills Studley commercial real estate brokerage in Miami, said the tri-county region is geographically positioned to easily ship goods domestically or internationally to the end users.

“We’re finding that the South Florida marketplace is one of the top-tier distribution markets in the country,” Capocefalo said. “It’s incredible, the pace of it.”

“Industial developers are moving north into Palm Beach County because the county has more available property than either Broward or Miami-Dade,” said Ken Krasnow, executive managing director for Colliers in South Florida, said

“Land is a scarcity,” Krasnow said. “We’re not making any more of it.”

“Palm Beach County also had a banner year in retail, with more than 1 million square feet of space leased – the highest level since 2006 and nearly double the 515,050 of 2015,” Colliers said.

Broward totaled 1.4 million square feet in new retail leases, its best showing in a decade. The first phase of Dania Pointe, an $800 million shopping and entertainment center, is expected to open this year just east of Interstate 95 at Stirling and Bryan roads in Dania Beach.

Colliers said small blocks of space in the 2,000-square-foot range are most in demand as Broward tenants seek to control costs in an era of rising rents and the growth of e-commerce. With smaller spaces more in vogue, the challenge for retail landlords this year will be to find tenants for the available “big box” spaces across the region, market observers say.

Sports Authority filed for bankruptcy and went out of business, closing 13 stores across South Florida and auctioning 10 others. In January, Macy’s said it would close stores nationwide, including one at CityPlace in West Palm Beach.

“Landlords will first try to find a tenant to take the space in its current configuration,” said Peter Reed, managing principal at Commercial Florida Realty Services in Boca Raton. “When those efforts are exhausted, they’ll have to ask themselves, ‘How do I repurpose this?’ In some cases, they’ll be able to multi-tenant it, but in other cases the best thing may be to scrape it and do something different.”

 

Source: SunSentinel

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Miami’s Little Havana Neighborhood Named A U.S. ‘National Treasure’

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Little Havana, the neighborhood that is the heart and soul of Miami’s Cuban diaspora, was named a US “national treasure” on Friday.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a private organization, added the neighborhood to its list of sites it believes should be protected from developers, saying in a statement that it “stands as a testament to the immigrant spirit that built America.”

Little Havana is home to the Versailles, a historic cafe that pulses with Cuban music and sometimes offers free Cuban pastries to exiles who gather there to protest or celebrate events on their home island.

Several blocks away in Domino Park, dozens of retirees play the eponymous game amid sometimes heated political discussions every afternoon. Nearby, the city’s most popular Cuban salsa club is a must-see tourist destination. There’s also a museum of weapons, photos and documents from veterans of the ill-fated 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion.

However, Little Havana‘s residents now worry about being forced out by real estate development and rising prices.

“Little Havana is a symbol of the immigrant experience in America,” the historic trust’s president Stephanie Meeks said. “The National Trust welcomes the urban resurgence that is breathing new life into cities across the country, but we also believe that growth should not come at the expense of the vibrant historic neighborhoods like Little Havana.”

The buildings, some them Art Deco, date back to the 1920s and 1930s. On the commercial hub Calle Ocho, or Eighth Street, many buildings have coral-colored floors. But the burgeoning downtown and Brickell neighborhoods — with their modern 20-story buildings — are expanding toward Little Havana.

“As Miami continues to evolve, preservation will be essential in maintaining Miami’s unique urban neighborhoods,” Miami-Dade County heritage trust director Christine Rupp said. “Our long-term goal is to protect specific historic properties that tell the story of Little Havana and assist with the restoration of those historic buildings.”

Some 1.5 million Cubans live in the United States, 68 percent of them in Florida, according to the Pew Research Center.

 

Source: Yahoo!News

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24-Story Mixed-Use Project With Hotel Coming To Brickell

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Rendering of the 24-story, 250,000-square-foot mixed use project planned for Brickell. (Image Credit: Metro 1 Development)

Real estate developer Tony Cho and hotel developer Robert Finvarb announced Friday they are developing a 250,000-square-foot, 24-story, mixed-use project in the heart of the booming neighborhood.

Located on Southwest First Avenue between Seventh and Eighth Streets, the project aims to attract a “neighborhood style hotel” and retail, as well as possible commercial and residential components. Cho and Finvarb recently acquired the site for $18.4 million.

The building will be adjacent to Metromover and Metrorail stations and a block from the site of the Brickell Backyard segment of the Underline project, an endeavor to transform the 10 miles below the Metrorail along South Dixie Highway into a green thoroughfare of bike paths, trails and street vendors.

Cho, who founded Miami-based Metro 1 Development, has worked on several neighborhood revitalization efforts. He most recently announced plans for the Magic City Innovation District, an area spanning 15 acres just north of Wynwood with a focus on art, entertainment, innovation and sustainability.

Finvarb is the founder of Miami-based Robert Finvarb Companies, which has developed 17 hotels since 2002 in seven states and the District of Columbia.

 

Source: Miami Herald

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