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NCAA’s compensation pivot means young athletes could become homebuyers

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UCLA Basketball (Credit: Getty Images and iStock)

UCLA Basketball (Credit: Getty Images and iStock)

An NCAA decision Tuesday means college athletes nationwide could soon be allowed to earn compensation for endorsement deals.

The landmark decision is a stark reversal of the collegiate sports association’s decades-long stance against compensation for athletes. The NCAA’s governing board directed its three divisions to make changes to compensation rules by no later than January 2021, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Some top-tier college athletes may secure lucrative endorsement contracts and some might look to buy homes for themselves or family members.

The decision comes a month after California lawmakers passed a law requiring schools in the state to allow their athletes to receive compensation for endorsements and other uses of their likenesses. The NCAA fiercely fought the bill and threatened to bar those students from its competitions.

But many pro and former college athletes strongly supported California’s bill, including NBA superstar LeBron James. The NCAA has annual revenues above $1 billion and many believe that money is made off the backs of athletes.

Kofi Nartey, a Compass agent in Los Angeles and a former University of California, Berkeley football player, supported California’s bill. He told The Real Deal that he thinks colleges should help prepare students for their new financial responsibility, adding that agents have an increased responsibility if they find themselves representing a young athlete searching for a property.
“We have a built-in responsibility because we are dealing with the largest financial decision of most people’s lives,” Nartey said.

The NCAA hasn’t yet hammered out the details of their new rules. California State Senator Nancy Skinner, who co-authored California’s bill, called the move “great progress” but said any rule that limited what an athlete could make would be “unacceptable.” [WSJ]Dennis Lynch

The post NCAA’s compensation pivot means young athletes could become homebuyers appeared first on The Real Deal Miami.


Carl Icahn’s stepdaughter snags waterfront Golden Beach house for $7.3M

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301 Center Island Drive, Tara Elias Schuchts (top) and Lydia Eskenazi

301 Center Island Drive, Tara Elias Schuchts (top) and Lydia Eskenazi

Carl Icahn’s stepdaughter and her husband, an executive at the corporate raider’s investment firm, paid $7.3 million for a new waterfront house in Golden Beach.

A trust tied to Hunter Gary and his wife Shana purchased the 7,981-square-foot home at 301 Center Island Drive for $914 per square foot, records show. 301 Center LLC, which is led by Ricardo Halfen of the homebuilder TREO Development, sold the property.

The property features seven bedrooms and eight-and-a-half bathrooms. The home sits on a nearly 16,000-square-foot lot and has 100 feet of water frontage. It was just built this year.

Lydia Eskenazi of Harding Realty represented the seller in the deal, while Tara Elias Schuchts of Douglas Elliman represented the buyer.

The architect for the project was Stephanie Halfen of SDH Studio, Eskenazi said.

Hunter Gary is a senior managing director of Icahn Enterprises in New York City, according to his LinkedIn. His wife Shana Gary is the daughter of Ichan’s wife Gail.

Icahn recently told his staff that he would be moving his company’s headquarters from New York City to Miami, according to the New York Post. He is likely moving for tax purposes. The Trump administration’s 2017 tax overhaul capped the amount of state and local taxes that could be deducted at $10,000.

Icahn told his staff if they won’t move to Miami he’ll lay them off without severance, according to a letter obtained by the Post. The letter said Icahn Enterprises will close offices in New York City and White Plains on March 31, 2020, and move to Miami the next day.

Golden Beach, situated north of Miami Beach, has seen a number of high-profile sales this year.

Last month, a company tied to the Dallas real estate firm RMC Property Holdings paid $10.75 million for a 27,900-square-foot lot at 365 Ocean Boulevard in Golden Beach.

Earlier this year, The Meyers Group’s Stuart Meyers paid nearly $10 million for a five-bedroom, 10,000-square-foot estate at 655 Ocean Boulevard in Golden Beach.

The post Carl Icahn’s stepdaughter snags waterfront Golden Beach house for $7.3M appeared first on The Real Deal Miami.

Don’t call it flipping: Zillow insists its iBuying is different

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Zillow CEO Rich Barton (Credit: iStock)

Zillow CEO Rich Barton (Credit: iStock)

Zillow’s push into instant homebuying has led to both soaring revenues and losses for the listing giant, and CEO Rich Barton wants to set the record straight on how it makes money from the iBuying craze.

At the firm’s Unlock event on Monday, Barton insisted that the iBuying service it launched last year, Zillow Offers, is fundamentally different from a house-flipping business.

“We’re not flipping this property,” Barton told Inman at the event. “We’re not trying to get an artificially low price, we’re not trying to take advantage of anyone in a bad situation, we’re not looking to hold it and do a big renovation.”

Rather than trying to profit from home price appreciation, Zillow says it uses data to dynamically generate a fee that represents its own costs.

“We’re looking to move it as quickly as possible and earn our money off the transaction fee,” Barton said. “And ultimately because this transaction sits at the nexus of all of these adjacent markets that we know so well, that are big businesses in and of itself, they’re dying to be integrated into one thing.”

One of those businesses is mortgage lending. Zillow rolled out a home loans division in April, after acquiring Mortgage Lenders of America, a 300-person mortgage brokerage, in August 2018.

Earlier this month Barton told The Information in an interview that ibuying represented “an existential threat” for the industry, “because if it works and we don’t do it, we get displaced as the marketplace, theoretically.”

More than a few investors think the firm will take a hit. As of June, Zillow was among the top 30 short positions by dollar volume, with investors shorting $1.27 billion worth of Zillow stock, according to Nasdaq. Steve Eisman, who famously made hundreds of millions of dollars betting against the subprime market, told TRD in July he believes the firm has run out of ideas to grow its stagnating home-listing business.

But Barton said Zillow is responding to demand.

“We are doing this as a service to sellers because sellers are telling us they are frustrated,” the CEO said. “They are telling us they want it simpler.” [Inman] — Kevin Sun

The post Don’t call it flipping: Zillow insists its iBuying is different appeared first on The Real Deal Miami.

Miami-Dade approves Brightline deal to build PortMiami station, WeWork eyeing electronic gaming play: Daily digest

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Every day, The Real Deal rounds up South Florida’s biggest real estate news, from breaking news and scoops to announcements and deals. We update this page throughout the day. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com

This page was last updated at 6:00 p.m.

 

The Miami-Dade County Commission approved a public-private partnership with Brightline to build a Virgin Trains station at PortMiami by 2020. The $15.4 million station would eventually connect to Orlando International Airport by 2022. Brightline is also working on adding a stop in Aventura and is in talks with the city of Boca Raton to add another station next year, according to a release.

 

WeWork wants to get into … electronic gaming? The troubled co-working giant applied for a trademark for “Play By We” earlier this year, according to documents published in the UK last week. The company has hired a handful of staffers for the fledgling business, but their fate is now unclear as thousands of job cuts are planned following Softbank’s takeover. [Bloomberg]

 

The Icahn Enterprises move to South Florida has begun. Carl Icahn’s stepdaughter and her husband, an executive at the corporate raider’s investment firm, paid $7.3 million for a new waterfront house in Golden Beach. A trust tied to Hunter Gary and his wife Shana purchased the 7,981-square-foot home at 301 Center Island Drive for $914 per square foot, records show. [TRD]

 

The Altman Companies closed on a 30-acre development site in Miramar for $35 million, and at the same time sold a portion of the land to a joint venture for $6 million. Altman, led by CEO Jeff Roberts, acquired the plot of land on the northeast corner of Miramar Parkway and Red Road, said Thomas Godart, managing director of Godart Florida Real Estate Development. The company simultaneously sold 6.7 acres of that site to a joint venture between Master Development Inc. and Konover South. [TRD]

 

Zillow CEO Rich Barton insists its ibuying is not home-flipping. Instead of making money off of home price appreciation, the company’s Zillow Offers tool generates money for the company in the form of a transaction fee, Barton emphasized at an event Monday. [TRD]

 

A rezoning in Dania Beach could spark residential development of an 11-acre block along a canal, across the street from the sprawling Dania Pointe mixed-use development.
The Dania Beach City Commission voted Monday on second reading to change the zoning for the rectangular block along Bryan Road. Miami-based developer Asi Cymbal worked with four owners of Bryan Road properties to get their entire block rezoned, and he proposed a site plan for an eight-story, 302-unit rental apartment development on part of the block. [TRD]

 

All-cash homebuying startup Ribbon raised $330 million in new debt and equity. The startup, founded in 2017, empowers buyers who need financing to compete against all-cash bids in a competitive market. [TRD]

 

Vacation rental startup Vacasa is now valued at $1 billion. The startup raised $319 million in a strategic round led by Silicon Valley private equity firm Silver Lake, bringing its total funding to more than $500 million. Vacasa currently manages 23,000 homes on behalf of properties. [TRD]

 

Ben Carson’s HUD wants banks to lend on low-income homes again. HUD and the Department of Justice are moving to reduce bank fines for minor infractions associated with FHA mortgages, as nonbank lenders have increasingly filled the void left by banks since the last recession. [TRD]

 

Target will anchor the Grove Central Metrorail Station project. The retail giant is leasing just under 50,000 square feet at Grass River Property and Terra’s mixed-use transit-oriented development, according to the South Florida Business Journal. In all, Grove Central will have 135,000 square feet of retail space. [SFBJ]

 

The S&P 500 rallied to a record high on Monday, but real estate stocks didn’t follow suit. Nareit’s All REITs index, a measure of real estate investment trusts, was down 0.53 percent. Equity REITs fell 0.6 percent, though mortgage REITs rose 0.38 percent. And the Real Estate Select Sector Index fell by 2 points by the end of the day. Out of a mix of 28 real estate stocks tracked by The Real Deal, 15 posted gains and one stayed flat. [TRD]

 

A total of 117 condos sold for $48.5 million in Miami-Dade County last week, compared to the 116 units that sold for a combined $37 million the previous week. Condos last week sold for an average price of about $414,000 or $307 per square foot. The top deal was the $3.7 million closing of Jade Signature unit 1503. [TRD]

 

Compiled by Katherine Kallergis

The post Miami-Dade approves Brightline deal to build PortMiami station, WeWork eyeing electronic gaming play: Daily digest appeared first on The Real Deal Miami.

WATCH: Developers and co-living operators shed light on the growing industry

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Co-living is becoming a growing segment of South Florida’s multifamily market amid increased competition within the sector and from conventional apartment developers, according to a group of such developers and operators.

“Sure, there’s competition. But it’s a big opportunity,” said Brian Lee, senior director of real estate at Common, on a panel on co-living and other new housing trends targeting millennials recently at The Real Deal’s Sixth Annual Miami Showcase & Forum.

The post WATCH: Developers and co-living operators shed light on the growing industry appeared first on The Real Deal Miami.

2000 Ocean releases new renderings, ex-CEO of Aaron’s takes townhouses to auction: Daily digest

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Every day, The Real Deal rounds up South Florida’s biggest real estate news, from breaking news and scoops to announcements and deals. We update this page throughout the day. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com

This page was last updated at 9 a.m.

 
Renderings of 2000 Ocean

Renderings of 2000 Ocean

Shahab Karmely’s KAR Properties released new renderings of 2000 Ocean. The Hallandale Beach development, which launched sales of the luxury condos in 2017, is going vertical after completing a construction pour earlier this year. The 38-story building, with interiors by Minotti and minotticucine, was designed by Enrique Norten of TEN Arquitectos. It’s expected to be completed in early 2021.

 

Aaron’s former chairman and CEO is taking townhouses to the auction block. Charles Smithgall wants to sell two condos he owns in Palm Beach, previously listed for $5.6 million and $5.1 million, via auction. Smithgall, who also bought a Palm Beach house earlier this year for $8.15 million, tapped B6 Real Estate Advisors’ Jeff Hubbard, James Cote, Katherine DeCoste and Christian Koulichkov to sell the two townhouses at 419 and 421 Brazilian Avenue.

 

An NCAA decision Tuesday means college athletes nationwide could soon be allowed to earn compensation for endorsement deals. The landmark decision is a stark reversal of the collegiate sports association’s decades-long stance against compensation for athletes. The NCAA’s governing board directed its three divisions to make changes to compensation rules by no later than January 2021. [TRD]

 

A group of co-living and short-term rental operators and developers discussed how their businesses are becoming a growing segment of South Florida’s multifamily market. Watch the panelists, who include Brian Lee of Common, Sonder’s Marley Dominguez, Brian Koles of PMG, and Ollie’s Andy Levin on co-living and other new housing trends targeting millennials recently at The Real Deal’s Sixth Annual Miami Showcase & Forum. [TRD]

 

Compiled by Katherine Kallergis

The post 2000 Ocean releases new renderings, ex-CEO of Aaron’s takes townhouses to auction: Daily digest appeared first on The Real Deal Miami.

As hotel development ramps up, occupancy and revenue growth soften: report

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John Lancet of HVS and John Chang of Marcus Millichap

John Lancet of HVS and John Chang of Marcus Millichap

As 2019 draws to a close, occupancy rates and revenue growth are sliding amid a hotel boom that is adding nearly 14,000 rooms to the Miami and Orlando metro markets, according to a recently released report.

For the 12 months ended in June, Miami-Dade’s occupancy rate dropped to 72.2 percent compared to 73.9 percent during the same period last year, according to Marcus & Millichap’s Florida report. Meanwhile, average daily rates grew by 0.5 percent to $196.08 and revenue per available room was down 1.8 percent to $151.32, the report states.

Released last week during Marcus & Millichap’s annual hotel investment forum, the report predicts that “the magnitude of supply additions” will contribute to softer occupancy and revenue growth in the coming year.

John Chang, Marcus & Millichap’s senior vice president and research services national director, told forum attendees at the Pullman Miami Airport Hotel that the numbers reflect a healthy correction in the hospitality space.

“The wave of development is not that strong,” Chang said. “It has been very moderate on a macro level. Hotel demand was outpacing supply. It is moving back into alignment as demand is starting to come back down.”

Statewide, the occupancy rate hit 72 percent after peaking at 74.1 percent in mid-2018. The average daily rate climbed nearly 2 percent to $145.47 and revenue per available room grew slightly by 0.5 percent compared to 7.6 percent growth last year, according to the report. Meanwhile, sales velocity slowed down during the 12 months ending in June even though the sale price appreciation remained high with the average price per room hitting $157,000 at midyear.

“We are expecting [that] a slowdown is maybe 12 months to two years away,” Chang said. “You have the opportunity to look at your current portfolio and see how existing assets fit into your overall strategy. You still have runway to sell that property and move into something else.”

John Lancet, HVS Miami senior managing director, broke down hotel transactions in Florida following Chang’s presentation.

Lancet said Florida hotels accounted for 10 percent of $13.3 billion in nationwide hotel sales in the past 12 months. “Hotels over $10 million represented 72 percent of overall sales and under $10 million represented only 28 percent,” Lancet said. “Year-to-date, the four top metros were Miami, Tampa, Orlando and the Florida Panhandle.”

The top buyers for hotels priced at $10 million or more were Starwood Capital, Key International and Tishman Hotels, Lancet added. “Nationally, we are seeing a seesaw of more buying versus building,” he said. “In Florida, we are still clearly in build mode with $2 billion in construction starts versus $1.4 billion in acquisitions.”

The post As hotel development ramps up, occupancy and revenue growth soften: report appeared first on The Real Deal Miami.

Inside Kushner Companies’ $1B expansion into South Florida

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Kushner Companies' Charles Kushner and Laurent Morali

Kushner Companies’ Charles Kushner and Laurent Morali

Since the start of the year, Kushner Companies has rolled out plans to build three major apartment projects in South Florida that will bring a total of 3,000 units at a cost topping $1 billion.

That’s a major investment for the New York-based developer that had not previously set foot in the Sunshine State. And it comes at a time when condo development has nearly ground to a halt and when South Florida’s multifamily market has already delivered more than 10,000 units over the past year. With what one industry player called an “overwhelming” supply of apartments on the market, the question becomes, did Kushner arrive too late to the party?

Kushner had been eyeing the Miami area for five years before it decided to plunge in, said company president Laurent Morali. South Florida’s growing population was the primary driver, he said.

“Demographics are the very reason why we’re going to South Florida,” Morali said. “If you look at the population growth and what’s projected, it’s really staggering.” Over the next 10 years, Florida’s population is expected to grow to nearly 26 million from 21.3 million, according to state demographers. In Miami-Dade alone, the population could swell to 3.5 million people from 2.7 million.

“These people are going to need to find housing. That’s the case for development,” he said.

Kushner has purchased one site in Wynwood and one in Fort Lauderdale for a combined $81 million. It has a third assemblage under contract in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood in an Opportunity Zone. That development is expected to cost over half a billion dollars and deliver more than 1,000 units in three phases.

A rendering of the Wynwood project

A rendering of the Wynwood project

The Wynwood project is expected to cost $100 million to develop and the Fort Lauderdale could cost as much as $650 million, based on early estimates, Morali said.

Bullish on multifamily
The company, led by Charlie Kushner, is bullish on the multifamily market. In May, Kushner Companies closed on its purchase of a $1.1 billion portfolio of 6,500 rental apartments in Maryland and Virginia. In all, it manages more than 21,000 apartments in the U.S. and has 6,000 in the development pipeline nationwide.

“[Apartments] are really our bread and butter,” Morali said.

Multifamily construction is booming in South Florida’s tri-county region, and for the first time in five years, demand is expected to outpace new deliveries, according Berkadia’s third quarter multifamily report.

Rental development has exploded at a time when condo developers in Miami have mostly stopped launching new projects. As a result, some sites that were earmarked for condo towers have been sold to apartment builders — Kushner’s among them.

As many as 10,755 units have been completed between the third quarter of 2018 and the third quarter of this year. In the same period, the occupancy rate in South Florida rose 30 basis points to nearly 96 percent, according to the report.

Peter Zalewski, a real estate investor and expert in the Miami market, believes Kushner Companies would be better off waiting for the market to absorb more units before embarking on large apartment construction.

Zalewski, a principal with the Miami real estate consultancy Condo Vultures and an investor in the bulk-condo market, said that with an “overwhelming” supply of rentals, some developers are listing their units on Airbnb in order to generate income while they try to sign long-term tenants.

“It’s ludicrous for an out-of-town developer to come down here and start throwing around cash in a market [with so much supply],” he said.

Morali doesn’t believe there is potential for oversupply.

“I heard the same concerns when we were building apartments in Jersey City and we were proven right,” he said, referring to 65 Bay Street, a 53-story, 447-unit luxury rental tower that the firm completed about five years ago. In Jersey City, demand has kept up with the growing supply of new rental construction.

“We rented 50 to 60 apartments a month, which is pretty amazing for a market which had ‘oversupply,’” Morali said. “It’s been fully leased for four years now.”

And while some investors and developers are moving into South Florida in part because of changes in the rent laws in New York City and California, Morali said that had nothing to do with Kushner’s expansion.

“The timing is interesting but there’s nothing to it,” he said. “It just [so] happens they’re all closing at the same time.”

The Mid-Atlantic apartment portfolio that it closed on earlier this year is the firm’s biggest acquisition since it paid a then record $1.8 billion for 666 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan in 2007. Kushner sold the ground lease on that troubled asset last year to Brookfield Asset Management, and has since returned to its roots of buying and developing multifamily real estate. Kushner also owns a portfolio of industrial, retail and office space, and has hotels in the works.

Over the past two years, Morali said he has toured several rental buildings in the Miami area to research the competition. Part of what will separate Kushner projects will be the amenities, he said.

For the first phase of the project at 1900 to 2000 Biscayne Boulevard, amenities will be geared toward health and wellness. In addition to a fitness center and yoga room, 2000 Biscayne will have a zen garden, sky lounge and a recording studio. It will also offer health and cooking classes and host a local art showcase.

Morali is projecting that rents at the first building will exceed $3 per square foot. Units will likely range from studios to three-bedroom apartments. Competitive luxury rentals along Biscayne Boulevard range from about $2.85 a square foot to $2.90 a square foot.

The details
In March, Kushner announced plans for its project in Edgewater, which at 1,100 units and a cost of about $550 million, could be the largest of the three. The development — which will be built in phases and likely without partners — will be split into three buildings that will rise in a designated Opportunity Zone. Morali said the company works solo in about half of its deals and that the partnerships are arranged on a case-by-case basis.

Investor Enrique Manhard is under contract to sell the property for an undisclosed amount to Kushner. Manhard bought the main site at 2000 Biscayne Boulevard last year for $13.1 million. He paid another $21 million to assemble 11 parcels nearby between 2017 and 2018.

Kushner plans 2000 Biscayne as a single tower with about 400 units, and 1900 Biscayne as two towers with roughly 700 units. They will be built in two phases, with 2000 Biscayne rising first. The first phase will cost about $160 million to build, Morali said.

Kushner stands to benefit from substantial tax incentives due to the property’s Opportunity Zone status. Investors who develop in those areas and hold onto to their properties can defer federal taxes on capital gains until Dec. 31, 2026.

In Wynwood, Kushner is partnering with the Miculitzki family’s Block Capital Group to build two mixed-use buildings on 1.5 acres at 127 Northwest 27th Street and 129 Northwest 26th Street. They paid $32 million for the assemblage, which will be developed into a total of 152 rental apartments, 50,000 square feet of office space, 34,000 square feet of retail space and parking.

Morali said that the Wynwood project could be the first one Kushner begins building, although the firm could work on both Edgewater and Wynwood at the same time. He expects to break ground on the Wynwood development in the first half of next year.

“I like telling our teams that whoever comes first and is ready to start building, I’m not going to tell them to slow down. We may start both at a very similar time,” he said.

A month ago, Kushner closed on an assemblage of properties in downtown Fort Lauderdale’s Himmarshee District, across the street from the Virgin Trains station. Morali said it’s too early to tell what Kushner will build in Fort Lauderdale, but it will likely include multifamily units.

Swire Properties of Hong Kong and its partner Lionheart Capital sold the lots at 200, 300 and 520 West Broward Boulevard, a 4.2-acre assemblage.

Looking ahead
Kushner is eyeing other markets outside of South Florida and the Northeast. One city it has considered is Jacksonville in northern Florida, which ranks as the largest city, geographically, in the continental U.S. Over the past couple of years, Morali said the firm has considered the Atlanta market, as well as Texas and California.

“Orlando and Tampa are definitely on the radar because they actually have the fastest growth rate in Florida,” he said. “We’re definitely looking at other places, and I would not be surprised if next year we’re talking about other markets. To look at where we were 12 months ago to where we are today, we’ve expanded dramatically.”

The post Inside Kushner Companies’ $1B expansion into South Florida appeared first on The Real Deal Miami.


JPMorgan to invest $5M to build 150 new affordable rentals in South Florida

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JP Morgan's announces $5M investment in affordable housing in South Florida at the Black Archives Historic Lyric Theater in Overtown on Wednesday

JPMorgan announces $5M investment in affordable housing in South Florida at the Black Archives Historic Lyric Theater in Overtown on Wednesday

UPDATED, Oct. 30, 1:30 p.m.: Areas near the Virgin Trains USA stations in Overtown and Fort Lauderdale could see a wave of new affordable housing.

JPMorgan Chase announced on Wednesday it plans to invest $5 million to develop affordable housing in South Florida in areas near the Florida East Coast Railway transit stations and in Opportunity Zones. The total investment is expected to generate $75 million in affordable and resilient housing investments, according to the financial institution.

The bank announced the investment at a press conference in Overtown. It’s part of JPMorgan’s $125 million, five-year national commitment to neighborhood revitalization.

“We have major changes in Miami-Dade County, one of the least affordable places in the nation,” said Miami-Dade County Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava at the press conference. “Because of the investment made today… we are going to be more resilient, more sustainable, more affordable.”

The funds will be directed through the South Florida Housing Link Collaborative to build 150 new permanently affordable rental units. The investment will also be used to acquire and renovate 150 existing affordable rental units and provide 200 energy and resiliency home improvement loans.

South Florida consistently ranks as one of the least affordable places to live. Nearly 60 percent of employed adults in South Florida are spending more than 30 percent of their income on rent, according to the South Florida Housing Link Collaborative. South Florida was one of seven U.S. communities selected out of 75 applications from 49 U.S. cities.

As part of the process, JPMorgan looked at access to transit, proximity to Opportunity Zones and Community Reinvestment Areas along the FEC rail line in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

It created a ranking of locations where the investment will be likely directed. The Miami Government Center and Overtown area, Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood, were ranked in the highest tier. Delray Beach, North Miami Beach, and Dania Beach were in the second tier. The projects will be owned by South Florida Community Land Trust or the Community Land Trust of Palm Beach County.

Virgin Trains USA, formerly known as Brightline, runs on the FEC rail line and stations in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. The company has built a number of commercial and residential buildings at its stations, which has spurred nearby investment from other developers. MiamiCentral opened last year, and includes the office buildings 2 MiamiCentral and 3 MiamiCentral, and an apartment component that’s under construction.

The Miami station is in a federally designated Opportunity Zone. The Opportunity Zones program gives investors and developers a tax incentive if they develop or invest in one of the 8,700 distressed areas throughout the country. The program has come under scrutiny, however, since it does not require developers to build affordable housing and has been seen as a tax break for the wealthy.

Developers in South Florida have also struggled to deploy capital into the Opportunity Zones due to delays from the U.S. Treasury and the IRS on the program’s rules. Land costs in some Opportunity Zones in the tri-county have skyrocketed, which has added to the complexities of building zones, according to industry experts.

As a way to incentivize affordable housing development in Opportunity Zones, Housing and Urban Development Sec. Ben Carson told The Real Deal earlier this year that the agency will give preference to developers who build affordable housing in Opportunity Zones through certain grants.

South Florida’s need for affordable housing comes at a time when some affordable housing developers have been accused of violating or defrauding a federal low-income housing program known as LIHTC. In one case, former low-income housing developer Michael Cox of Miami-based Biscayne Housing Group was sentenced in 2016 for his role in a $36 million affordable scheme.

The post JPMorgan to invest $5M to build 150 new affordable rentals in South Florida appeared first on The Real Deal Miami.

Mana Group reveals timeline for downtown Miami plans

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Moishe Mana and a map of the project

Moishe Mana and a map of the project

It’s been nearly a decade since developer Moishe Mana began buying real estate in Miami, and now his team has released a construction timeline for his major redevelopment of downtown.

The Mana Group unveiled plans for the project at a community meeting on Tuesday night, giving a rare glimpse of the first buildings that the development firm is working to renovate or rebuild.

A map, designed by Zyscovich Architects and shared by Mana Group, highlights 11 buildings between Southeast First Street and North Miami Avenue that would be delivered between the first quarter of 2021 and the fourth quarter of 2024.

Mana began acquiring land in downtown Miami in 2014 and has spent more than $350 million assembling roughly 45 buildings on or near Flagler Street. Most recently, one of his companies paid $2.3 million for a three-story building at 108 South Miami Avenue.

At the meeting on Tuesday, Dylan Finger, previously managing director of Mana Miami and now a consultant for the firm, also discussed the long-delayed Flagler streetscape project, which will re-start in March, after the Super Bowl is held in Miami in February. Mana led that project’s design with Zyscovich, though it is being funded by the city, county, Miami Downtown Development Authority and property owners.

Finger said the plan is to have ground-floor retail spaces and facades renovated or completed once the streetscape project is delivered.

A rendering of the project

A rendering of the project

A portion of Mana’s project calls for 200,000 square feet of tech-oriented space for startups, venture capital firms and related companies, as well as amenities that include a gym, said Uri Adoni, managing director of Mana Tech. Adoni, who has been a partner at the $1.3 billion Jerusalem Venture Partners fund, said the goal is to have downtown Miami be the heart of the city’s tech scene.

Mana will soon start renovating the office building at 155 South Miami Avenue, where Miami International University of Art and Design confirmed it will occupy. A startup hub is planned on five floors of the same building. Records show a Mana affiliate paid $32 million for the 13-story office building in 2015. The company will focus on attracting tenants like law firms and accountants to the building, Adoni added.

A rendering of the project

A rendering of the project

That building and the property at 44 to 48 East Flagler Street, known as the Woolworth building, could be completed by the first quarter of 2021, according to Mana’s map.

The 49-story apartment tower at 200 North Miami Avenue, for which Mana submitted plans in 2016, could be delivered in the third quarter of 2021, according to the map. It would micro apartments.

A spice and food hall with a park, on Northeast First Street between South Miami Avenue and Northeast First Avenue, would be ready by the first quarter of 2021. The 777 Mall building at 145 East Flagler Street, has an estimated completion date of the third quarter of 2023, according to Mana’s map.

“Each building has a delivery date of when we’re expecting to deliver the finished product. Some properties are very straightforward — we change the floors and that’s it. Some of them really need to be demolished and restructured. It really depends on the size of the project,” Adoni said. “We’re all starting in parallel, [but] they will be mature in different timelines.”

The post Mana Group reveals timeline for downtown Miami plans appeared first on The Real Deal Miami.

Barneys creditors push plan to salvage the company

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Barneys creditors want to review a revised offer that would keep stores open. (Credit: Getty Images)

Barneys creditors want to review a revised offer that would keep stores open. (Credit: Getty Images)

Barneys’ creditors are still holding out hope that an underdog bidder will keep the iconic luxury retailer’s doors open.

Ahead of a Halloween-day hearing to finalize the sale of Barneys, the retailer’s unsecured creditors demanded to review a second acquisition bid that would save the department store. But it is unknown whether the bid will even come in before the hearing.

660 Madison Avenue (Credit: Barneys)

660 Madison Avenue (Credit: Barneys)

The leading bidder appears to be Authentic Brands Group, which owns the intellectual property to numerous fashion brands. Last week ABG said it would jump in and buy Barneys’ intellectual property and partner with Saks Fifth Avenue to use Barneys’ name throughout its stores. Several media outlets pegged the price of the deal at about $270 million.

Sam Ben-Avraham

Sam Ben-Avraham (Credit: Getty Images)

Meanwhile, another group of investors, led by Sam Ben-Avraham, submitted a lower bid. But in a statement filed Wednesday the unsecured creditors said Ben-Avraham’s group is revising its offer. The creditors asserted the right to consider it as a better offer than ABG’s based on factors other than price — namely, that it would keep stores open and jobs in place. ABG’s offer, they said, would essentially liquidate Barneys.

“From the outset of these cases, the Committee has been pushing to keep Barneys alive as a true going concern business with a maximum retail footprint because that would inure to the benefit of thousands of employees … as well as the thousands upon thousands of customers who visit Barneys,” the statement said.

Barneys, its bankruptcy attorney and representatives for Ben-Avraham did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Barneys filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August, claiming in part that recent rent spikes — particularly at its 275,000-square-foot flagship at 660 Madison Avenue — were too financially burdensome. Among Barneys’ top unsecured creditors are landlords Jenel Management, which co-owns 660 Madison Avenue with Ashkenazy Acquisition, and Thor Equities.

As part of its bankruptcy plan the retailer said it would shutter 15 of its 22 stores. On Instagram, Barneys confirmed last week that it had accepted the offer from ABG as a stalking-horse bid. But it also said it was still working with Ben-Avraham, whose deal would keep stores and barneys.com open.

Ben-Avraham’s team, which has yet to submit a revised bid, according to the statement, has launched a “Save Barneys” website and petition to raise public support for keeping Barneys alive.

Authentic Brands Group CEO Jamie Salter

Authentic Brands Group CEO Jamie Salter (Credit: Getty Images)

“Barneys as we know it will disappear. By signing this petition, you get us one step closer to ensuring that the corner of Madison & 61st Street continues to inspire people from around the world,” says part of a statement on the site.

The hearing to approve the sale is Thursday morning in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. and it is shaping up to be a showdown: Women’s Wear Daily reported Wednesday morning that Ben-Avraham’s investor group plans to submit another bid. And another team — David Jackson, the former chief of a firm that acquired Barneys in 2007, and a perfume retailer — also plans to submit a proposal to save the company, Jackson told the New York Post.

Write to Mary Diduch at md@therealdeal.com

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Fed Reserve lowers rates, and once again real estate is loving it

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Jerome Powell and New York City construction in October 2019 (Credit: Getty Images)

Jerome Powell and New York City construction in October 2019 (Credit: Getty Images)

There may come a time when a Federal Reserve interest rate cut is met with skepticism from the broader real estate industry. But now is not that time, experts say.

Investor interest in real estate deals has climbed since the Fed first started cutting rates in July, through to its third and latest round of cuts announced Wednesday.

Lowering interest rates makes other asset classes such as bonds less attractive, which has caused investors to turn to higher-income producing assets like real estate, specifically multifamily.

“Anything with income becomes a lot more valuable,” said Inigo Ardid, co-president of Miami-based Key International, a real estate investment and development company.

The Fed’s move to drop interest rates to a range of between 1.5 and 1.75 percent also makes financing cheaper, leading to more real estate deals closing, said Ronald Dickerman, founder and president of New York-based Madison International Realty.

Institutional firms like Blackstone Group and Brookfield Asset Management have also benefited, experts said. Both companies are now plowing capital into industrial and multifamily assets across the country.

“Low interest rates are the great subsidy in the real estate business,” said Dickerman.

The latest rate cut is seen as another move to jumpstart sluggish economic growth and stymie concerns over trade wars with China, and is a marked shift from last year, when the Fed raised rates four times.

During a news conference after the rate cut was announced, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell cited the “weakness in global growth” and trade developments that “have weighed on the economy and pose ongoing risks” as reasons for the move. The Fed also signaled that it would hit the pause button on future rate cuts.

It also comes amid what many see as the late innings of the real estate industry cycle — although that has been said for years — and vulture funds are starting to circle in large metro areas like New York City and Miami.

One part of the real estate market that has seen a significant slowdown over the past year is the housing market. In the most recent Case-Shiller index, more than half of the 20 metro areas surveyed reported slower home-price growth in August than in July.

But the housing market is likely to get a boost thanks to lower mortgage rates. Lenders issued the most mortgages in 14 years last quarter, providing $700 billion of home loans to borrowers between July and September, according to Inside Mortgage Finance.

“For someone who is buying a middle tier home, the lower rate makes a huge impact on their ability to qualify,” said J.C. de Ona, Centennial Bank president of Miami Dade County. De Ona said his bank has seen a jump in mortgages since the Fed started lowering rates over the summer.

The lower rates have also led to a boost in refinancing activity, both on the residential and commercial sides.

This week, in Los Angeles, Hines and JPMorgan’s asset management arm scored a $1.2 billion refinance on a massive Minoru Yamasaki-designed office complex. In Manhattan, Marx Development Group recently secured a $202 million refinancing for its Hudson Yards hotel, which is scheduled to open next month.

On the residential side, nationwide refinancing activity has jumped 75 percent from a year earlier, according to data and technology firm Black Knight, as cited in the Wall Street Journal.

Greg Main-Baillie of Colliers International, who oversees and manages construction and development projects across all real estate types, said the latest rate drop may only have a marginal impact. The bigger worry, he said, is rising land costs and finding high-quality deals.

“There are new developers in the market. That is a real indicator of when the market is starting to get fat, when you start getting developers who have never really developed assets,” he said.

The post Fed Reserve lowers rates, and once again real estate is loving it appeared first on The Real Deal Miami.

Walgreens sells Delray Beach store on Federal Highway

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Walgreens at 3200 South Federal Highway

Walgreens at 3200 South Federal Highway

Walgreens sold one of its South Florida stores on the corner of South Federal Highway and Lindell Boulevard.

Property records show Walgreen Company, based in Deerfield, Illinois, sold the 14,362-square-foot Deerfield Beach store at 3200 South Federal Highway for $6.54 million. The buyer is WBA FL 001 LLC, a Delaware company that is tied to Oak Street Real Estate Capital of Chicago.

Walgreens said in August that it planned to close 200 stores in the U.S. following “a review of the real estate footprint in the United States.” It’s unclear if the Delray Beach location is one that would close.

Earlier this week, Walgreens said it would close 150 of its in-store clinics and will open 100 Jenny Craig locations in Walgreens stores across the country.

Oak Street Real Estate is a private equity firm that manages commingled funds and accounts on behalf of institutional and high net-worth individuals, according to its website.

The Delray Beach property last sold in 2001 for $4.2 million.

Investors have been targeting Delray Beach.

Pebb Capital recently closed on nearly 7 acres of land to build a project formerly known as Midtown Delray. The $100 million project, in a designated Opportunity Zone, will include nearly 50,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space and about 70,000 square feet of office space.

The post Walgreens sells Delray Beach store on Federal Highway appeared first on The Real Deal Miami.

United Real Estate merges with Charles Rutenberg Realty

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Rick Haase

Rick Haase

United Real Estate merged with Charles Rutenberg Realty in Florida, adding 1,000 agents to the Dallas-based brokerage.

United, led by president Rick Haase, said the merger brings its total agent count to 8,000 across 40 states. Charles Rutenberg Realty, with one office in Fort Lauderdale, will keep its name in Florida. The deal does not include unaffiliated Charles Rutenberg brokerages in Orlando and Clearwater, or in other parts of the country.

Both United Real Estate and Charles Rutenberg Realty offer their agents 100 percent commissions with a transaction fee, which will remain the same. Cynthia Benchick, owner of Charles Rutenberg Realty, will remain as co-owner and managing broker.

Haase declined to disclose the terms of the merger.

Real estate brokerages have struggled to remain as profitable as they have in the past, amid rising commission splits and the cost of operating brick-and-mortar locations. As a result, consolidation has been rampant.

Haase said brokerages are changing dramatically, and that the business now requires “enough scale to be able to do what you need to do.”

Earlier this month, virtual brokerage eXp Realty acquired Miami-based Kurz Real Estate, adding 200 agents to the firm, which entered Florida in 2010.

Other firms in South Florida, like the Keyes Company, One Sotheby’s International Realty, and Douglas Elliman, have expanded via acquisition in recent years.

Mike Pappas, owner of Keyes, has said that as technology costs continue to rise, “size and scale to run an operation is necessary.”

The post United Real Estate merges with Charles Rutenberg Realty appeared first on The Real Deal Miami.

Silver Airlines inks deal for Fort Lauderdale HQ, investor picks up Surfside building: Daily digest

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Social:

Every day, The Real Deal rounds up South Florida’s biggest real estate news, from breaking news and scoops to announcements and deals. We update this page throughout the day. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com

This page was last updated at 9 a.m.

 

Silver Airlines signed a new lease for its new headquarters. The airline leased 29,438 square feet at 1100 Lee Wagner Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, according to a press release. CBRE’s Larry Genet, Tom O’Loughlin, Ana Rivera and Jake Zebede represented the building’s owner, Avid Asset Management. Pete Garcia and Rudford Hamon of Binswanger Gateway Partnership represented the tenant.

 

Miami Beach investor buys retail building in Surfside. A partnership between Imperium Capital and RWN Real Estate Partners sold the 2,000-square-foot building at 9569 to 9571 Harding Avenue for $2.5 million to a company managed by investor Joseph Cohen, records show. Drew A. Kristol and Kirk D. Olson of Marcus & Millichap brokered both sides of the deal. Tenants include an AT&T vendor and an ice cream shop.

United Real Estate merged with Charles Rutenberg Realty in Florida, adding 1,000 agents to the Dallas-based brokerage. United, led by president Rick Haase, said the merger brings its total agent count to 8,000 across 40 states. Charles Rutenberg Realty, with one office in Fort Lauderdale, will keep its name. [TRD]

On the corner of South Federal Highway and Lindell Boulevard, Walgreens is no longer its own landlord. Walgreens sold the 14,362-square-foot Deerfield Beach store at 3200 South Federal Highway for $6.54 million. The buyer is WBA FL 001 LLC, a Delaware company that is tied to Oak Street Real Estate Capital of Chicago. [TRD]

 

Compiled by Katherine Kallergis

The post Silver Airlines inks deal for Fort Lauderdale HQ, investor picks up Surfside building: Daily digest appeared first on The Real Deal Miami.


Ugo Colombo completes 64-story Brickell Flatiron condo tower

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Ugo Colombo, Brickell Flatiron and Vanessa Grout (Credit: Golden Dusk Photography)

Ugo Colombo, Brickell Flatiron and Vanessa Grout (Credit: Golden Dusk Photography)

UPDATED, Oct. 31, 10:20 a.m.: Developer Ugo Colombo completed Brickell Flatiron, a 64-story, 527-unit tower, marking one of the last major projects to be delivered this cycle.

Colombo’s CMC Group received its temporary certificate of occupancy for the 736-foot-high skyscraper, which means that closings are set to begin immediately, said Vanessa Grout, president of CMC Real Estate. The building at 1001 South Miami Avenue is about 95 percent sold, according to a press release. Sales launched in 2014.

Fortune International Group took over sales and marketing of the condo tower in 2017, over a year after the developer broke ground. Fortune is working with CMC Real Estate on the remaining sales.

Colombo, a developer who owns the luxury car dealership The Collection, in April 2017 secured a $236 million in construction financing, which included a $138.5 million mortgage and a $97.5 million mezzanine loan from Bank OZK and RFR Realty.

Earlier this year, CMC lowered the deposit requirements to 30 percent, down from the market’s standard of 50 percent, in a move to attract more U.S. buyers for the remaining units. At the time, Flatiron was 87 percent sold. Remaining units range from $790,000 to $3 million, with one duplex penthouse left asking $8 million.

Brickell Flatiron was designed by architect Luis Revuelta with amenity spaces by Massimo Iosa Ghini. It’s the tallest condominium tower south of New York City.

The 64th-floor rooftop features a spa, pool and 6,300-square-foot gym with a Pilates, yoga and aerobics studio, and a juice bar. The building also includes a lap pool and children’s pool on the 18th floor, a movie theater, billiards and cigar room, wine cellar, and electric car charging stations.

Elysee Investments acquired the 24,800 square feet of ground floor retail and restaurant space at Brickell Flatiron in 2016.

CMC Group’s developments include the Bristol in Brickell, Santa Maria, Epic Residences and Porto Vita. In 2014, Colombo sold the site of his once-planned Epic East project in downtown Miami for $125 million to the Coto family of Argentina, which is now building Aston Martin Residences on the property.

Grout said CMC Group is already working on plans for future condo projects, but declined to identify specific sites.

“We actually have a few interesting opportunities we are looking at and something we’ll be announcing soon,” she said.

The post Ugo Colombo completes 64-story Brickell Flatiron condo tower appeared first on The Real Deal Miami.

Multifamily investor snags pad in Boca Raton for $6M

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461 South Maya Palm Drive

461 South Maya Palm Drive

Multifamily investor Robbins Property Associates has been snapping up properties across Palm Beach County.

Now one of its co-founders bought a home in Boca Raton’s Royal Palm Yacht and Country Club for $5.5 million. Mitchell Robbins purchased the 7,997-square-foot house at 461 South Maya Palm Drive for $687 per square foot, records show.

Built in 2016, the home has five bedrooms, five bathrooms and two half-bathrooms.

The property sold at a slight loss from its previous sales price in 2016, when Robert Noble bought the property for $5.82 million.

David W. Roberts of Royal Palm Properties represented the buyer and the seller in the deal, according to Zillow.

Robbins Property Associates was founded in 2009 by brothers Mitchell and Steve Robbins to acquire multifamily communities. The firm merged with North Palm Beach-based Electra America in late 2016.

In June, Robbins Property Associates bought the 192-unit Heron Pointe Apartments at 10010 Boynton Place Circle for $34 million from a company tied to author, speaker, and real estate investor Grant Cardone. In 2018, the company acquired the 216-unit Verona at Boynton Beach at 1575 Southwest Eighth Street for $43 million.

The Royal Palm Yacht and Country Club has seen a number of big sales recently. Richard Templer, the owner of a professional horse racing stable, and his wife Diane Templer last week purchased a waterfront home at 190 Northeast 5th Avenue for $12.2 million.

Earlier this month, Robert Sheetz, the founder of the Sheetz convenience store and gas station chain, sold a waterfront estate at 133 West Coconut Palm Road in the Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club for $11.45 million.

In September, a group of executives tied to a West Palm Beach transportation company bought a 9,203-square-foot house at 300 East Key Palm Road for $12.1 million.

The post Multifamily investor snags pad in Boca Raton for $6M appeared first on The Real Deal Miami.

WATCH: Howard Lorber in concert(!)

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[video_embed][/video_embed]

Howard Lorber plays to his own tune. Specifically, “Swans on the Lake” — the only one he knows.

The Douglas Elliman chairman’s talent emerged Tuesday at a press preview and broker tour of 111 West 57th Street, the newest luxury condo building on Billionaires’ Row.

Developed by Michael Stern’s JDS Development Group, Kevin Maloney’s Property Markets Group and Spruce Capital Partners, the project is nearing completion. Last year Elliman took over marketing and sales from Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group.

The 91-story supertall is anchored in the base of the historic Steinway Hall, a former showroom for famous piano maker Steinway & Sons. Though its landmarked rotunda will be preserved, most of the base has been rebuilt as the lobby to the condo tower, designed by SHoP Architects and Studio Sofield.

Lorber performed extemporaneously on one of the two Steinway pianos brought in for the event. With the exception of Lorber’s impromptu serenade, the instruments were played by musical professionals as brokers and members of the media ambled through the space for a glimpse of the building’s new entrance and a residence.

The post WATCH: Howard Lorber in concert(!) appeared first on The Real Deal Miami.

FCP pays $86M for three Palm Beach County apartment communities

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 FCP’s Palm Beach County portfolio and Bruce Gago

FCP’s Palm Beach County portfolio and Bruce Gago

FCP paid $85.5 million for three apartment communities in Palm Beach County, amid growing demand for multifamily real estate in South Florida.

The Chevy Chase, Maryland-based commercial investor and developer closed on a 683-unit apartment portfolio on Wednesday for about $125,000 per apartment. The properties include:

  • Costa del Lago, a 218-unit apartment complex at 2508 10th Avenue in Lake Worth. The 197,234-square-foot community was built on a nearly 19-acre lot in 1972. It last sold in 2013 for $13.25 million.
  • Coronado Springs, a 314-unit, 238,988-square-foot apartment community at 555 Kirk Road in Palm Springs. It was built in 1971 on 5.6 acres and last sold in 2014 for $18.11 million.
  • Sedona Village, a 151-unit apartment community at 2500 Springdale Boulevard in Palm Springs. Built in 1985, the 143,139-square-foot, 9-acre development last sold in 2015 for $13.25 million.

Property records show companies tied to Alberto De Alejo of Tampa sold the communities. The buyer assumed an existing Fannie Mae loan as part of the acquisitions, according to a release.

The deal marks FCP’s 11th investment in Florida and its largest investment in the state, according to the release.

It entered the Florida market in 2015, and also owns properties in Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville and South Florida.

Pinnacle, one of the largest apartment management companies, will manage the communities for FCP, which is short for Federal Capital Partners.

Newmark Knight Frank’s Hampton Beebe, Avery Klann, Tal Frydman, and Jonathan Senn and Tyler Minix represented the seller. Fernando Riboli of NKF worked to secure financing for two of the three properties acquired.

The post FCP pays $86M for three Palm Beach County apartment communities appeared first on The Real Deal Miami.

How to get away with [selling a] murder [house]

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(Illustration by Chris Koehler)

Los Angeles might be just as famous for its grisly murders as it is for its movie industry. Tourists can take true-crime tours of the Beverly Hills mansion where the Menendez brothers fatally shot their parents in 1989, the site where the mutilated body of Elizabeth Short (the “Black Dahlia”) was dumped in 1947 or the East L.A. neighborhoods once terrorized by serial killer Richard Ramirez, aka the Night Stalker.

And sometimes real estate is the motive. In August, 72-year-old Marina del Rey resident William Webb was beaten to death, allegedly by his tenants in a plot to prevent him from selling his house, prosecutors say.

Unless they can be turned into museums, properties with macabre histories must eventually go on the market. After all, even a site where a gruesome murder took place is still a piece of Los Angeles real estate. But sellers and brokers of those properties face unique challenges.

“Murder is bad feng shui,” said Orell Anderson, a forensic real estate appraiser who specializes in valuing properties affected by a crime. Residences where murders have occurred usually sell at a discount of 10 to 15 percent, Anderson said. In cases where the homicide was high-profile, the difference can be 20 to 30 percent.

California law requires brokers to disclose whether a death has taken place at a property within the previous three years. Potential buyers can also consult DiedInHouse.com, where for $11.99 you can find out whether someone has died by murder or suicide at a particular address.

Some cases, however, are too infamous to avoid, even if the crime took place decades ago. Take, for example, 2475 Glendower Place, the five-bedroom Spanish Revival house better known as the “Los Feliz Murder Mansion.” There, on the night of Dec. 6, 1959, Dr. Harold Perelson bludgeoned his wife, Lilian, to death with a ball-peen hammer before severely beating his 18-year-old daughter, Judy, while his two younger children slept. She escaped and raised the alarm but not before Perelson drank poison, ending his own life.

A year later, the hillside property sold to an older couple, Emily and Julian Enriquez, but they never lived there. It sat empty for more than 40 years, attracting a cult following of gawkers who peered through the windows at dusty 1950s furniture. Finally, in 2016, the home was purchased for $2.3 million in a probate sale.

In May of this year it was listed again for $3.5 million, having been stripped down to the studs. Agent Scott Pinkerton of Century 21 Peak, who represented the 2016 buyers and is now the listing agent, said it was hard to escape the home’s dark history.

“When it first came on the market, the listing agents had a bunch of looky-loos. So many people wanted to come see the house because of what it was,” he said.

This time, Pinkerton is requiring potential buyers to submit proof of funds to get a showing. “I’m in the business of real estate,” he said, “not a tour guide.”

How to de-creepify a home

To offset a property’s notoriety, forensic appraiser Anderson offers sellers some basic advice. First, change the outside appearance of the property so it doesn’t look as it did in media coverage at the time of the crime.

Nicole Brown Simpson’s home at 875 South Bundy Drive in Brentwood became infamous after she and friend Ron Goldman were stabbed to death outside her front door on June 12, 1994. Images of the bloodstained brick path were beamed around the world. The sensational trial and acquittal of former football star O.J. Simpson, Nicole’s ex-husband, guaranteed the property a place in the annals of L.A. history.

The four-bedroom condo, which Nicole had bought for $625,000, sat empty for more than two years after the killings before finally selling for $595,000 in 1997. It sold again in 2006 for $1.7 million. The new owners remodeled the famous front entrance, moving the path entirely.

They also changed the property’s address, another tactic Anderson advises sellers to try.

In 1969, members of the Charles Manson “family” brutally murdered eight-months-pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others at 10050 Cielo Drive. Rudolph Altobelli, a Hollywood talent manager who owned the French-style villa, struggled for years to sell the property. It finally sold in 1988 for $400,000 below the asking price.

Police at the scene of the Manson Family murders at 10050 Cielo Drive.

The property was bought in 1991 by real estate investor Alvin Weintraub for $2.25 million. He demolished the villa and changed the address to 10066 Cielo Drive in an attempt to remove some of the stigma.

“There’s no house, no dirt, no blade of grass remotely connected to Sharon Tate,” he told the L.A. Times in 1998.

The property was later bought by “Full House” creator Jeff Franklin for an undisclosed sum, and by 2010 he had constructed a mansion with a 15-car garage, two swimming pools, six bars and five aquariums on the site.

But sometimes it’s much more challenging to disassociate a property from a grotesque crime. Sellers have no choice but to demolish the structure in which it took place, Anderson said, but even that may not be enough. “The stigma runs with the land,” he said, “it’s the location and the dirt that people remember.”

One example is the 9,200-square-foot mansion at 18241 Colina Norte in Rancho Santa Fe, San Diego County, where 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate cult committed mass suicide in late March 1997.

Anderson, who appraised the property, said the bodies sat for several days in the spring heat before being discovered.

“You couldn’t get the smell out,” making it impossible to even stand inside the property for long, he said. The mansion eventually sold for $668,000 to a neighbor, who demolished it and changed the address.

The Cielo Drive property, now numbered 10066 Cielo Drive.

Bad blood

If homicides can complicate a sale, sometimes real estate matters precipitate them. One recent case shows just how dangerous a property dispute can be.

In March of this year, William Webb listed his luxury Marina del Rey home for $2.6 million. Five months later, he was brutally slain in what prosecutors allege was a plot by his former stepdaughter and two tenants to prevent him from selling it.

Authorities say Webb was killed in the five-bedroom harborside house at 131 Lighthouse Mall by John Schiefer and Shavonne Webster, who were renting a room there. Webb’s body was burned and dumped in a dry lakebed in Joshua Tree National Park, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Webb’s former stepdaughter, Haena Kealia Worthing, also faces murder charges, although her role in the purported plot is unclear. Since Webb’s divorce from Worthing’s mother in 2012, the Marina property has been at the center of court battles between the two families. Last year Worthing sought to take possession of the property, but a judge denied her request.

“She has some misguided idea that she can get me out of my house,”  Webb wrote at the time, according to the L.A. Times. “Haena has stated that she will then inherit the house.”

The property was in contract at the time of the murder. At press time, it was unclear if the sale will close.

If it doesn’t, the broker might want to watch a new streaming video series for inspiration. “Murder House Flip,”  a recently announced true-crime home makeover show from “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” producer Josh Berman, will help owners of “infamous” properties with renovations. The show will air on new short-video platform Quibi, Deadline reported in August.

Sony’s Elyse Seder told Deadline that the new show “combines America’s two biggest TV obsessions: true crime and home renovation.”

The post How to get away with [selling a] murder [house] appeared first on The Real Deal Miami.

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