Robert Wennett and his penthouse (Credit: The Jills – Photography by Luxhunters)

Selling 1111 Lincoln Road for $283 million wasn’t enough for developer Robert Wennett. Now, he’s listing his penthouse atop the luxury mixed-use garage for $34 million.

The condo, with 7,700 square feet of indoor space, 18,000 square feet of outdoor space, seven bedrooms, a separate guest house and landscaping by Raymond Jungles, is being listed by Coldwell Banker’s Jill Hertzberg and Jill Eber of the Jills. It was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Herzog & de Meuron.

Wennett is ready to move on to another project, Hertzberg said. He sold the building, an office, retail, event venue and parking garage he developed, to German institutional investor Bayerische Versorgungskammer in July.

Robert Wennett’s penthouse (Credit: The Jills – Photography by Luxhunters)

The penthouse features a sloped garden with grapevines, outdoor terraces with Roberto Burle Marx-style pavement, and a rooftop with a pool, bar and kitchen. The smart home has white oak floors and cabinets, Gaggenau appliances, bathrooms with skylights and high-tech lighting. Hertzberg called it one of the most exciting properties she’s listed. Wennett has been living in the condo since 2011.

Property records show Wennett paid $23.5 million for the site in 2005 before building 1111 Lincoln. The building, which sits at the northwest entrance of the Lincoln Road pedestrian mall, has 94,488 square feet of office space, 51,839 square feet of retail space, and a 300-space parking garage/event space.

In September, he paid $16 million for a 10-acre property in Allapattah, where he is reportedly planning a major development.

3 Island Avenue in Miami Beach (Credit: Zillow, MLS)

At least two residents of a Venetian Islands co-op were allegedly burglarized by a front desk attendant and are seeking reimbursement from the building’s former management company, The Real Deal has learned.

The residents of 3 Island Avenue in Miami Beach say front desk attendant Jennifer Russell, an employee of KW Property Management & Consulting, took master keys to their units while she was on duty and stole valuables from them on April 3. A Miami Beach police report names Russell of Fort Lauderdale as the suspect and cites a video in which she was seen carrying a purse that resident Nazila Aboughaddareh said belonged to her.

When Aboughhaddareh came home to her unit that night, a bottom lock that she never used was locked and she couldn’t enter. When she finally was able to gain access the next day, she found her closet ransacked, and at least $23,000 worth of goods — including jewelry from Tiffany & Co., David Yurman and Van Cleef & Arpels; Christian Louboutin and Gucci shoes; clothing, purses and two laptop computers — stolen. Her hard drive, which she said is key to her work as a communications consultant, was also missing.

“She was watching me,” Aboughhaddareh told TRD. “She knew I had some luxury goods in the unit.”

Similarly, Ofir Farahan said that when he returned home to his rented unit, he was unable to open the door because an extra lock was locked. After he called a locksmith and gained entry, he discovered that a brand new, boxed Mac desktop computer, a Breville juicer and a gold bracelet were stolen, with a combined value of $2,500.

A video recording shows Russell going up and down the elevator several times with full garbage bags that she took to her car, according to the burglarized residents and Diliana Alexander, president of the co-op board. Russell had been scheduled to work at the until 7 a.m. the next day, but left unexpectedly that night.

Alexander said the board of the 144-unit co-op was aware that Russell was “a problematic employee,” because she had come to work late and had other issues. Alexander said the board had asked the management company to let her go before the thefts ever occurred.

On April 7, KW Management’s district manager, Jeffrey Ulm, sent a letter to 3 Island Avenue’s residents, informing them that the attendant obtained keys to the units and stole personal property. The unnamed attendant also opened and/or removed packages from the package room, he wrote in the letter, obtained by TRD. “KWPM is dedicated to ensuring the lost property is identified and replaced,” he said in the letter, adding that the employee had been terminated.

According to a demand letter from Aboughhaddareh’s attorney Adam Levit, Russell’s fingerprints were found in Aboughhaddareh’s unit.

Russell could not be reached for comment. Broward County arrest records show she was arrested in Dania Beach on July 26 for dealing in stolen property and for false verification of ownership given to a pawnbroker.

The demand letter includes a separate Broward County arrest report for Russell for retail theft on Jan. 25. “A company such as KW has a duty to perform a background check on prospective employees holding a position of power that would provide access to unit owners’ apartments,” the letter states. The attorney is seeking $65,000 in reimbursement, according to the letter.

Miami attorney Frank C. Simone, who represents KW Property Management & Consulting, said in a statement that an employer is not liable for an employee’s criminal acts when they occur “outside the course of their employment” and “were not conducted in furtherance of the employer’s interest.”

The alleged robberies “were committed solely for the benefit of the accused — not for the employer,” he said in the statement. He suggested the residents sue the alleged burglar.

Levit said he disagreed with KW’s response. “Their defenses are meritless,” he said, “and we are prepared to aggressively litigate this to make my client whole again.”

Kenneth Harney

Here’s an important question for anyone hoping to buy a home next year but who isn’t quite confident about qualifying for a mortgage: Is it true that lenders have eased up on certain key requirements, making it simpler for first-time buyers and others who can’t pass all the strict tests to get approved?

The good news answer is yes. A recent survey of banks and mortgage companies by giant investor Fannie Mae found that a record number of lenders report that they have relaxed at least some requirements for mortgage clients.

In recent months, standards on debt-to-income ratios, minimum down payments and student loan debt have been made less stringent. Both Fannie Mae and fellow mega-investor Freddie Mac — who are key to the mortgage market because they set the guidelines and buy vast quantities of the mortgages originated by banks and mortgage companies — have taken steps to accommodate a wider swath of home buyers.

Debt-to-income changes are at the top of the list. Under previous rules, your total monthly debt load could not exceed 45 percent of your monthly household gross income. Under the new rules, your total monthly debt can now go to 50 percent. With Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans, you can push it even higher — 55 percent or 56 percent — provided that other aspects of your application are strong.

The net effect of the debt ratio policy change? “This is huge,” Paul Skeens, president of Colonial Mortgage Group in Waldorf, Maryland, told me last week. “It makes it much easier for a lot more people to qualify.” Often they’re younger buyers carrying the typical burdens of starting new households along with heavy student debt. They’re also families who’ve survived challenging economic times and are paying off lingering credit card balances and other bills.

Fannie Mae’s recent change in the way it handles student loans for calculating debt ratios is another big deal. In cases where mortgage applicants are covered by income-based reduced-repayment plans, and their artificially low payment is listed on their credit reports, lenders now have the option of qualifying them on the basis of that reported amount.

About 5 million Americans participate in reduced-repayment plans. Under previous rules, lenders were forced to impute payment terms for borrowers using these plans. Even when credit reports indicated the borrowers were paying little or nothing, lenders computing debt ratios were required to factor in monthly payments equal to 1 percent of the outstanding balance on the student debt. Say the reduced repayment plan cut the required payment to $75 or to zero. Instead of adding 1 percent of the student loan balance to the applicants’ monthly debt calculation, lenders can now use the actual amount being paid under the plan — zero if the credit report says zero.

Down payment minimums also have been slashed, with many lenders now requiring just 3 percent down on conventional mortgages. FHA still requires 3.5 percent. A handful of lenders are offering 1 percent or zero-down conventional loan options, where they provide gifts — guaranteed non-repayable and no hike in interest rate or fees — for certain borrowers, typically those with solid credit histories. One large Midwestern bank made a splash last month with a zero-down mortgage plan that also includes a gift of up to $3,500 toward closing costs.

What about credit scores? Any easing going on there? Not so much, but you have to look below the surface of the reported statistics to see what’s really happening. Though the average FICO credit score for home purchase loans at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in October remained near where it’s hovered for years — an elite 754 — the reality is different. According to Ellie Mae, a software and analytics company that tracks terms on new mortgages, nearly one-third of purchase loans closed at Fannie and Freddie in October carried FICOs below 700. Twenty percent had FICOs between 650 and 699. And a small but noteworthy few (0.64 percent) even had scores below 600.

The takeaway: Be alert to the changes underway. Standards are not necessarily as strict and exclusive as you may assume. It all depends on what your application looks like in total. If you’ve got solid “compensating factors” — maybe a low debt ratio or higher than typical down payment or reserves — your sub-par credit score may not be the deal-killer to a home purchase you assumed it would be.

Tod Lickerman and Shawn Mobley

From TRD New York: Tod Lickerman is stepping down as Cushman & Wakefield’s chief executive of the Americas.

It’s not clear why Lickerman left or where he’s headed next, Connect Media reported. He joined the Chicago-based commercial real estate services firm in 2013, after leaving JLL.

“After 4 great years helping to lead DTZ and Cushman & Wakefield I’m happy to say that I’m taking a well-earned break,” Lickerman said in a statement. “Congratulations and best of luck to my colleagues, brothers and sisters at C&W, I’m proud to be an alumni!”

Shawn Mobley, president of the firm’s East Region and the leader of the Chicago offices, will be taking over for Lickerman. The leadership shakeup comes as Cushman reportedly gears up to go public. The Real Deal reported in November that Doug Harmon and Adam Spies, who jumped ship from Eastdil Secured last year, were lagging behind their CBRE competitors in terms of big-ticket deals. [Connect] — Kathryn Brenzel

Howard Chase and 700 71st Street (Credit: Howard Chase Real Estate)

Howard Chase Real Estate is opening a second location in North Beach amid a push for investment and redevelopment in the Miami Beach neighborhood, The Real Deal has learned.

The residential brokerage, based at a 2,000-square-foot space at 1354 Washington Avenue, inked a lease for 2,050 square feet at 700 71st Street, owner Howard Chase said. His company signed a five-year deal with an option for a three-year extension. It’s taking over the space previously occupied by Pets & Vets.

Since opening in 2007, the luxury residential brokerage has grown to 60 agents and Chase plans to hire up to 80 more agents in 2018. The second location is slated to open in February. “Moving into a second office, in a signature corner at the entrance, we feel, to North Beach, will allow us the freedom to grow,” Chase said.

Records show North Beach investor Andrew Fischer paid $2.65 million for the property last year. Fisher raised rents by 80 percent in anticipation of the street’s redevelopment, Chase said.

Commercial rents for new buildings in the area have reached $40 per square foot annually, and older properties are securing leases in the $20 per square foot range, according to Chase.

Last month, Miami Beach voters approved a measure that will allow for a Floor Area Ratio or “FAR” increase – making way for developers to build taller buildings like high-rise condos and mixed-use projects.

The zoning increase impacts the area between Collins and Dickens avenues to Indian Creek Drive between 68th and 72nd streets. With the increase, developers can now build a mixed-use “Town Center” district along 71st Street. Urban planning firm Dover Kohl & Partners is designing the city’s town center.

Investors and developers have already bought numerous properties in the area.

In March, Pacific Star Capital paid $24.6 million for City National Bank’s North Beach branch. The firm has proposed a 110,000-square-foot residential and retail project for the two block area along 71st street.

Clockwise from top left: Office space in Los Angeles is on the rise, Microsoft’s major renovation plans in Redmond, Mast Capital CEO Camilo Miguel Jr. has designs on the Miami River, 7INK by Ollie could be a ‘millennial resort’ in Boston, and FHFA Director Melvin Watt faces choices about Fannie and Freddie.

From TRD New York:
Fannie and Freddie fight over $7.7B with Trump administration
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will owe the Treasury Department more than $7 billion at the end of the year, and the agencies are fighting with the Trump administration over how to settle the bill. Officials from the Federal Housing Finance Agency want Fannie and Freddie to keep between $2 billion and $3 billion to protect themselves against losses, according to Bloomberg. The White House, however, wants them to limit their market footprint as part of the deal, by enforcing more restrictive limits on the loans they back. [TRD]

Lickerman out as Cushman’s top Americas executive
Cushman & Wakefield’s chief executive of the Americas Tod Lickerman is leaving the Chicago-based commercial real estate services firm. Shawn Mobley, president of the firm’s East Region and the leader of the Chicago offices, will replace Lickerman, who joined Cushman in 2013. The leadership changeup comes as Cushman reportedly gears up to go public. [TRD]

Home prices increased by 6.2% in September: report
Nationwide home prices are rising faster than any time since 2014, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index. September’s 6.2 percent increase slightly outpaced the 6.1 percent growth predicted by a Reuters poll of economists. Thirteen cities reported that prices had gone up in the year, with Seattle, Las Vegas and San Diego leading the way. [TRD]

GOP tax plan could drastically slow down construction and rehab of affordable projects
The tax proposals being debated in Washington could slow down both the construction and renovation of affordable housing units if the “private activity” bond tax exemption is eliminated, as it is in the recently passed House bill. An analysis by accounting firm Novogradac & Co. found that the bill would lower affordable housing production by about 700,000 units over the next 10 years. The Senate’s tax plan does not eliminate the exemption, but supporters of the House plan say its end is needed to pay for other corporate tax cuts. [TRD]

Piedmont selling 14 buildings across the country for $426M
Piedmont Office Realty Trust is selling 14 buildings across the country in a deal with two unnamed buyers. The properties comprise 2.6 million square feet of office space in Arizona, Michigan, Florida, Tennessee and Massachusetts. The deal is valued at $425.9 million, but as much as $10 million could be added if certain leasing targets are met within six months. [Bisnow]

HNA mulls selling assets amid pressure from Chinese government
As the Chinese government tries to limit the amount of capital flowing out of the country, HNA Group may sell off some of its $45 billion of global investments. Adam Tan, CEO of HNA Group, he was considering selling buildings and holdings in industries restricted by the Chinese government. Asset sales would help HNA pay off more than $100 billion in debt. [TRD]

MAJOR MARKET HIGHLIGHTS

Los Angeles expected to add 1.73M square feet of new office space in 2018
About 1.73 million square feet of new office space is expected to be delivered in 2018 in Los Angeles, according to a new study by Commercial Cafe. With 98.4 million of existing office space in the city, eight new projects are scheduled to come online soon, with the largest being the Hercules Campus in Playa Vista at about 525,000 square feet. All the new inventory has some industry experts worried, however, as the office vacancy rate in the county rose to 14.4 percent in the third quarter of 2017, according to a report by CBRE. [TRD]

Mast Capital proposes massive mixed-use project along Miami River
Miami Beach-based Mast Capital is proposing to build a massive mixed-use project along the Miami River, according to documents filed with the Miami River Commission. The planned development would have nearly 700 residential units, 800 parking spaces and commercial and retail space. Mast is under contract to buy the 6.31-acre site, which has more than 1,000 feet of river frontage. [TRD]

Microsoft plans to reboot Seattle’s Redmond campus with multi-billion dollar expansion
As Amazon is spending billions on development in Seattle and on a second headquarters somewhere in North America, Microsoft is going to invest its billions in a renovation and expansion of its suburban campus in Redmond, Washington. The tech giant announced that it will demolish 12 of the oldest 80 existing structures, construct 18 new buildings and renovate others. Microsoft plans to add 2.5 million square feet in new office space and renovate another 6.7 million square feet. [Seattle Times]

Developers pitch a 14-story ‘millennial resort’ in Boston
The newest luxury residential tower to join Boston’s skyline might just be an experiment in “co-living.” Newton-based National Development and New York-based real estate company Ollie are proposing a 14-story building with 245 small units for the South End’s Ink Block complex. “You walk into this building and you feel like you’re in a millennial resort,” National Development managing partner Ted Tye told the Boston Globe. The proposed tower, dubbed 7INK by Ollie, needs approval from the Boston Planning and Development Agency. [Boston Globe]

Staten Island, New York’s forgotten borough, is making itself known
With rising prices and large developments, Staten Island could be shedding its reputation as New York’s forgotten borough. On Staten Island’s North Shore residential and commercial prices have risen 30 percent since 2012, but land is selling at about $80 per square foot on buildable land — well below the city average. Triangle Equities and Starwood Hotels & Resorts are building a 175-key Westin hotel and BFC Partners are working on the 100-store Empire Outlets NYC in the borough. [TRD]

Jeff Doughman and a Spaces shared office location in Menlo Park, California

The parent company of executive office provider Regus plans to bring its shared office concept, called Spaces, to South Florida starting in Miami, a Regus executive told The Real Deal.

Regus’ Jeff Doughman, said Spaces plans to open multiple locations in South Florida “from West Palm Beach/Boca Raton on south.” The parent company of Spaces and Regus is IWG plc, a multinational company formerly known as Regus.

Spaces plans to open a 19,000-square-foot location at 2 MiamiCentral, a 190,000-square-foot office building under construction in downtown Miami near the site of a passenger train station that will be built for the planned Brightline rail service. Construction of 2 MiamiCentral is expected to be finished early next year.

Spaces also just preleased almost 24,000 square feet at Cube Wynwyd, an eight-story office building planned at 222 Northwest 24th Street. RedSky Capital landed an $18.27 million construction loan for the building, designed with almost 80,000 square feet of office space and about 11,400 square feet of retail space.

Doughman said Spaces locations have sleek, open designs and a larger percentage of shared office space and lounge space than Regus locations, which have more private office space.

Though Regus is well known for providing private offices with flexible terms, “we’ve had co-working spaces for years,” Doughman said. Co-working space rates at Regus locations start at $75 to $100 a month.

Doughman said there are 37 Regus locations in South Florida, including five that have opened since late 2016 in Sunny Isles Beach, Miami Beach, Jupiter, Fort Lauderdale and Aventura.

Ezra Katz and his home in Coral Gables

Aztec Group founder and CEO Ezra Katz just sold his Coral Gables mansion for $4.2 million.

Katz and his wife, Tati, sold the property at 10100 Lakeside Drive in the Snapper Creek neighborhood to a private corporation, listing agent Lourdes Alatriste told The Real Deal. Alatriste, a partner at Engel & Völkers Miami, had the 9,100-square-foot home on the market for $4.6 million. It first hit the market in 2015 for $5.95 million with another agent, according to Realtor.com, which means it sold at a nearly 30 percent discount off the original asking price.

Alejandra Marron represented the buyer, whom Alatriste declined to name.

The home in Coral Gables

The six-bedroom house, built in 1956, sits on a 1.5-acre lot with a pool, 100-year-old oak trees, open terraces, a dining room with a fireplace, gourmet kitchen and a master suite.

Records show they paid $2.5 million for the property in 1999.

Last year, the couple purchased at Grove at Grand Bay, near Katz’s office. Katz paid $5.34 million for a roughly 5,000-square-foot condo on the 18th floor of the Terra development.

Avra Jain (Credit: Dragon Global)

Developer Avra Jain wants $15 million in damages from her former lawyers over a failed real estate deal in Doral.

Jain filed a malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit against Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney and shareholder Richard A. Morgan Nov. 20 in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court, records show.

Jain, whose projects include the Vagabond Hotel and the Bayside Motor Inn on Biscayne Boulevard, is alleging her former attorneys made an amateur mistake in defending her against a former business associate, Abraham Cohen, the Daily Business Review reported.

In 2009, Cohen sued Jain, investor Paul Cashman Murphy and H-H Investments LLC, alleging he was owed more than $4 million for a planned luxury condo project likely near Trump National Doral Miami. He claimed Jain, Murphy and their investment group broke their contract when they stopped making payments for his take in the company that planned to develop the property.

Jain and the other defendants responded, claiming Cohen lied about the project to get them to invest, and then deceived them into buying him out of the development. They filed a counterclaim for fraud and misrepresentation. A key part of the counterclaim is that Jain alleges Cohen tore up the promissory note once she confronted him about it.

But her attorneys failed to ensure that Cohen’s attorneys had the original note. Without the note, Cohen wouldn’t be able to enforce the guaranty.

In January, Miami-Dade Circuit judge entered an $8.2 million final judgment in favor of Cohen. Jain is looking to hold her former counsel responsible for the judgment, expenses and damages, according to the Daily Business Review. [DBR] – Katherine Kallergis

14942 Grand Prix Village Drive and Thomas Baldwin of Sotheby’s International Realty (Credit: Sotheby’s International Realty)

Just a month before the prestigious Winter Equestrian Festival, a New York-based company scooped up an equestrian facility in the nearby Grand Prix Village in Wellington for $8.6 million, property records show.

Grand Prix Village Drive LLC, a Delaware entity, bought the four-acre estate at 14942 Grand Prix Farms Drive. The property lies within the gated Grand Prix Village housing development that boasts more barns than mansions.

The seller is an Upperville, Virginia-based company, led by Ann C. Thompson. Records show Thompson bought the property from equestrian festival owner Mark Bellissimo in 2014 for $3.7 million. Construction of the facility began that same year, according to a notice of commencement filed with the county.

Tom Baldwin of Equestrian Sotheby’s International Realty brokered the deal. He was not immediately available to comment. Features of the facility include a 22-stall stable, staff apartments, eight paddocks, an all-weather ring and a covered five-horse walker.

14942 Grand Prix Village Drive (Credit: Sotheby’s International Realty)

The property was also on the market to rent for $432,000 per month, according to Baldwin’s online listing. A full barn rental amounted to $352,000 a month, or $16,000 per stall. The two-story, two-bedroom, two-bathroom penthouse on the property was also available to rent for $10,000 a month.

Celebrities like Bill Gates, athletes, world-famous musicians, and CEOs of million-dollar companies have all flocked to Wellington for WEF, which takes place every year from January to April on the grounds of the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. The 12-week WEF has been the longest equestrian event of its kind for several years.

In 2014, Athina Onassis Roussel, the only surviving descendant of Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, also bought property in Grand Prix Village from Bellissimo. She paid $12 million in cash for 5.6 acres.

300 Southeast 11 Avenue and Robert Castro (Credit: Go Section 8, Bankers Healthcare Group)

A 36-unit apartment building that includes Section 8 housing in Pompano Beach just sold for $5 million, property records show.

PKGD Holdings Castro LLC, a Utica, New York-based company, sold the building at 300 Southeast 11th Avenue for about $139,000 a unit. The company is tied to Robert and Sophie Castro. Robert Castro is the co-founder and president of Davie-based Bankers Healthcare Group, a financial provider to healthcare professionals. Sophie Castro is a co-owner, according to LinkedIn.

Records show the Castros bought the apartment building in 2015 for $3.3 million. Last month the Castros bought a 371-unit apartment complex in Tamarac for $54 million, through 10 different entities.

The buyer is a Wilton Manors-based company called Onto Pompano IV LLC. The company is led by investors Roman Cherstvov and Scott Campbell, records show.

The three-story apartment building, built in 1970, spans 37,340 square feet. The rental community offers 66 bedrooms and 56 baths, according to Realtor.com. Some apartments are listed on the Section 8 Housing website gosection8.com with rents at $1,350 a month.

Bankers Healthcare Group is a financial services company that serves medical professionals. The company provides loans to doctors, pharmacists and other medical professionals throughout the nation, according to its website.

Investors have been flocking to Pompano recently. The city is planning to redevelop its aging downtown area to make it more appealing to companies, as well as residents and tourists.

Panther Coffee (Credit: Instagram @panthercoffee)

The Weekly Dish is a TRD recurring feature that showcases the latest in South Florida’s restaurant openings, leases and sales.

Panther Coffee | MiMo
Panther Coffee is finally opening in the MiMo District. The roastery plans to open Dec. 7 at 6405 Biscayne Boulevard, more than four years after first announcing the lease. Chariff Realty Group brokered the lease.

In May 2016, developer Alex Karakhanian sold the retail and restaurant building, MiMo Place for $6.7 million to Key Biscayne investors.

The Miami New Times first announced Panther’s opening date.

7 Spices | Lincoln Road
A new Mediterranean restaurant, 7 Spices, has leased space at the former site of Freddo at 610 Lincoln Road in Miami Beach.

7 Spices is owned by the 7 Spices Group, which operates dining spots in Venezuela, according to Altagracia Labrozzi of Fortune International Realty, who represented the tenant, along with Gabriela Salazar.

Labrozzi said the group has signed the lease, and plans to open within three months. The restaurant will be its first in the United States.

Terranova Corp. owns the building, whose tenants include SushiSamba. In October 2016, Terranova sued a company licensed to sell Freddo, a brand of Argentine ice cream, for $1.6 million in outstanding rent.

The space that will soon be 7 Spices (Credit: Google Maps)

Dukunoo Jamaican Kitchen, Le Chick Rotisserie | Wynwood
Dunkunoo Jamaican Kitchen and Le Chick Rotisserie are opening at a Block Capital Group development in Wynwood.

The restaurants are joining Crazy Poke, Gelatte Miami and other tenants at 310 to 320 Northwest 24th Street, according to CEO Martin Miculitzki. Le Chick, which is opening in a 4,000-square-foot space, is an Amsterdam restaurant concept led by Zuma owners Yona and Tunu Puri. BM2 represented the landlord in the 10-year lease deal. Leslie Cooper and Sophie Bamps of One Sotheby’s International Realty represented Le Chick.

Subs and Suds | Fort Lauderdale
Former “Million Dollar Listing Miami” cast member Samantha DeBianchi is launching a sandwich shop and creamery in Fort Lauderdale.

DeBianchi, founder of DeBianchi Real Estate, plans to open Subs and Suds early next year in the former Bozo’s Sub & Sandwich Shop space in the Riverside Park/Sailboat Bend neighborhood. She’s working with Memphis Garrett and Chef Jeremy Powell of The Poke House to open the casual eatery at 601 Southwest 12th Avenue, according to a press release.

Residence Inn Sunny Isles Beach opened as the winter tourism season approaches, and the 194-room hotel expects to attract business travelers as well as tourists.

Rooms in the 19-story Residence Inn at 17700 Collins Avenue are apartment-inspired suites for extended stays. Each has a kitchenette equipped with a coffeemaker, microwave oven and other appliances.

Guests can use a grocery delivery service at the new Residence Inn or shop at an on-site food and beverage store open 24 hours a day.

The hotel’s design is intended to convey “a home-away-from home feel,” Robert Finvarb, owner of the Residence Inn and a real estate company bearing his name, said in a prepared statement.

Other features aimed at business travelers include more than 9,000 square feet of meeting space in three conference areas and two rooftop decks. The property also has a business library with facilities for faxing, copying and printing.

The hotel has a poolside restaurant, Ocean View on Nine, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The new Residence Inn also features a contemporary art collection throughout the hotel, assembled Dina Mitrani of Dina Mitrani Gallery.

Miami-based KobiKarp Architecture & Interior Design led the design of the hotel.

North Beach Plaza (Source: South Florida Business Journal)

A developer is revising plans to replace a mostly vacant shopping center in northeast Palm Beach County with 300 rental apartments after the Juno Beach Town Council criticized the proposed redevelopment.

Members of the town council and residents of Juno Beach have complained that a 300-unit apartment development on the 11-acre shopping center site is too dense.

The Palm Beach County Commission will decide whether to grant final approval of the proposed redevelopment of the shopping center, called North Beach Plaza.

The shopping center is in unincorporated Palm Beach County, but it’s an area that Juno Beach may annex in the future, so the town can review the proposed redevelopment, too.

The company behind the proposal, Fairway Investments LLC, proposed tearing down the shopping center to clear the land for a gated complex with 300 apartments including some workforce-housing units.

The apartment development would be called Lenox North Beach. [Palm Beach Post] – Mike Seemuth

Florida Power & Light Co. bought land in Nassau County comparable in size to its Horizon Solar Energy Center in Alachua and Putnam counties.

Florida Power & Light Co. (FPL) bought 1,311 acres in Nassau County for $13.1 million but has no specific plan for the property.

The land comprises most of an 1,814-acre property called Crawford Diamond Industrial Park.

Juno Beach-based FPL bought  most of the industrial park from Yulee-based Rayonier Inc. for $10,000 an acre.

FPL spokesman Stephen Heiman told the Jacksonville Daily Record that FPL has no specific plan for the land in Nassau County, located just north of Jacksonville. He said and that the utility company routinely acquires land that could advance its mission to serve customers.

The land in Nassau County is almost identical in size to the site of FPL’s Horizon Solar Energy Center in Putnam and Alachua counties, which spans about 1,310 acres.

But Nassau County is excluded from a list of 12 counties statewide that FPL has identified as potential sites for future power plants.

The Crawford Diamond Industrial Park, where FPL is now the primary land owner, has been approved for up to 10.5 million square feet of uses that could include manufacturing, assembly, warehousing and distribution. [Jacksonville Daily Record] – Mike Seemuth

(Pixabay)

From TRD New York: The cost of the holidays, as those trying to take care of their shopping lists ASAP know only too well, can be hefty. Whether it’s money-wise, disrupting a diet, triggering excessive alcohol and drug consumption, the holidays aren’t always a great time for everybody.

A new report compared almost 200 American cities to see which places Santa should dutifully skip due to metrics of over-indulgence ranging from eating habits to drug consumption and sex, in combination with official statistics such as bullying and crime rates and incidences of hate crimes — all paired alongside metrics such as average charity donations, fast food joints per capita and the share of adult smokers in a city.

WalletHub, compiled the data and made the comparison framing their report around which American cities are the most “sinful” resulted in a report peppered with phrases like: “Luckily for the saints among us, all American vices are not created, or distributed, equally.”

The report’s premise of which cities are having a rough time examines a reality New Yorkers may not consider on the regular — which cities have the highest numbers of opioid prescriptions being filled; the highest numbers of deaths due to overdoses; large debt-to-income ratios; or a high drop out rate from high schools. Unfortunately, the report not only skips over underlying causes of serious societal problems, but opted to slap the labels “lazy,” “lust” or “greed” on top of systemic issues portrayed as individual failings.

The Big Apple ranks 22 on WalletHub’s “most sinful” list out of the 182 cities considered. Here’s the top 10 “sinful” cities followed by the top 10 virtuous places, you be the judge of whether they deserve to be on the naughty or nice list:

Most Sinful Cities

1 Las Vegas, NV

(Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de)

2 Orlando, FL

(Pixabay)

3 Miami, FL

(Marc Averette)

4 St. Louis, MO

(Sam Valadi/Flickr)

5 North Las Vegas, NV

(Curimedia/Wikimedia Commons)

6 Henderson, NV

(ilovebutter/Flickr)

7 Detroit, MI

(Crisco 1492/Wikimedia Commons)

8 Baton Rouge, LA

(Spatms/Wikimedia Commons)

9 Tampa, FL

(Pixabay)

10 New Orleans, LA

(U.S. Army Corp of Engineers Digital Visual Library)

Least Sinful Cities

173 Cedar Rapids, IA
174 Aurora, IL
175 San Jose, CA
176 Santa Rosa, CA
177 Plano, TX
178 Port St. Lucie, FL
179 West Valley City, UT
180 Brownsville, TX
181 Pearl City, HI
182 South Burlington, VT

[WalletHub]– E.K. Hudson

A sewer line rupture that flooded Fort Lauderdale in December 2016. (Source: WPLG)

Rapid real estate development in downtown Fort Lauderdale is straining the city’s aging sewer system.

Reiss Engineering, a consulting firm, reported that the downtown sewage pumping station was operating a maximum capacity in 2015. Since then, the city government has approved 26 downtown developments with 104 hotel rooms, 6,368 residences, 285,378 square feet of retail space and one million square feet of office space.

Currently, at least 11,416 residential units and 969 hotel rooms are under review, approved or under construction in downtown Fort Lauderdale.

City officials told the Sun-Sentinel newspaper that the downtown sewer system can accommodate downtown development if certain public works projects are completed as planned. The city has ongoing water and sewer projects that will cost $69 million to complete, and the city plans to use $200 million in borrowed money to complete urgent projects.

Two months ago, the Fort Lauderdale City Commission approved a contract for construction of a second downtown-sewage pumping station. According to a city memorandum, the existing downtown pumping station is operating at its capacity, and the second station would “allow for future development.”

City commissioners have agreed to a consent order from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which the state agency issued in response to large-scale sewage spills throughout the city.

The city has spilled 20.6 million gallons of untreated sewage into its waterways since 2014, prompting the DEP to negotiate a consent order with a list of critical repairs and deadlines to complete them.

Among other projects, the city plans to seal sewer pipes downtown at a fraction of the cost of replacing them, which could add 15 to 20 years to their useful life. [Sun-Sentinel]  — Mike Seemuth

Rendering of Courtyard by Marriott hotel planned in Daytona Beach

A developer plans to build a 195-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel at an oceanfront site in Daytona Beach. 

Orlando-based Avista Properties would build the 10-story, 273,000-square-foot hotel with a rooftop pool along the ocean near the Daytona Beach Pier. 

The Courtyard by Marriott hotel development, which would cost $40 million, is pending a purchase of city-owned land by Avista and a rezoning of the site. 

Avista would acquire two adjacent city-owned lots and build the hotel on the lots and on a nearby parcel the Orlando-based developer already owns. 

That would give Avista a two-acre development site at the northeast corner of Harvey Avenue and Ocean Avenue in Daytona Beach.

 City commissioners could vote on a proposed rezoning of the site in March or April. 

Glenn Storch, a Daytona Beach attorney representing Avista, told the News-Journal newspaper that the developer could close on a purchase of the city-owned lots in summer, break ground for the hotel in late 2018 and open it by the summer of 2020. [Daytona Beach News-Journal] — Mike Seemuth

Robert Stiller

A limited liability company flipped a lakefront lot in Palm Beach for an $800,000 profit after buying it from billionaire Robert Stiller.

Stiller, who founded coffee company Kuerig Green Mountain Inc., sold the lot at 12 Via Vizcaya for $4.7 million to 235 Via Vizcaya LLC, which immediately sold the lot for $5.5 million.

The new owner of the lot is County Down Trust, which lists Andrew W. Regan as trustee. In July, the trust bought the lakefront house next door at 11 Via Vizcaya for slightly less than $13 million.

In May, the company that flipped the lot, 235 Via Vizcaya LLC, paid approximately $5 million for another lakefront lot at 235 Via Vizcaya, just north of the lot the company sold to County Down Trust.

Earlier this year, Stiller sold a 9,435-square-foot, four-bedroom house at 11 Via Vizcaya to the trust managed by Regan, a New York-based attorney.

Stiller, founder of Keurig Green Mountain, sold the 9,435-square-foot, four-bedroom home at 11 Via Vizcaya to a trust managed by Andrew W. Regan, a New York-based real estate attorney.The lot at 12 Via Vizcaya had been listed for sale with an asking price of $5.75 million and had been under contract for almost a year.

Broker Lawrence Moens had the listing for 12 Via Vizcaya and represented both the seller and the buyer in the transaction. [Palm Beach Daily News] — Mike Seemuth

William Shewalter of Related Group

Miami-based Related Group may enter a partnership with Florida Atlantic University to build a $250 million mixed-use complex on vacant land at the university’s Boca Raton campus.

The development would include apartments, restaurants and retail stores, a hotel and a convention center.

The development site would be 30 acres on the southeast side of the FAU campus in Boca Raton just east of Interstate 95.

Several developers including Related have shown interest in developing the same site, but “no specific plans are being explored at this time,” Joshua Glanzer, a spokesman for FAU, told the Palm Beach Post.

William Shewalter, vice president of development at Related Group, told the Post the potential project is still in the discussion stage.

Jeff Atwater, chief financial officer of FAU, received a letter dated Nov. 1 from Related with details of the possible development.

The development details outlined by Related include a 360-unit apartment complex with first-floor retail stores and restaurants plus a 150-room hotel and a convention center as large as 30,000 square feet.

A similar development plan may unfold at the Miami campus of Florida International University, where the university wants to build a hotel and conference center. [Palm Beach Post]  — Mike Seemuth