Tom Brady and the home (Credit: James Gilbert/Getty Images, and Google Maps)
New England Patriots quarterba… ahem, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is reportedly finalizing a $7.5 million deal for a waterfront mansion in Clearwater.
TMZ reported on Thursday that Brady was expected to close on the deal later in the week, although the listing agency has denied Brady is involved with the sale, according to the Tampa Bay Times. TMZ did not list a source in its article.
Listing agent Sophia Vasilaros said, “Tom Brady is not buying this house,” and that “TMZ jumped the gun.”
A spokesperson for her brokerage, Smith & Associates Real Estate, also said Brady is “not associated with the sale of this house.”
The house has five bedrooms and totals around 8,500 square feet. It sits on a peninsula on Diamond Isle, an artificial island in Clearwater Harbor.
Whether or not Brady is behind the purchase, he’s got reason to be in the market.
Brady and his wife Gisele Bündchen have been renting a nearly 31,000-square-foot mansion owned by New York Yankees Hall of Famer Derek Jeter for the last several months, but Jeter listed the property last month for $29 million.
Brady told Howard Stern in March that living in the Jeter residence was a big change of pace from the private lifestyle he was used to after years living outside Boston. Jeter’s house is on a public road and its backyard opens to Hillsborough Bay.
“Where I lived in Chestnut Hill, I was pretty private for a long time,” Brady said. “So I forgot, in a way, like people could drive up to your house. You couldn’t drive up to my house where I lived in Chestnut Hill. Here, they could pull right up to the back of the house.” [Tampa Bay Times] — Dennis Lynch
Investors turn to the cold storage market (Credit: iStock)
Investors are increasingly turning to the cold storage sector, which showed surprising resilience through the first few months of the pandemic.
Lineage Logistics, the world’s largest landlord of temperature-controlled storage, pulled in $1.6 billion in a fundraising round that ended last month, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Americold Realty Trust, the only public real estate investment trust specializing in cold storage, saw a 6 percent increase in net operating income in the second quarter.
While the pandemic disrupted the heavily cold storage-dependent restaurant industry, that slowdown was mitigated by a run on supermarket frozen foods. Suppliers repackaged large portions of products meant for restaurants into smaller portions to meet consumer demand.
“The pandemic showed how cold storage is agnostic to the ultimate destination of the food,” said Cohen & Steers analyst Harrison Klein.
Klein’s firm invested $100 million into Lineage Logistics during its recent fundraising round, and has also made a large investment in Americold.
Those that are bullish on the industry contend that demand for space is set to increase because customers like the Kroger supermarkets are investing in their supply chains to reduce home delivery times. The average U.S. cold storage warehouse is 40 years old as well and customers demand newer facilities.
Over the summer, Bridge Development Partners and PGIM Real Estate bought a Hialeah property for what could be South Florida’s first cold storage facility built on spec.
There are downsides to investing in the industry, namely exposure to labor shortages. Covid-19 has spread through some facilities, which require a large number of workers to operate. Revenue growth is also slower than some other property sectors because of the high cost of developing such facilities. [WSJ] — Dennis Lynch
Since announcing plans to go public with a SPAC, Opendoor’s been offering potential investors a peek under the hood. Last week’s 650-page prospectus gave an unvarnished account of its financials, including nearly $1 billion in losses since 2013.
The filing also shined a light on the volatility of this year’s business: The company lost $118 million on nearly $2 billion of revenue during the first half of 2020. By comparison, it lost $158 million on $2.7 billion in revenue during the same period last year.
Opendoor’s deal with Chamath Palihapitiya’s blank-check company, Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings II, values the iBuyer at $4.8 billion and will give Opendoor $1 billion in new cash. Proceeds include $600 million through a PIPE, or private investment in public equity.
Here’s what else you need to know about the offering:
SoftBank’s stake. The firm invested $400 million in 2018 and will hold a 13.8 percent stake when the merger is complete. Other big owners are Khosla Ventures (8.7 percent) and AI Liquid RE LLC, an entity controlled by Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries (6.5 percent). Social Capital and seven of its directors will control a 5 percent stake.
Losses will continue. Opendoor expects losses and capital needs to go on “for the foreseeable future.” Since 2013, its total losses topped $909 million as of June 30, 2020.
Poor Eric Wu? Opendoor’s CEO earned a $275,000 base salary last year, lower than any other executive. But after the deal closes, he’ll hold 32.8 million shares for a 6.2 percent ownership stake.
Verified account. Adam Bain, ex-COO of Twitter and a director at Social Capital, will join the board. A nominating committee will identify other candidates.
Ready, set … grow. Opendoor currently operates in 21 markets, but has plans to expand to 100 major U.S. markets.
Covid redux. Thanks to the pandemic, Opendoor sold 7,832 homes during the first half of this year, compared to 8,985 during the same period last year. The company is currently in 21 markets, but plans to expand to 100 U.S. cities.
“There are almost no tours. There’s almost no proposals. The deal activity has totally dried up.”
You’ve got to spend money to make money?
Airbnb’s business has rebounded from peak Covid, but the hospitality startup burned through $1.2 billion in the year before its IPO, reported The Information.
Most of the heavy spending came during the first quarter, when the pandemic peaked and the company lost $1 billion in bookings overnight. Leaked company financials show revenue plunged 72 percent during the second quarter. All in, Airbnb spent $850 million during the first half of this year, including a $114 million restructuring fee. It took a $53 million impairment charge on startups that it previously invested in, including Lyric, Oyo and Zeus Living. Airbnb is planning to raise $3 billion in a December IPO that would value the company at $30 billion, Reuters reported.
Fifth Wall goes to Europe
Fifth Wall, the deep-pocketed VC firm that’s backed Opendoor, States Title and Industrious, is looking to raise an $118 million European proptech fund.
Investors so far include the real estate arm of BNP Paribas, the French bank; Pontos, a Finnish family office; MOMENI, a German real estate developer; and Azora, a Spanish investment manager. Fifth Wall, which launched in 2016, currently has $1 billion-plus under management. In July 2019, it closed a $503 million fund and has since closed a $100 million retail fund. It’s raising a $200 million carbon impact fund.
When it’s easy to be green …
A San Francisco startup that helps building owners go green landed $156.5 million from CBRE Group and others.
Founded in 2015, Redaptive Inc. targets big businesses and offers to help green-ify their offices by installing their own systems and equipment. The customers can eventually choose to buy the equipment. The round brings Redaptive’s total haul to $181 million. It was led by CarVal Investors LP with participation from CBRE, Engie New Ventures, Evergy Ventures and Linse Capital.
STAT OF THE WEEK
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One-day drop in Palantir’s share price after stock market debut
VTS’ real-time data promise
Companies wrestling with return-to-work questions have a new tool courtesy of VTS: real-time data that captures fluctuating supply and demand. The New York startup said VTS Data replaces anecdotal information and dated market reports.
The data relies on VTS’ leasing management platform by using information shared by landlord and broker clients. (The data is anonymized.) VTS claims 12 billion square feet are managed with its software. It was valued at $1 billion after raising $90 million in May 2019.
Swipe right for your next apartment
Ripping a page from the world of dating apps, a new startup has developed swipe technology to help buyers and renters find their next home.
Casa Blanca, the brainchild of Hannah Bomze, launched 18 months ago in New York City. The company combines mobile search with agents to help prospects land their dream home. Using Casa Blanca’s app, prospective buyers and renters answer a questionnaire about their lifestyle and dream home. The company employs agents to facilitate deals; under its commission structure, buys get back up to 1 percent at closing. “From current house hunters to future buyers, the app is tailored to each person’s unique preferences,” Bomze told Fortune.
So far, Casa Blanca claims $100 million in sales to date, and is projecting $250 million in 2021. Backers include Samual Ben-Avraham, an early investor in WeWork, and apparel retailer Kith.
Small bytes
Compass bought Modus, a title and escrow startup that previously raised $12.5M.
Orchard, a startup that wants to be the Carvana of real estate, debuted a dashboard to facilitate all-digital closings.
Blockchain startup Propy raised $1.2M+ from Tim Draper and others.
SiteAware, an Israeli AI company that develops construction verification software, raised $10M Series A co-led by Axon Ventures and Robert Bosch Venture Capital.
Realtor.com launched an advertising partnership with Rocket Mortgage.
The mayor of London launched a housing design app, PRiSM, to help build and design manufactured homes post-Covid.
Two California homes owned by late Kleiner Perkins co-founder Frank Caufield are coming to market for $39.75 million and $19.5 million.
MoxiWorks launched a tool to predict homes-sale volume two months in advance.
The Related Group hired Douglas Elliman to market its Pompano Beach condominium Solemar. Related plans to break ground on the 105-unit, 20-story oceanfront tower in the first half of 2021.
Colliers International Florida brought on Mark M. Rubin as executive managing director for South Florida. Rubin will focus on office, industrial and land investment sales and will be based at the firm’s Boca Raton office.
Prior to joining Colliers, Rubin served as a principal of Avison Young and as a member of its Florida Capital Markets team. He previously held senior leadership positions with Newmark Knight Frank, Amerivest Group, Savills Studley and JLL.
Sofia Pagano has joined Cervera Real Estate as the new sales director for the brokerage’s Key Biscayne office.
In her new position, she will manage residential sales and leasing for Cervera in the market. She will also manage a team of more than 15 sales associates based at the Key Biscayne branch office.
Luxury realtor Cristian Gonzalez-Black left Fortune International Realty to join Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices EWM Realty in the company’s Key Biscayne office.
RelatedISG International Realty hired JC Caceres as vice president of the firm’s luxury, sports and entertainment division.
John Moran Jr. and 5 Isla Bahia Terrace, Fort Lauderdale
The CEO of a warehousing, logistics and transportation company bought a waterfront house in Fort Lauderdale’s Harbor Beach neighborhood for $7.5 million, The Real Deal has learned.
John Moran Jr., of Watsontown, Pennsylvania-based Moran Logistics, bought the 7,000-square-foot house at 5 Isla Bahia Terrace, which is on almost an acre of land, according to Sheryl Hodor of Compass Florida.
Sheryl Hodor and Troy Hotchkiss
Hodor and her partner, Troy Hotchkiss, of the Hodor Hotchkiss Team, represented both the buyer and the sellers.
The sellers are Dr. Neil J. Principe and his wife, Aldona. Principe bought the land in 1992 for $1 million. The house was custom-built two years later, according to records.
It was listed for $8.9 million in October 2019, according to the listing.
The two-story house features a three-car garage, six bedrooms, eight full bathrooms and two half baths. It has 190 feet of water frontage.
Moran Logistics operates 5 million square feet of storage space in Pennsylvania, according to its website.
Moran made headlines in August when he joined others in stepping down from the controversial We Build the Wall organization that received a federal indictment charge alongside Steve Bannon, the former campaign manager for President Donald Trump, PennLive reported. Moran resigned after the indictment was announced. He was not indicted and held a ceremonial position in the organization, according to PennLive.
Brian Stafford & Celine Dufetel, with the home (Credit: Google Maps)
Brian Stafford and Celine Dufetel, c-suite executives at different companies, bought a Venetian Islands mansion for $12.8 million.
Records show the married couple bought the 8,209-square-foot waterfront house at 436 West Rivo Alto Drive in Miami Beach from Natasha Dubarry.
Dubarry is the former wife of luxury watchmaker Franck Dubarry who created TechnoMarine and later the watch brand Franck Dubarry. Records show the two bought the property for $2.8 million in 2001, and the mansion was built in 2006. Natasha was granted the home in a marital settlement agreement in 2011.
Julian Johnston with the Corcoran Group had the listing. The house first hit the market in 2018 for $17.9 million. After a few price drops over the years, it was last listed for $14.8 million in July.
The six-bedroom, six-and-a-half bathroom home has 210 feet of water frontage and a pool.
Stafford is the president and CEO of Diligent Corp., a software service company. He has held the position since 2015, according to Diligent’s website.
Dufetel is the CFO at investment management company T. Rowe Price. Dufetel was recently named to Fortune’s 40 Under 40 list in the finance category.
The sale is one of many on the Venetian Islands in recent months. Among them, a Brazilian billionaire sold a Venetian Islands waterfront home for $10.2 million, a former Ford executive sold his estate for $18 million and a group of developers sold a spec mansion for $13.6 million.
Condo sales and closed dollar volume both fell last week in Miami-Dade County.
A total of 123 condos sold for $50.3 million last week, a significant decline compared to the 151 units that sold for $73.7 million the previous week. Condos last week sold for an average price of about $409,000 or $305 per square foot.
The most expensive sale was for unit 3603 at the Setai in Miami Beach. The unit sold for $4.1 million, or $2,582 per square foot. Jeffrey Miller represented the seller while Seth Feuer represented the buyer. It was on the market for 283 days.
The second most expensive sale of the week was for unit 2501 at Jade Signature. The Sunny Isles Beach condo sold for $3.3 million, or $1,115 per square foot, after 167 days on the market. Fred Rossen represented the seller, while Michelle Small represented the buyer.
Here’s a breakdown of the top 10 sales from Oct. 4. to Oct. 10.
Most expensive
Setai #3603 | 283 days on market | $4.1M | $2,582 psf | Listing agent: Jeffrey Miller | Buyer’s agent: Seth Feuer
Least expensive
Towerhouse Condo #2301 | 31 days on market | $860K | $300 psf | Listing agent: Ilaria Cunningham | Buyer’s agent: Ilaria Cunningham
Most days on market
Bayview #5355 | 301 days on market | $1.9M | $706 psf | Listing agent: Karla Abaunza | Buyer’s agent: Robert Vole
Fewest days on market
Biltmore Parc #304 | 1 day on market | $1.7M | $682 psf | Listing agent: Anniella Tabraue | Buyer’s agent: Eduardo Pruna
Stuart Miller & Mike Nunziata, with a rendering of Avalon Trials (Credit: Lennar Homes)
Lennar Corp. spent $27.6 million for a development site on a former golf course in Delray Beach.
The Miami-based homebuilder bought 204 lots from 13FH Avalon LP, or 13th Floor Homes, according to property records.
The deal equates to $135,294 per lot.
13th Floor Homes, an affiliate of Miami-based 13th Floor Investments, bought the land near 4800 Cumberland Drive two years ago for $5.4 million. The company later secured a $21.9 million loan from CIBC Bank to redevelop the 110-acre former golf course into Avalon Trails, a 55-plus, age-restricted community.
Avalon Trails is planned to have about 524 residential units, including single-family homes, villas and multifamily units, with prices ranging from the $300,000s to $500,000s. It will also feature clubhouses, resort-style pools, card rooms, gyms, business centers, game areas, tennis and pickleball courts, bocce ball, landscaped walkways, and lakefront park areas.
A number of developers have been picking up golf courses in South Florida in recent years to convert them into single-family home communities, including Pulte Group, Lennar and 13th Floor.
13th Floor Homes also bought a different shuttered golf course, earlier this year, for $5.6 million, also for an “active adult” community.
It’s been business as usual for Lennar, one of the country’s largest homebuilders, during the pandemic. Lennar reported untempered demand for homes, with a jump in orders, deliveries and earnings in Q3.
Ashkenazy Acquisition’s Ben Ashkenazy and Marriott East Side at 525 Lexington Avenue (Google Maps)
Marriott Hotels has been sued by a Manhattan landlord for the alleged misappropriation of $12 million at its now-defunct Marriott East Side hotel.
An Ashkenazy Acquisition-backed joint venture, which owns the building at 525 Lexington Avenue, filed the lawsuit against Marriott in New York State Supreme Court last week, Crain’s reported.
According to the suit, the hotel used $12 million from maintenance and repair reserves to boost its balance sheet. The landlord also seeks $42 million for breach of contract.
“Marriott has made a simple calculation: issue inflated demands for capital; avoid providing detailed support for these demands; pressure owners in every way imaginable — including contacting their lending institutions, issuing bogus default notices, demanding that hotels anticipating staggering losses remain open; and seizing funds that are the rightful property of the owners — all in an attempt to bolster its corporate balance sheet, which is weighed down by billions in debt,” the lawsuit reads.
Marriott declined to comment to Crain’s.
The Marriott East Side closed permanently in March and laid off more than 300 employees.
It’s one of the many hotels in the city that have either temporarily or permanently closed because of the pandemic. Hilton Times Square, Courtyard by Marriott in Herald Square, and W Hotel in Downtown Manhattan have also announced they will permanently shut down. [Crain’s] — Akiko Matsuda
Fort Lauderdale developers Scott Bodenweber and Tom Vogel scored $92 million in bridge financing for a newly completed apartment tower in downtown Fort Lauderdale.
Benefit Street Partners Realty Trust, a New York-based mortgage real estate investment trust, provided senior debt of $76 million, while West Palm Beach-based Electra Capital retained a $16 million mezzanine loan, according to a press release.
Elevate One River LLC, led by Bodenweber and Vogel, is the developer of 4 West Las Olas, a 260-unit riverfront building at 4 West Las Olas Boulevard. It was completed in the first quarter of this year.
Denny St. Romain of Cushman & Wakefield brokered the loan. Greenberg Traurig’s Dan McCawley represented the developer, according to a press release. The three-year loan includes optional extensions.
The financing replaces an $80 million construction loan that Trez Forman Capital provided the developers for the 25-story rental tower in 2018. The building is between 58 percent and 65 percent leased, according to the releases.
Samuel J. Greenblatt, CEO of Electra Capital, said in the release that the loan shows the demand for alternative forms of financing as a result of the pandemic’s impact on capital markets.
Last month, the developer of a nearly completed Hollywood apartment tower secured a $58 million bridge loan, also from Benefit Street Realty Partners. The financing also replaced a construction loan from Trez Forman.
The Las Olas building has 12,000 square feet of retail and a 407-space parking garage. Amenities include an entertainment lounge, rooftop pool, sky club room, fitness center, coffee bar and business center. The apartments, including penthouses, range from one to three bedrooms and from 588 square feet to 1,376 square feet.
The developers paid $24 million for the site in 2017.
A number of new apartment projects are in the pipeline in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Last month, Novo Las Olas, a 341-unit, 27-story building at The Main Las Olas, launched preleasing.
The reemergence comes even as competitors close up shop. Party City, for example, has reduced the number of Halloween City pop-up stores it is opening this fall by 91 percent.
The reason for Spirit Halloween’s optimism is its business model of signing temporary leases to fill vacant space, of which there is plenty at the moment, and its concentration of sales in September and October, meaning it was not hurt by Covid shutdowns in the spring. The store “is out of step with most normal retail concepts,” Andy Mantis, a retail analyst for the firm 1010Data, told the Times.
While in 2019, typical party stores generated 29 percent of their annual sales between Labor Day and Halloween, for Spirit Halloween, 90 percent of revenue was generated then.
Lower real estate costs also mean more potential to open stores, according to Mantis.
Still, the lack of Halloween festivities is expected to result in an $8 billion drop in spending this year — a reduction of approximately 8 percent from last year, according to the National Retail Federation. [NY Times] — Sasha Jones
From left: Jorge Pérez, Stuart Miller, Craig Robins, Louise Sunshine, and Russell Galbut,(Credit: Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
As the presidential election nears, The Real Deal examined top South Florida real estate players’ political donations this year, and found they largely skewed in one direction.
A number of developers supported Republican candidates and causes, including Craig Robins, Stuart Miller and Russell Galbut.
Related Group developer Jorge Pérez and real estate adviser Louise Sunshine were among the few to donate to former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign, according to TRD’s analysis of filings with the Federal Election Commission.
Here is a look at some of the political donations real estate developers and brokers made in 2020:
Craig Robins
The Miami Design District developer has written checks totaling $25,000 this year. Robins, president and CEO of Dacra, gave $12,500 to the Gimenez Victory Committee, $5,600 to Carlos Gimenez for Congress, $5,000 to the Residents First PAC, and $1,900 to the Republican Party of Miami-Dade County. Gimenez is the Republican candidate running for Congress against Democratic Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.
Robins has spearheaded the development of the Design District into a high-end retail-driven neighborhood north of Midtown Miami. He did not respond to a request for comment.
Stuart Miller
Lennar Corp.’s Stuart Miller donated $13,600 to two local races. Miller, executive chairman of Lennar, gave $8,000 to Beth Van Duyne’s campaign, and $5,600 to Gimenez’s campaign. Van Duyne is a Republican running for the U.S. House of Representatives to represent Texas’ 24th congressional district. Van Duyne is running against Democrat Candace Valenzuela.
Russell Galbut
Crescent Heights developer Russell Galbut made contributions to races around the country. In South Florida, Galbut wrote a $2,700 check to Salazar for Congress. Republican Maria Elvira Salazar is running against Donna Shalana to represent Florida’s 27th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Galbut, whose Miami-based Crescent Heights has built major projects in South Florida, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, also gave $2,200 to Antone for Congress, who lost to Rep. Ilhan Omar; $1,00 each to Jim Risch for U.S. Senate Committee and McSally for Senate Inc.; and $500 to Engel for Congress. He declined to comment on the donations. Republican Senator Martha McSally of Arizona is up for re-election in November.
Art Falcone
Miami Worldcenter co-developer Art Falcone supported Anna Paulina Luna’s campaign for Congress, as well as WinRed, the Republican Party’s fundraising platform, giving each $2,800. Luna is running against Rep. Charlie Crist to represent Florida’s 13th district, covering southern Pinellas County.
Falcone leads the Falcone Group, a Boca Raton-based real estate firm that has developed mixed-use, residential and entertainment projects around the country. Falcone is a co-developer of Miami Worldcenter along with Nitin Motwani.
Jorge Pérez
Outspoken Democrat and supporter of the arts Jorge Pérez donated $2,800 to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign. The Related Group founder and prolific developer has been vocal about how he disagrees with President Trump’s policies.
Donald Soffer
Aventura developer Donald Soffer gave about $2,000 to Republican campaigns largely supporting President Trump’s reelection. Soffer donated $1,000 to Trump’s Make America Great Again Committee, $750 to his campaign, and $250 to the Republican National Committee.
The billionaire mega developer, whose children are also involved in real estate, founded Turnberry Associates, which is now led by his daugher, Jackie Soffer.
Cervera family
Javier Cervera Jr., the owner of Cervera Real Estate Ventures, donated $2,500 to Donald J. Trump for President. Javier is the son of Alicia Sr. and the late Javier Sr. His company owns commercial properties in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, and is building two apartment buildings in the Allapattah neighborhood.
Alicia Cervera Lamadrid, managing partner and principal of Cervera Real Estate, wrote a check for $250 to the Republican National Committee.
Louise Sunshine
Sales, marketing and development expert Louise Sunshine, who famously served as an executive vice president at the Trump Organization from 1973 to 1985, gave $500 to Biden’s campaign.
The Sunshine Group founder, who sold her company in 2002 to New Jersey-based NRT, is an adviser for Fort Partners, developer of the Four Seasons-branded projects in Surfside and Fort Lauderdale.
Tibor Hollo
Florida East Coast Realty developer Tibor Hollo gave nearly $6,000, with the majority ($5,600) to Gimenez’s campaign for Congress. Hollo also donated $250 to McSally for Senate, and $113 to Trump’s campaign.
Hollo, a Holocaust survivor, founded Florida East Coast Realty, which has developed a number of projects in Miami, including Panorama Tower, the tallest building in Florida.
W. Allen Morris
Coral Gables developer W. Allen Morris gave $750 to Trump’s campaign. Morris, chairman and CEO of the Allen Morris Company, has projects throughout Florida and Georgia. He declined to comment.
South Florida retailers have been trying to adapt and plan ahead amid a stop-start economy that has left them guessing. (iStock)
South Florida retailers could be forgiven if they needed a minute to process the news that Gov. Ron DeSantis had moved the state into its third and final phase of reopening.
After months of mandated closures amid a stop-start economy, the late September announcement meant that in Miami-Dade County, bars and nightclubs could reopen for indoor activity. While it allowed for up to 100 percent capacity, the declaration still came with regional restrictions. It also came just two weeks after the county mayor, Carlos Gimenez, said he didn’t expect to reopen bars and nightclubs until a vaccine was available.
Omar Ali-Shamaa
Though the city of Miami allows unrestricted indoor dining — with tables spaced six feet apart — and does not require owners to submit a layout plan, a separate county order requires a plan to be filed.
It has been a chaotic seven months for retailers and landlords who have navigated a flurry of targeted orders and shutdowns. Some of those measures were aimed only at bars, others at restaurants, and some came from local authorities while others were handed down from the state and county levels.
“Being pulled back and forth, a lot of restaurants are now kind of timid,” said Omar Ali-Shamaa, a Miami attorney who represents restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues. “They’ve been through the ringer. They’re not rushing to make changes.” Ali-Shamaa, who is with Wolfe Pincavage, said the firm didn’t know if all its clients would reopen. Many restaurants also waited after the first reopening in May, when indoor dining was allowed at 25 percent, he said.
Marbet Lewis of Spiritus Law said her clients are “operating as if they could be shut down at any moment.” Lewis said the governor’s announcement to enter the third phase was necessary, but still radical.
“When the governor’s order first came out there was a lot of confusion and hesitation and fear,” she said.
Marbet Lewis, Spiritus Law
Adapt to survive
Over the last several months, landlords have had to weigh the same uncertainties. Some have sued to evict struggling tenants no longer able to pay, while others have allowed those businesses to walk away from leases. Retail space began flooding the market — adding to an oversupply that existed before the pandemic — as an increasing number of national chains began declaring bankruptcy.
Still, retail landlords say rent collections have bounced back, restaurants are expanding and new tenants are signing leases. Shops that have managed to sustain their business and pay their rent have adapted to the surge in demand for takeout, delivery and curbside service, brokers say.
Prospective tenants are now looking for off-site ghost kitchens, second-generation spaces with under 1,000 square feet, and additional outdoor seating space, brokers say. Many new leases being signed in South Florida now include “Covid clauses” — where base rent drops if restrictions are reimposed.
Felix Bendersky, restaurant broker and owner of F+B Hospitality, called it “incredible” how many out-of-state businesses are looking for space — especially in Miami Beach, where residential sales have soared.
“We are obviously in a recovery time and people are recovering faster than not,” Bendersky said.
Pop-up concepts that were successful in recent months are also trying their hand at longer, one- and two-year leases. Those include Old Greg’s Pizza, a pop-up that opened out of restaurateur Brad Kilgore’s Kaido space in the Miami Design District. It has developed a large following, selling out within minutes of opening time slots online. Now, it’s looking for a larger, permanent space.
Retail landlords are also reporting higher rent collection rates in South Florida, in line with the trend nationwide.
“People are signing leases again,” said Devlin Marinoff, broker and managing partner of Dwntwn Realty Advisors. He added that the days of forbearance and rent relief are over.
Retailers return
Shoppers are also returning to some of the larger retail spaces. Pebb Capital principal Todd Benson said the company is collecting nearly 100 percent of rent at Ocean Walk, a 67,000-square-foot beachfront retail center on Singer Island in Palm Beach County.
The investment firm was also able to get the city to close the street to traffic, allowing tenants to add more outdoor space. It also increased its advertising for Ocean Walk, which is at the entrance to the public beach.
An aerial view of Ocean Walk in Palm Beach County (Ander & Co)
Benson added that Pebb worked with its tenants to defer rent when possible at the start of the pandemic, and has stayed in touch with tenants over the ensuing months.
Still, Chris Stewart of Pebb Enterprises — a separate company from Pebb Capital — said many of its restaurant tenants have sales at or below 50 percent. Because of that, it has been offering those tenants reduced rents, based on their sales, for a certain period of time.
Stewart said he has also seen a “huge increase in retailer interest” over the past month and a half. That has come from restaurants, service retail, convenience stores, fast-food businesses and even boutique fitness concepts that are expanding.
Integra Investments, which owns Aventura ParkSquare, was able to sign new leases with four tenants to fill spaces that had been vacated in the last three months. At the mixed-use retail development in Aventura, Delicious Raw closed but Pura Vida, which has been expanding over the past year, took over the 2,000-square-foot space.
Many of the South Florida restaurants, bars and shops that didn’t get help from their landlords and had to close for good had problems before the pandemic, said Integra principal Victor Ballestas.
“Being pulled back and forth, a lot of restaurants are now kind of timid”
“Covid has accelerated the downfall of retail tenants that in the long run weren’t going to survive,” he said. Ballestas added that “instead of it happening in three years, it happened in three months.”
And despite freeing restaurants to open indoors, customers may be slow to fill those spaces. Dwntwn Realty Advisors co-founder Tony Arellano said tenants that remain most at-risk include fine dining establishments that depend on those large indoor areas.
Path to recovery
The South Florida retail market remains in recovery mode, said Tricera Capital’s Scott Sherman, who co-founded the investment firm with Ben Mandell.
“I would say today, no one knows what rent should be really anywhere across the board,” Sherman said. “Tourism isn’t back yet. There aren’t the bodies there used to be. People are still a little nervous.”
A few restaurant concepts such as Menin Hospitality’s Bodega Taqueria and Handcrafted Hospitality’s Tacocraft are expanding aggressively throughout South Florida. Menin plans to open 10 locations in the next two years, and Handcrafted is looking to add up to three Tacocraft locations per year.
Marc Falsetto of Tacocraft
Tacocraft owner Marc Falsetto said the group, which includes Anthony Bruno, Pat Marzano, Paul Castronova and Dan Marino, has tried a number of new ideas to attract customers during the pandemic, and is now on the hunt for more space. Their criteria for new locations has a Covid influence: 4,000 square feet with an outdoor area and enough parking for takeout and delivery service.
Falsetto is confident he’ll find those properties and at the right price. Landlords, he said, are “really looking to make a deal.” And he added, “everybody is more open.”
A company tied to Miami-based Lehman Autoworld bought a Honda dealership in Florida City for $16.8 million.
Records show Lehman purchased the Largo Honda dealership at 554 Northeast 1st Avenue from Largo Motor Company LTD, managed by Ronald Esserman.
Esserman, who died in July at age 93, was the owner of Esserman International, a Florida-based car dealership. Esserman bought the property in 2005, according to records.
Built in 2007, the three-story Honda dealership has 203,528 square feet.
Lehman Autoworld already owns and operates Hyundai, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Buick, GMC, Genesis and Kia dealerships in Miami. Lehman Autoworld offers car sales, parts, car service, and collision repair services, according to its website.
Car dealerships have been a hot commodity in South Florida in recent months. In early October, Pebb Enterprises sold a 23,000-square-foot Tesla dealership in West Palm Beach for $12.87 million. In September, an investment firm paid $90.5 million for car dealerships in Margate, Tamarac and West Palm Beach. And also in September, Off Lease Only sold its Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach locations in a $50 million deal.
Change of address data from the United States Postal Service reveals that 15.9 million people moved between February and July this year. (iStock)
How many people actually moved because of the pandemic? Though it’s hard to know movers’ exact motivations, new data reveals migration patterns during the height of Covid-19 lockdowns in most states.
Change of address data from the United States Postal Service reveals that 15.9 million people moved between February and July this year, according to MyMove, a platform that provides information for people who are relocating. MyMove analyzed data from both USPS and a Pew Research Center survey of 10,000 U.S. adults that was conducted in July.
Whether the newly relocated will stay in their new homes is less clear: The number of people who permanently moved was up by just 4 percent from the same period in 2019, while temporary moves rose by a more substantial 27 percent. Those temporary moves spiked in March and April, suggesting that people decided to be with family or relocated to a second home during the lockdowns.
“About a quarter (28%) told us [they chose to move] because they feared getting Covid-19 if they stayed where they were living,” said D’Vera Cohn, who authored the Pew survey. “About a fifth (20%) said they wanted to be with their family, or their college campus closed (23%). A total of 18% gave financial reasons, including job loss.”
The USPS data also showed that many people who moved left densely populated urban areas in favor of less-densely populated areas.
Manhattan saw the biggest increase in moves, with 110,978 people departing — a 500 percent increase compared to the same period in 2019. Brooklyn followed, losing 43,006 people during the same time period. Residents of Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Naples, Florida, Washington, D.C. and Houston also saw large drops in population during that period.
While it remains to be seen if the urban-to-suburban exodus will be a long-term thing, USPS data shows that many city dwellers did relocate to smaller, less urban areas. Two suburbs of Houston — Katy and Richmond — gained 4,400 and 3,000 new residents, respectively.
East Hampton, New York, also saw an influx of nearly 2,500 residents. In March, as government-mandated lockdowns set in, real estate brokers in the Hamptons said that a run on pricey rentals led to bidding wars for some properties.
The exodus from Manhattan led to a historic vacancy rate of 5 percent in September after setting a new record for each of the four preceding months.
If the vacancy rate stays that high, it could potentially lead to the repeal of the city’s rent regulations, which depends on a vacancy rate below 5 percent. That threshold, however, is set by legislators, and a new Housing & Vacancy Survey is not scheduled to be conducted until 2022.
Phil Collins and Orianne Cevey (Credit: Johnny Louis/WireImage via Getty Images)
After reuniting with his ex-wife four years ago, Phil Collins is now reportedly trying to evict her from his waterfront Miami Beach mansion.
Collins and his ex, jewelry designer Orianne Cevey, went through an expensive divorce in 2008, when Collins paid her nearly $47 million. Though they got back together in 2016, Cevey eloped in August to Las Vegas to marry Thomas Bates, prompting Collins to try to get her off the property, according to the Mirror and TMZ.
The Genesis frontman paid $33 million in 2015 for the home at 5800 North Bay Road in Miami Beach that Cevey is reportedly living in. The North Bay Road estate previously belonged to Jennifer Lopez.
TMZ reported that Collins gave his ex-wife until 3 p.m. on Friday to leave the house, and plans to file an eviction suit if she does not leave.
Three years ago, Cevey, who went by Orianne Collins Mejjati Alami, had alleged in her divorce from Charles Fouad Mejjati Alami that she had claim to his Sunset Islands home at 1525 West 24th Street in Miami Beach. The documents in that case are now sealed. In a separate lawsuit filed in September 2019, J.P. Morgan is suing to foreclose on Mejjati Alami’s property. [TMZ] – Katherine Kallergis
SoftBank Group’s Vision Fund CEO Rajeev Misra (Getty; iStock)
SoftBank Group’s Vision Fund will lay out plans to launch a blank-check company in the next two weeks, becoming the latest high-profile group looking to raise money from a special-purpose acquisition company.
SoftBank has not announced the target size of the blank check company, Bloomberg News reported. It plans to seek outside funding along with contributing its own capital for the venture.
The blank-check company will combine the Vision Fund’s work investing in tech startups with SoftBank’s recent focus on public stock trading, according to Bloomberg.
The Vision Fund invested heavily in startups in recent years, but has become perhaps most well known for pouring money into WeWork.
Blank-check companies, or special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), are becoming an increasingly popular way to raise capital. For example, Spencer Rascoff, the co-founder of Zillow and Hotwire, is co-chairing a SPAC to invest in a tech unicorn and take it public.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Rajeev Misra, the head of the Vision Fund, rejected the idea that a blank-check firm is the “Nasdaq whale,” pumping up valuations for tech stocks.
“Are we buying a few billion of other stocks to diversify away from the Alibaba we sold in the past six months?” Misra said to Bloomberg. “We’re still sitting on a lot of cash. It’s a liquidity-management strategy, it’s a diversification strategy.”
3601 North Miami Avenue with Francisco Arocha (Credit: Google Maps)
The developer of the planned Triptych project that straddles the border between Midtown Miami and the Design District is listing the site for sale.
HES Group, which is facing foreclosure from its lender, is looking to sell or find a joint venture partner for the 1-acre property at 3601 North Miami Avenue, said Francisco Arocha, CEO and managing partner of HES.
“We’re working in good faith to find a good solution,” Arocha said. “We own the land and we control the land. Our goal is that during the next few weeks, the economy will come back during the election.”
Miguel Pinto of Apex Capital Realty
Miguel Pinto of Apex Capital Realty and Daniela Lainville of Yaffe International Realty are co-listing the site.
In early September, LV Midtown LLC filed a foreclosure lawsuit against Aventura Hotel Properties LLC and QR Triptych LLC, alleging that the borrowers failed to pay the real estate taxes for the property in 2018 and 2019 and failed to make payments beginning in February 2019. The lender is seeking the full $15 million loan, plus interest.
LV Midtown provided the loan for the site in July 2018, allowing HES Group to refinance and buy out its former partner, JQ Group of Companies.
Pinto said comparable sales range from $650 per square foot in the Midtown area to $1,000 per square foot in the Miami Design District, which could mean the site could sell for between $29 million and $44.7 million.
Daniela Lainville of Yaffe International Realty
Investors are on the hunt for “very well located land” in major markets, Pinto added.
The Triptych project has been in the works since 2014, when the HES affiliate acquired the assemblage for $12.25 million. The property fronts I-195 and is across the street from the Shops at Midtown Miami. It’s zoned T6-12-O, which allows for hotel, multifamily, senior living, retail and office space, according to the offering memorandum.
Triptych was slated to include a nearly 300-room Hilton Curio Collection hotel and about 38,000 square feet of retail space. An earlier version of the 20-story development included 60,000 square feet office space.
The property can be developed into up to 465,743 square feet, including public benefit bonuses, with 154 residential units or 308 lodging units. It can be 12 stories without public benefit, or 20 stories with public benefit, according to the offering.
The pandemic has accelerated foreclosure suits for a growing number of commercial real estate owners.
In June, a company tied to BridgeInvest filed a lawsuit against the owner of the Variety Hotel in Miami Beach, alleging the developer failed to make payments on a $25 million loan. It recently hit the market for $36.5 million.
In August, Bank OZK sued to foreclose on a Lincoln Road property owned by developer David Edelstein, seeking the $12.8 million that’s allegedly remaining on the loan, plus fees and interest.
Arocha said that the current cycle is ending, and a new owner or a joint venture partnership with HES could build the development, and it would be “ready to open in the peak of a new cycle.”
He pointed to a pre-Covid appraisal performed by CBRE that valued the land at $42 million. The appraisal was completed in December.
Pinto, the co-listing broker, said the call for offers is due within about two months.
Barry Brodsky’s Brodson Construction paid $5.3 million for a waterfront Sunset Islands lot with plans to build a spec home.
Brodson Construction bought the land at 1630 West 21st Street in Miami Beach from Kenneth J. Kerr. Brodson Construction plans to demolish the current home, according to the brokers involved in the sale.
Allan Kleer and Fabian Garcia-Diaz of One Sotheby’s International Realty brokered the sale. According to Kleer, the 0.33-acre property was on the market for five years before being sold. The property was first listed in 2015 for $9 million and was most recently asking $7 million as of June, according to Realtor.com.
Records show Kerr inherited the waterfront home in 2007. His mother, Constance T. Kerr, who died in 2005, bought the home in 1984 for $160,000.
Brodson Construction is a South Florida-based construction firm that develops residential and commercial properties. The firm, founded in 1989 by Brodsky, has built luxury homes in Venetian Islands, North Bay Road, the Sunset Islands, South of Fifth, Key Biscayne and Coral Gables according to its website.
A number of closings in recent months have occurred on the Sunset Islands. In October, Marsha Soffer, daughter of Aventura developer and Turnberry Associates founder Donald Soffer, sold her waterfront mansion for $10.8 million, and two adjacent waterfront properties on Miami Beach’s Sunset Islands sold to the same buyer for $44.5 million. A month earlier, Todd Michael Glaser and Rony Seikaly bought a spec home for $6.7 million.
The mortgage business is booming, and so are companies that help homebuyers manage the application process.
One of those firms, Snapdocs — which digitally manages the mortgage process and other paperwork — recently raised $60 million in new equity funding due to increased demand for its business, TechCrunch reported. Its new backers include Lachy Groom Maverick Ventures and DocuSign.
The company saw 170,000 home sales in August, totaling about $50 million in deals. It projects to close 1.5 million deals this year, which is almost twice its 2019 volume.
Demand for mortgages and homes has skyrocketed this year, as rates dropped to record lows at just above 3 percent for a 30-year fixed mortgage. In August, home sales for both existing and newly built homes reached 14-year highs.
On top of originations, many mortgage holders want to refinance their loans to reduce their interest rates. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s refinance index increased 8 percent, seasonally adjusted, in the first week of October, compared to the prior week. That’s the highest level the index has reached since mid-August, and that figure marks a 50 percent year-over-year increase.
Opendoor’s open book
Orchard, a startup that wants to be the Carvana of real estate, 
Blockchain startup 
Realtor.com launched an advertising 
The mayor of London 
MoxiWorks launched a tool to predict homes-sale volume two months in advance.
