Saif Sumaida and Amit Khurana, David Bizzi, and Stephen Bittel with 944 5th Street and 411 Michigan Avenue. (Google Maps, Terranova, Getty)

Two New York-based development firms are teaming up to build a Class A office project in Miami Beach.

Sumaida + Khurana and Bizzi & Partners are planning a five-story building with 56,177 square feet at 944 5th Street and 411 Michigan Avenue in the city’s South of Fifth neighborhood, according to a press release. An entity managed by principals of both firms bought the two vacant lots for a combined $8.9 million in June, records show.

Sumaida + Khurana is led by Saif Sumaida and Amit Khurana. Bizzi & Partners is headed by CEO Davide Bizzi.

The joint venture tapped renowned Spanish architect Alberto Campo Baeza to design the building, and hired Miami-based Cube 3 as the project’s executive architect.

The South of Fifth office project would be Baeza’s first building in the Miami area, and his first commercial building in the U.S., according to the release. Over the last decade, developers have enlisted world-renowned architects like Renzo Piano, Bjarke Ingels, Rem Koolhaas and the late Zaha Hadid to design luxury condominiums in South Florida.

The proposed office building will be made of white concrete, glass, and marble, featuring high ceilings, open and flexible floorplans, private outdoor terraces and floor-to-ceiling windows. The building is planned to also have a fitness center, multiple food and beverage venues, a large atrium and a private rooftop with water views.

The two development firms are collaborating on a wide range of commercial buildings across the U.S., focusing on office projects, the release states.

Founded in 2000, Bizzi & Partners focuses on developing high-end commercial and residential properties in Europe, the U.S. and Brazil, according to the company’s websites. Bizzi developed Manhattan’s 565 Broome SoHo and co-developed Eighty Seven Park in Miami Beach.

Sumaida + Khurana, which developed condos at 152 Elizabeth Street and 611 West 56th Street in New York, and its affiliates are currently developing more than 300,000 square feet of ground-up residential projects in Manhattan, with a total projected sellout of about $700 million, according to the firm’s website.

Demand for office space is rising in Miami Beach. The city’s vacancy rate was 8.2 percent in the third quarter, compared to 10.7 percent for the overall Miami-Dade office market during the same period, according to Colliers. The average asking rent hit $51.57 a square foot compared to $44.59 for the overall Miami-Dade market in the third quarter.

Last month, Pebb Capital and Maxwelle Real Estate Group formed a joint venture with Miami Beach developer Russell Galbut to convert the shuttered Bancroft Hotel at 1501 Collins Avenue into a high-end office property. The partnership bought the site for $47 million from a Galbut-related entity. Galbut submitted plans for the conversion to the city of Miami Beach in April.

In August, an entity tied to Scarsdale, New York-based Greenacres Management bought a renovated office building at 1688 Meridian Avenue near Lincoln Road in Miami Beach for $49.5 million.

The post New York developers unveil plan for South Beach office project appeared first on The Real Deal South Florida.

Donald Trump with the Trump National Golf Club Westchester (Trump National Westchester, Getty)

The Trump Organization is reportedly facing another investigation, this time into dealings at the Trump National Golf Club Westchester in Briarcliff Manor.

The business is facing a criminal investigation led by Westchester County District Attorney Mimi Rocah, according to The New York Times, which cited sources familiar with the matter. The office has so far subpoenaed records from the golf course and Ossining, responsible for the golf club’s property taxes.

Rocah appears to be looking at whether or not the property value was manipulated to lower taxes, the Times reports. Nobody has been accused of wrongdoing at this stage.

The Trump Organization hasn’t commented on the investigation into one of the 16 golf courses owned or operated by the business.

Since 2015, the Trump Organization has each year contested the golf course’s tax bill in court. The business often gives a lower value than Ossining officials do, once accounting for a $13.6 million difference. On federal disclosure forms during his presidency, Donald Trump appraised his club at more than $50 million.

Ossining seems interested in trying to make the issues with the Trump Organization go away. The town struck a deal in July with the course after losing a court battle against an unrelated golf club, agreeing to cut its assessed value of Trump National by 30 percent and issuing an $875,000 refund to the business.

Some local lawmakers tried to smoothe out the tax controversy in 2019 with legislation that would force the appraisal of properties by “highest and best use rather than current use.” However, the bill faced stark resistance.

Trump’s golf entities are facing scrutiny on both sides of the Mario Cuomo Bridge. At the Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point in the Bronx, New York City authorities are looking to replace the Trump Organization as operator due to the Jan. 6 riot. The Trump Organization has a Nov. 14 deadline to leave the course.

On July 1, Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg was indicted on 15 felony counts, including charges of tax fraud and grand larceny in the first criminal case against the company.

The Times reports a trial could proceed in August or September of 2022 and in the meantime, Manhattan prosecutors are attempting to pressure Weisselberg into cooperating by turning on the former president.

[NYT] — Holden Walter-Warner

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Encore Capital’s Art Falcone and Vision Properties’ Fred Arena with 61 North University Drive in Plantation (Rescore, LoopNet)

Vision Properties paid $57.5 million for the office building that is part of the Plantation Walk mixed-use development.

Art Falcone’s Encore Capital Management, which developed Plantation Walk, sold the offices at 261 North University Drive, according to a news release.

Records show the buyer, through an affiliate, took out a $37.4 million loan from Synovus Bank.

The seven-story, 177,000-square-foot Class A office building is 94 percent occupied, according to the release. Tenants include workspace rental agency Office Evolution, HCA Healthcare, Rubinstein Law and Aetna, which has its headquarters at the building.

Encore Capital, based in Boca Raton, is developing the $350 million Plantation Walk complex on the northwest corner of North University Drive and West Broward Boulevard, according to the release. A 262-key Sheraton hotel and a 171-unit apartment building so far are completed.

The multifamily complex, dubbed the Rise, will have several buildings, with the second one nearly finished and in pre-leasing. The first retail phase is also underway.

In 2018, Encore scored a $33.9 million construction loan for the office building that just traded.

Falcone has developed throughout South Florida and is one of the main partners in Miami Worldcenter Associates, the master developer of Miami Worldcenter mixed-use complex in downtown Miami.

The office building purchase is not Vision Properties’s first South Florida investment. The Tampa-based firm bought a Fort Lauderdale office building for $44.2 million in January.

Founded in 2009, Vision has a portfolio of more than 8 million square feet of office assets across the U.S., according to its website. It is led by Fred and Anthony Arena, as well as William Bertolero.

Its continued interest in South Florida office real estate comes as the market is giving mixed signals. Although vacancy rates averaged above 10 percent in the third quarter, net absorption was positive, and landlords are betting on an influx from out-of-state firms.

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Stephen Bittel, Founder and Chairman, Terranova Corporation (Terranova Corporation, iStock)

Stephen Bittel’s commercial real estate firm made a double play in Coral Gables, acquiring two Miracle Mile storefronts for $7.8 million.

An entity tied to Miami Beach-based Terranova Corporation bought the retail sites at 232 Coral Way and 330 Miracle Mile, records show. The seller is Will of Mildred W Brown, LLC.

In a statement, Bittel said the firm now owns 14 buildings on Miracle Mile, which was the focus of a $21 million streetscape makeover by the city of Coral Gables. Bittel is Terranova’s CEO.

The 1,861-square-foot single-tenant space at 232 Coral Way was built in 1942, and the 9,099-square-foot store at 330 Coral Way was completed in 1946, according to records. The Terranova affiliate paid roughly $711 a square foot.

The smaller building is leased to Kaia, a Greek and Mediterranean restaurant that is opening soon, Bittel said. The larger building is currently leasing one space to Gabriella Arango Couture and has two more spaces available for rent to restaurant or retail tenants, he added.

Terranova is bullish on Miracle Mile because “the city’s real estate market is strong and positioned for continued growth,” Bittel said.

In July, Terranova paid $6 million for a corner single-story building at 300 Miracle Mile that previously housed California Pizza Kitchen. The firm also owns properties at 308, 348 and 360 Miracle Mile.

At 230 Miracle Mile, the company is planning a mixed-use project with a 120-key hotel.

Terranova has nearly $1 billion in commercial real estate assets between the company and its partners, according to its website.

In February, the firm and its partner, Terra, flipped a nearly 24-acre development site in Doral to logistics real estate investment firm GLP Capital Partners for $55 million. The partnership sold the industrial property for $15 million above its $40 million purchase price in 2018.

In April, Terranova won a lawsuit against Regal Cinemas for $807,118 owed in unpaid rent at the company’s Shadowood Square retail complex in Boca Raton.

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MSquared Managing Principal Alicia Glen (Getty)

New York City’s former Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen’s new firm has amassed just over $100 million in its first fundraise for new middle-income housing.

Glen’s MSquared raised $108 million from Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo, among others, Bloomberg reported, and is gearing up to launch its second fund with hopes of raising more than $150 million.

With the Equitable Housing Solutions Fund I (EHSF), MSquared is looking to bring affordable housing to major cities in an effort to counter the crisis that was worsened by extreme shortages brought on by the pandemic. The fund will focus on “places that actually want to tackle the problem,” Glen told the publication.

The firm, which launched last year, also plans to work with women- and minority-owned development and construction teams at the local level.

One of its first projects is investing in a project in Inwood, Manhattan, which will contain 700 units of mixed-income housing and a supermarket.

Outside of New York, MSquared is also working on a project in the Crestview neighborhood of Austin, Texas, where a flood of new arrivals in recent years has spurred a rise in housing costs. The firm is working with O-SDA Industries, Saigebrook Development and 3423 Holdings — all women-owned firms — on a 335-unit apartment complex near a rail station, 40 percent of which will be affordable apartments, according to Bloomberg.

Glen, a Goldman Sachs alum, launched MSquared in June 2020. She was known for focusing on the need for middle class housing during her time as the city’s housing czar. After a five-year tenure, Glen left her post in early 2019.

The former deputy mayor was appointed chair of the Trust for Governors Island shortly after leaving City Hall in 2019. Politico, citing “people familiar with the leadership shakeup” on the committee, reported at the time that Glen planned on taking control of the island’s transformation amid a rezoning effort to open the area for mixed-use development.

When Glen launched her firm last year, she brought on her former chief of staff Carolee Fink and deputy chief of staff Caitlin Lewis to serve as principal and director of business development, respectively.

[Bloomberg] — Holden Walter-Warner

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3507 Kyoto Gardens Drive in Palm Beach Gardens, FL (TA Realty, iStock)

Real estate investment behemoth TA Realty sold the Merrill Lynch-anchored Gardens Pointe for $16.8 million.

Sunnyfield South bought the property at 3507 Kyoto Gardens Drive in Palm Beach Gardens, according to a release from one of the brokers.

Sunnyfield South is affiliated with Fort Lauderdale-based Levy Realty Advisors and also is managed by David Dimston and Amy Berko Illes, according to Florida corporate records.

It scored a $9 million acquisition loan through Principal Life.

Scott O’Donnell and Mike Ciadella of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller. Jason Hochman and Ron Granite, also of Cushman, secured the financing for the buyer.

Alan Levy of Levy Realty Advisors represented the buyer.

The deal for the 34,867-square-foot building breaks down to $482 per square foot.

The four-story building was constructed in 2009, and the property includes a 60-spot parking lot, according to Loopnet. TA bought the building for $11 million in 2010, property records show.

Gardens Pointe was 95 percent leased at the time of sale, with tenants including KeyBank, according to the release.

Founded in 1982, Boston-based TA Realty has managed, purchased and invested in more than $30 billion of real estate on behalf of domestic and international institutional investors and other clients, according to its website. TA’s managing partners are James Buckingham, Michael Haggerty and James Raisides.

Its investments span asset classes throughout the U.S., including South Florida, where TA bought a Hialeah Gardens warehouse in April for $26 million.

The South Florida office market is showing mixed signals, as it emerges from remote work during the pandemic. While vacancy rates across the region remained relatively high at about 10 percent in the third quarter, landlords have been increasing rents as they hope for positive net absorption and an influx by out-of-state companies.

In Palm Beach County, the vacancy rate in the third quarter was 9.7 percent, down 0.3 percentage points from the same period of last year, according to a Colliers report. At the same time, the average asking rent hit $36.65 per square foot, up by 11 cents from the previous quarter.

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Olivier Brandicourt and 220 Island Drive in Key Biscayne (Getty, Google Maps)

A former French vaccine chief, along with his wife, paid $7.5 million for a waterfront spec home in Key Biscayne.

Olivier and Diane Brandicourt bought the property at 220 Island Drive from Remir Fernando Guardazzi and Sergio Guardazzi, records show. The Guardazzis, spec home builders, paid $5.3 million for the previous home on the property in June 2019. A notice of demolition for that house, built in 1961, was issued in November 2019, records show.

Brandicourt served as CEO of Sanofi, a French vaccine maker, from 2015 to 2019. But he is no stranger to the United States. Prior to his appointment at Sanofi, Brandicourt served as CEO and chairman of Bayer HealthCare in 2013, according to published reports.

Before Bayer, Brandicourt worked for Pfizer from 2009 to 2012 in a range of executive roles. At Pfizer, he oversaw the launch of Lipitor and the failed launch of the company’s brand of inhalable insulin, Exubera.

Key Biscayne has experienced a number of high profile sales recently. This month, a former Spanish language media executive who was ensnared in the 2015 FIFA soccer scandal sold his waterfront Key Biscayne home for $8.3 million.

In August, developer Eric Soulavy and his wife, Cristina Soulavy, sold a waterfront house in Key Biscayne for $9.1 million. The same month, Peruvian billionaire Eduardo Belmont Anderson bought a waterfront home for $14.6 million. In May, German TV personality Alexandra Klim-Wiren and her husband Carl M. Wiren purchased a waterfront house for $14.9 million.

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Existing home sales were on the upswing in September following a slight dip in August. (iStock)

After dipping in August, U.S. existing home sales rose markedly in September.

Sales of existing homes grew 7 percent from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.29 million, according to the latest monthly report from the National Association of Realtors.

However, the number of existing home sales was still 2.3 percent below where it was a year ago. Such homes include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops.

The monthly uptick can be attributed to more supply hitting the market, said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun.

“Housing demand remains strong as buyers likely want to secure a home before mortgage rates increase even further next year,” Yun said.

The number of unsold homes fell 13 percent from last year to 1.27 million units, which is down 0.8 percent from August. It would take 2.4 months to sell those homes at September’s pace, slightly faster than the 2.7 months it would have taken in September last year.

Meanwhile, the median existing home price for all housing types rose year-over-year for the 115th straight month, to $352,800.

“As mortgage forbearance programs end, and as homebuilders ramp up production — despite the supply-chain material issues — we are likely to see more homes on the market as soon as 2022,” Yun predicted.

Buyers are still snatching up homes almost as soon as they are listed. As in August, homes typically remained on the market for only 17 days in September, four days faster than a year ago. About 86 percent of homes sold in September this year were on the market for less than a month.

All four major U.S. regions saw existing home sales rise from August. On a year-over-year basis, the number of sales in the South remained unchanged while the other regions saw declines.

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From left: Michael Adler, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Adler Group, Inc., Arnaud Karsenti, Managing Principal, 13th Floor Investments and Ted Lerner, Real Estate Developer & Owner of the Washington Nationals (Adler Group, 13th Floor Investments and Barings)

The billionaire family that owns the Washington Nationals bought an apartment tower near Dadeland Mall for $114 million, marking continued investor appetite for multifamily projects amid a robust market.

Rockville, Maryland-based Lerner Enterprises acquired the Motion at Dadeland at 8400 South Dixie Highway in Miami, according to a news release. The joint venture of Motion developers Adler Group, 13th Floor Investments and Barings, sold the building.

Avery Klann of Newmark represented the sellers, and Rob Carey and Ted Taylor of JLL represented the buyer.

The deal for the 25-story, 294-unit property breaks down to $387,755 per apartment.

Motion, completed in 2019, offers studios as well as one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Amenities include a pool and gym. The building also has 8,000 square feet of retail space.

It’s 99 percent leased at market-rate rents, according to the release. Monthly rents range from $2,465 to $4,218 for one-bedroom units, and from $3,079 to $4,788 for two-bedroom units, according to Apartments.com.

Motion is steps away from the Dadeland North Metrorail station. It was developed as part of a public-private partnership with Miami-Dade County, which is pushing for more residential projects near public transportation stops. The push is in part a way to alleviate traffic congestion and cut residents’ car-related costs.

Adler, 13th Floor and Barings scored a $50 million construction loan for the tower in 2016.

This is not Adler and 13th Floor’s first transit-oriented development near a Metrorail station in partnership with the county. The developers, both based in Miami, are building the Link at Douglas near the Douglas Road stop. One apartment tower is completed, and construction on a second is expected to wrap up in 2022. Adler, led by Michael and David Adler, and 13th Floor, led by Arnaud Karsenti, are planning additional apartments, as well as retail and offices space at the Link.

Their Motion development partner, Barings, is a global investment management behemoth with more than $387 billion in assets under management, according to its website. Barings, whose parent is Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Lerner Enterprises, founded in 1952 by Ted Lerner, is an office, residential, retail, hotel and mixed-use developer and manager that has largely focused on the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, according to its website. Its website lists no other South Florida residential properties.

Ted Lerner is a former managing principal owner of the Washington Nationals professional baseball team. He ceded the role in 2018 to his son, Mark Lerner. Forbes pegs Ted Lerner’s net worth at $4.8 billion.

Lerner Enterprises’ purchase of Motion is the second deal this month for apartments near Dadeland Mall. Barry Sternlicht’s Starwood Property Trust paid $371.1 million for the two-tower Palmer Dadeland, marking the biggest South Florida apartment deal this year.

The post Home run: Washington Nationals owner buys Dadeland apartments for $114M appeared first on The Real Deal South Florida.

Rendering of N29 project as seen from NW 29th Street and 1st Avenue and Carpe Real Estate Partners co-founder David Weitz (L&L Carpe Wynwood Holdings)

It looks like it is back to the drawing board for the developers of a massive, nearly 1 million-square-foot, mixed-use project in Miami’s Wynwood.

L&L Holding Company and Carpe Real Estate Partners were dealt a setback on Wednesday, when the Miami Urban Development Review Board voted 4 to 0 to reject its proposed design for N29, an office, retail, and apartment complex.

UDRB chairman Ignacio Permuy noted that the developers succeeded in breaking up the design along NW 29th Street. (Image from L& L Carpe Wynwood Holdings)

The ruling is technically advice for Miami Planning Director Cesar Garcia-Pons, who has the ultimate say on approving the project’s design. However, UDRB member Dean Lewis told The Real Deal that the board’s recommendations are taken very seriously by planning staff.

The New York-based developers want to construct N29 on an assemblage of land at 31-95 Northwest 29th Street, 2925 Northwest First Avenue and 40-94 Northwest 30th Street in Miami.

L&L Holding Company and Carpe Real Estate are under contract to buy all of the properties, most of which are owned by the Rubell Family Collection.

The development site also abuts the 220,000-square-foot Gateway at Wynwood project.

N29 is planned to total 960,870 square feet, and range between eight and 12 stories tall. The project is proposed to include 200,000 square feet of office space, 523 residential units, 26,372 square feet of retail, 668 parking spaces, and 670 bicycle parking slots. It will also have a 22,000-square-foot, ground-floor public plaza and about 30,000 square feet of programmable space.

David Weitz, co-founder of Carpe Real Estate Partners, said the design of N29 drew “a lot of inspiration” from Oasis Wynwood, an office and retail project Carpe developed at 2335 North Miami Avenue. Weitz said that what makes Oasis unique is its large 30,000-square-foot courtyard.

While N29 already received the backing of the Wynwood Business Improvement District’s Design Review Committee in July, the project review at the UDRB was delayed in August after board members objected to the proposed building’s massing along 30th Street.

The Gensler architecture firm, which is designing the project, attempted to solve this problem by adding a 40-foot-wide paseo entrance on 30th Street and other artistic design elements.

But in the meeting on Wednesday, Ignacio Permuy, chairman of the UDRB, said the project still resembles a wall along Northwest 30th Street. “This is a huge massing that is 100 feet high and 400 feet long, and it is not being broken up,” Permuy said.

This isn’t the case along Northwest 29th Street, Permuy said. “You did a terrific job articulating and breaking up the massing and inviting the pedestrians,” he added.

Board member Robert Behar pushed for a vote to reject the current design.

“I cannot believe that there was an attempt to do what was requested,” Behar said. “That is the bottom line.”

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PBC’s Eli Elefant and 452 Fifth Ave (PBC)

Property & Building Corp. is planning to sell all of its $2 billion in U.S. real estate as its parent company seeks to reinvest in Israel.

PBC, led by Eli Elefant, is seeking a buyer for its assets, most notably the 865,000-square-foot building at 452 Fifth Avenue that serves as the home to HSBC’s main New York office.

The company, an affiliate of Israeli holding company Discount Invest­ment, has tapped Eastdil Secured’s Roy March and Gary Phillips to market the Midtown property. The building is expected to go for at least $850 million, or $982 per square foot, according to sources.

Elefant said PBC’s parent decided to list the properties as it explores an “inward facing strategy,” focusing on investments within Israel.

“Given current interest rates, general market conditions and the abundance of capital, we believe it’s a good time to be a seller of these assets,” said Elefant.

PBC also plans to sell off Tivoli Village, a high-end retail office complex in Las Vegas that is valued at around $300 million. The development is close to 80 percent leased and is near Howard Hughes Corporation’s Summerlin master-planned community.

In addition, PBC plans to sell commercial, residen­tial, office and retail space and land in the West valued at around $300 million. It also is selling an industrial portfolio with 16 buildings totaling 2.1 million square feet along with securities, including loans, valued at around $200 million.

Real Estate Alert first reported that PBC is listing its assets.

PBC bought 452 Fifth Avenue for $330 million, or $381 per square foot, in 2010 from HSBC as the bank was looking at selling office properties in wake of the financial crisis. The site also includes a 10-story Beaux-Arts Knox Building constructed in 1902.

PBC spent more than $100 million renovating the tower, including on a new entrance and lobby as well as the high-rise elevators. In 2017, HSBC inked a deal to remain in its 548,000-square-foot space at the tower until 2025. The news was good news for PBC, which dismissed rumors then that the property was heading to the market.

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Los Angeles Chargers defensive end Joey Bosa buys a waterfront Fort Lauderdale house for $6M (Daniel Petroni Photography, Getty)

Joey Bosa, the NFL’s second highest-paid defensive player, bought a modern home on Fort Lauderdale’s waterfront for $5.8 million.

Through a trust, the Los Angeles Chargers star defensive end picked up the house at 2401 Solar Plaza Drive in the city’s Idlewyld neighborhood, according to records.

Bosa signed a five-year extension with the Chargers last year that pays him $27 million annually, putting him behind only Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt, who makes $28 million a year, according to published reports.

The seller of the home is an entity tied to attorney Richard M. Kremen, a DLA Piper shareholder, records show. Kremen focuses on insolvency cases, including Chapter 11 bankruptcies and receiverships, according to the law firm’s website.

Last year, Kremen paid $5.5 million for the five-bedroom, 5,482-square-foot house on Sunset Lake that was built in 2019, records show.

In the latest deal, Bosa was represented by his mother, Cheryl Bosa with Engel & Völkers, and the seller was represented by Tim Elmes with Compass.

Addison Ruff, Elmes’ business partner, said the property was listed on May 5 and spent 139 days on the market. The original listing price was $6.9 million, she said.

“This was the only offer,” Ruff said. “The property is unique in that it has wide water views. You also get amazing sunsets back there. With all the glass, it offers really pretty views.”

Custom built by Dex Homes on a 7,500-square-foot lot, the house features an open floor plan with a wet bar, theater, floating glass staircase, a master suite with a private balcony, two laundry rooms, a three-car garage with car lifts, and an extra kitchen, Ruff said. The backyard has a concrete dock, pool, grill and fire table.

The deal equates to roughly $1,058 a square foot, which is standard for new construction on Fort Lauderdale’s waterfront, Ruff said.

Bosa, the third overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft, is a second-generation professional football player with deep ties to South Florida. His father, John Bosa, was drafted in the 1987 first round by the Miami Dolphins. He had a brief three-year career with South Florida’s NFL franchise that was plagued by injuries and underwhelming performances.

Bosa and his brother, Nick, had more success, leading their defensive teams. Both were star players for St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale and Ohio State University, and were drafted in the first round. Nick Bosa plays for the San Francisco 49ers, and like his brother, is a former NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Bosa’s purchase of a Fort Lauderdale waterfront home comes amid other high-profile athletes cashing out of their mansions by the sea. Last month, retired Chicago Bulls icon Scottie Pippen sold his Harbor Beach waterfront estate for $10.5 million after repeated listing attempts the past 12 years.

In August, Brazilian race car champion Hélio Castroneves peeled out of Fort Lauderdale, selling his seven-bedroom home for $6.7 million. Over the summer, ex-Florida Panthers defenseman Keith Yandle skated out of a seven-bedroom waterfront home and sold it for $6 million.

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Former Washington Prime Group CEO Lou Conforti (Twitter, iStock)

Just a few months after filing for Chapter 11, mall operator Washington Prime Group has emerged from bankruptcy.

When the real estate investment trust, which owns more than 100 malls across the country, filed for bankruptcy protection in June, it listed $4 billion in assets and $3.5 billion in debts. Through the process, the company has reduced its debt by nearly $1 billion.

WPG’s  Josh Lindimore and Mark Yale

The company also announced that Lou Conforti is stepping down as chief executive officer. Mark Yale, the executive vice president and chief financial officer, and Josh Lindimore, the executive vice president and head of leasing, will serve as interim co-CEOs.

“It is a ‘new beginning’ for WPG, and myself,” Conforti said in a statement.

The bankruptcy had been a long time in the making for Washington Prime. In November, Conforti said that bankruptcy was off the table. However, in March, talks on bankruptcy once again emerged, before the company filed in June.

Washington Prime Group was formed when it spun off from Simon Property Group in 2014.

Like other mall operators, the REIT has struggled with foot traffic and competition from e-commerce. The pandemic was the final straw, as it sent rent revenue plunging. Washington Prime collected just 52 percent of the rent due in the second quarter of 2020.

The firm followed fellow mall operators CBL & Associates Properties and Pennsylvania REIT into bankruptcy. In March, CBL announced that 88 percent of voting bank lenders and 64 percent of voting noteholders approved an amended restructuring support agreement. Neither company has emerged from bankruptcy.

The post Washington Prime Group back from bankruptcy; CEO out appeared first on The Real Deal South Florida.

Investors home purchases rose to 15 percent in the second quarter, a year-over-year increase of 3.9 percentage points. (iStock)

Investors aren’t only grabbing more than their usual share of the U.S. homebuying market, but also paying less.

The RealtyTrac Investor Purchase Report https://www.realtytrac.com/blog/realtytrac-investor-purchase-report-fall-2021/ found investors were responsible for 15.4 percent of home purchases during the second quarter, a 34 percent jump from the same period last year.

Investors’ share of purchases across the country decreased slightly from the 15.9 percent recorded in the previous quarter, but remained at the higher end of the typical range.

Investor purchases increased from the same time last year in 44 of the 50 states.

New Hampshire led the way, with investors accounting for 23.2 percent of home purchases in the second quarter. Delaware and Georgia ranked second and third. Florida was sixth at 19.6 percent.

On the other end of the scale, investors accounted for only 0.8 percent of purchases in Vermont, the lowest in the nation. Alaska was the only other state where investors accounted for less than 2 percent of home purchases in the second quarter.

What’s more, the prices investors are paying would make some consumers burn.

The median purchase price for investors in the second quarter was $205,000, which was 29.4 percent below the $290,230 median price for all home purchases in the quarter, according to the report. California was one of the few states where investors paid more than the median, by an average of 3.3 percent.

Meanwhile, in several states investors pounded the low end of the market, nowhere more than in Arkansas, where they paid 77 percent less than the median.

One of the reasons investors are paying less is their ability to pay cash for properties, which allows for faster closings. In the second quarter, 79 percent of investor home purchases were all-cash, up 10 percentage points year-over-year.

Additionally, investors often hunt for discounts on the housing market, often to make improvements and re-sell or rent out the homes.

“Successful investors tend to look for below-market pricing in order to make a profit on their purchases,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of RealtyTrac and author of the report.

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From left: Ryan Shear, Kevin Maloney and Dan Kaplan of Property MG (Property MG, LoopNet)

The Waldorf Astoria Hotel and Residences planned for downtown Miami will still be one of the tallest buildings in South Florida, but it is getting a bit smaller.

The latest design tweaks, which were unanimously approved by Miami’s Urban Development Review Board on Wednesday, include reductions in height, massing, and dwelling units, according to a letter from attorney Javier Avino.

Property Markets Group, led by Kevin Maloney, Ryan Shear and Dan Kaplan, are now proposing to construct a tower at 300 South Biscayne Boulevard that is 1,036 feet tall, or 93 stories, a shortening of 24 feet and eight inches from the previously approved height of 1,060 feet and eight inches.

That might make it shorter than the tower that could replace First Miami Presbyterian Church at 609 Brickell Avenue, which has the development rights for a building 1,049 feet tall, according to published reports.

Previously, the 100-story Waldorf Astoria in Miami was planned to be the tallest skyscraper south of Manhattan.

The new design scheme also slashes the number of residential units that could be constructed. Under the originally proposed plans, PMG could build 1,575 units. Now, PMG is seeking to build 461 residential units and 205 hotel rooms.

The tower will also now only be 1.5 million square feet in size. Under the originally approved plans, PMG could have constructed a high-rise of just under 2 million square feet.

The building was designed as a stack of nine offset glass cubes, by architect Carlos Ott, with architect of record Sieger Suarez. Hilton Management Services will manage the property. The hotel will be on the first three “cubes” of the building, and the condos will be above them.

PMG is developing the project with Greybrook Realty Partners and Hilton.

PMG Downtown Developers LLC paid $80 million, or about $900 per square foot, for the 2-acre site in November 2014, records show.
The design amendments come seven months after PMG announced it was launching sales for the Waldorf Astoria project, which will include a Peacock Alley lounge, a resort-style pool area with cabanas, and a fitness center.

Waldorf Astoria Miami Condo, Hotel Tower Launches Sales (therealdeal.com)

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Sandeep Mathrani (left) is WeWork’s current CEO after replacing Adam Neumann (right) in 2019 (Getty, WeWork)

Two years after WeWork’s planned IPO imploded in spectacular fashion, the co-working company is now a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange.

The flex-office provider pitched itself to investors as WeWork 2.0. Gone were the hard-partying, pot-smoking days of founder Adam Neumann. No more self-interested side deals and pet projects like WeLive or WeGrow. Instead of seeking to “elevate the world’s consciousness,” WeWork’s new core values would be “to do the right thing” and “give gratitude.”

Most of all, WeWork cut its fat. It restructured or exited more than 200 leases, saving north of $200 million, according to its investor presentation.

Investors appear to be buying the pitch. Shares of WeWork, which went public through a SPAC by merging with BowX Acquisition Corp and began trading Thursday under the separate ticker symbol WE, finished the trading day up 13.5 percent.

But not everything has changed for WeWork: The company is still not profitable.

When WeWork first tried to go public, the company’s wasteful spending and rapid-growth strategy resulted in a net loss of $1.6 billion in 2018. The company said in its filing at the time that it might be “unable to achieve profitability at a company level.”

Things are significantly better now, but WeWork continues to operate in the red. In the second quarter, the company reported a net loss of $923 million.

This time WeWork has laid out a path to profitability. WeWork CEO Sandeep Mathrani said in an interview on CNBC on Thursday that he expects the company to be profitable sometime in 2022.

The company said earlier this year it can break even on its adjusted EBITDA, if occupancy rises to 70 percent. (Occupancy was at 60 percent in September, according to the company.)

Of course, this does not mean that WeWork will actually be profitable. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP metric commonly used by companies to inspire confidence but it’s not a synonym for net income. Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger once referred to EBITDA as “bullshit earnings.” And “adjusted” EBITDA is like putting that questionable metric in a funhouse mirror.

Nonetheless, the co-working firm’s return to the capital markets is a major coup for CEO Mathrani and executive chairman Marcelo Claure. Just two years ago, the company was on the brink of collapse after its public filing revealed financial losses, self-dealing and strange antics from Neumann. SoftBank was forced to cough up nearly $10 billion to take control of the company from its mercurial co-founder.

Now WeWork has a $9 billion valuation and the merger with BowX provided it with $1.3 billion in cash. It’s also worked on new partnerships in the past few months; WeWork and Cushman and Wakefield recently announced a collaboration aimed at helping office tenants adapt to remote work and flexible spaces. WeWork also has a new venture from Saks Fifth Avenue to run co-working spaces in the retailer.

“Two years ago, the value of WeWork was zero and the fact we’ve taken it from zero to $8 billion to $9 billion is great,” Claure said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Thursday morning.

In a flashback to 2019, Neumann — who holds an 11 percent stake in WeWork — was observed celebrating the public listing. On Thursday, he joined some of the original employees of the company at the swanky Standard Hotel in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, according to the New York Post. Champagne bottles popped off at 9 a.m. and bloody Marys and mimosas were served.

“A brand without a past does not have a future,” Neumann told the Post.

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Brookfield Asset Management CEO Bruce Flatt, Dacra president and CEO Craig Robins, L Catterton CEO James Michael Chu, and the Paradise Plaza in Miami’s Design District (Google Maps, Wikipedia, LCatterton)

The following is a preview of one of the hundreds of data sets that will be available on TRD Pro — the one-stop real estate terminal that provides all the data and market information you need.

Shoppers keen on “revenge buying” this holiday season need look no further than Miami’s Design District, an 18-block cluster of luxury retailers, art galleries and restaurants.

Gucci, Balenciaga and Dior Homme are just a few of the luxury outposts where shoppers can console themselves with fine threads for a healthy markup.

A trio of developers and investors behind the mammoth project — Dacra, L Catterton and Brookfield Asset Management — are scheduled to receive $250 million in CMBS loan proceeds to pay down $205.5 million in debt on nearby land they own, according to a report from Morningstar DBRS.

Of the remaining funds, $15 million will go toward a tenant build out of 75,000 square feet at 191 North East 40th Street for a members-only club consisting of a restaurant and lounge, a co-working space and 15 hotel rooms as well as a public restaurant.

Seven buildings spanning 286,000 square feet of retail, restaurant, office and event space, as well as a 924-space parking garage, will secure the loan. Documents associated with the securitization provide an inside look at the properties’ finances.

As of August, the buildings were 91.2 percent leased to 64 tenants. Tenants include fashion designers Gucci and Dior Homme, which both pay more than $500 per square foot, plus Balenciaga, Christian Louboutin and Tory Burch. Restaurants ZZ’s Sushi Bar, a private membership club, and L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon pay under $150 per square foot. Excluding tenants still working on build-outs, the properties are 68 percent occupied. Chanel is expected to open in December.

In the twelve months preceding May 2021, the properties generated net operating income of $9.6 million on $19 million in revenue. In February, the Miami Planning and Zoning Appeals Board approved Dacra’s plan to build a mixed-use project anchored by a 36-story tower at 3750 Biscayne Boulevard and 299 Northeast 39th Street, acting as a gateway into the District.

Elsewhere in the District, the home-furnishings retailer Restoration Hardware, now known as RH, inked a lease this summer at Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance and the Comras Company’s buildings on the west end of the District.

When Florida lifted most of its Covid restrictions last summer, the Design District quickly rebounded, benefiting from the influx of wealth escaping lockdowns in New York and California, as well as workers taking advantage of remote employment, Dacra CEO Craig Robins said.

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Rendering of 729 Edge tower with parking garage and Louis Birdman (City of Miami, Getty)

A partnership that includes the developers of One Thousand Museum have the green light to construct a 649-foot-tall waterfront condo tower in Edgewater with a helipad on the roof.

Miami’s Urban Development Review Board approved the design of the proposed tower at 710 Northeast 29th Street by a vote of 3 to 1 on Wednesday.

Called 729 Edge, it will be built by Michael Konig, Alex Posth, Kevin Venger, and Louis Birdman. Venger and Birdman were part of a development team that constructed the Miami condo tower One Thousand Museum in 2019, the last building designed by the late architect Zaha Hadid. 

729 Edge will be designed by ODP Architecture & Design.

The 729 Edge tower will be 342,848 square feet in size and include 70 residential units, 13,037 square feet of retail, and the helicopter pad. It will also have 193 parking spaces, although only 160 of those spaces will be in the tower’s pedestal. The other 33 parking spaces will be located in a nine-level, 134-foot-tall parking garage that will be constructed between 483 and 530 Northeast 29th Street.

Map of the future 729 Edge tower site and parking garage site

Iris Escarra, an attorney for the developers, explained that with the city’s required waterfront setbacks, there simply wasn’t enough room to build all the parking spaces on site. “This was a complex site for redevelopment,” she told the board.

The garage will also include 9,900 square feet of retail. There will be an activity space on the top floor of the garage, although it is yet to be determined if it will be tennis courts, a pool, or something else, said Kurt Dannwolf, president of ODP Architects.

UDRB chairman Ignacio Permuy wasn’t entirely pleased with the design. He noted that there was no design “connection” with the garage a block away. Permuy also felt that at certain angles 729 Edge looks more like an office building instead of a luxury condo tower. “It’s a missed opportunity,” Permuy said twice.

And although 726 Edge does resemble One Thousand Museum (which stands at 699 feet high), UDRB member Robert Behar felt the future Edgewater tower didn’t imitate it enough. “Look at the Zaha Hadid building… everything comes together,” Behar said.

The UDRB majority approved the design, but asked that the development team come back and consider new designs for the façade. The board also asked that there be an architectural connection between the tower and the parking garage.

UDRB member Dean Lewis cast the dissenting vote. “I think their presentation was not complete enough,” Lewis told The Real Deal. Lewis would have preferred that the approval be continued for another month so that the architect can “turn around” the design.

But Escarra pleaded for a vote that day. “We have a tight schedule,” she said.

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Convicted murderer and real-estate heir Robert Alan Durst (Getty Images, iStock)

Weeks after Robert Durst was convicted of murder and sentenced to life for a 2000 killing, the former real estate heir is facing charges in the 1982 disappearance of his wife.

State Police investigator Joseph Becerra this week filed a second-degree murder complaint in Lewisboro, New York, the New York Times reported. The complaint precedes a formal murder charge.

Becerra has reportedly been working on the case for 20 years and Westchester County DA Miriam Rocah has appeared keen to pursue a case against Robert. The Times reported Rocah is bringing close to two dozen witnesses in front of a grand jury.

The single-page complaint cites support for the allegations from Westchester, New York State and Los Angeles authorities in addition to witness accounts, interviews with Durst and court testimony, according to the Times.

Kathie McCormack Durst disappeared in January 1982 from her Westchester County home. She has since been presumed dead, but her body was never found. Durst has previously admitted to lying about where he was when his wife disappeared.

Prosecutors in Westchester County reopened the investigation into her disappearance earlier in the year.

“Sometimes it takes 40 years for justice,” an attorney for Kathie’s family told the Times upon learning of the complaint. “We are grateful for the work, dedication and commitment of District Attorney Roca and her staff.”

Durst killed Berman in 2000 because he feared she was going to come forward with information pertaining to his wife’s disappearance, prosecutors argued in the Los Angeles trial.

Durst’s lawyers are expected to appeal the sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for Berman’s killing. The conviction came six years after his infamous appearance on HBO’s “The Jinx,” which included comments that appeared to be self-incriminating.

Beyond being convicted and sentenced in Los Angeles, Durst’s deteriorating health may prevent him from facing a trial in New York, should it come to that. He was recently admitted to a hospital and tested positive for Covid-19. He was reportedly put on a respirator.

[NYT] — Holden Walter-Warner

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Building Engines CEO Tim Curran and JLL CEO Christian Ulbrich (Building Engines, Getty)

JLL is building out its proptech capabilities with its acquisition of Building Engines for $300 million.

The Boston-based building operations software firm will be tucked into the JLL Technologies umbrella, Business Insider first reported. Building Engines CEO Tim Curran will become executive managing director of his company upon the closing of the transaction, which is expected by the end of the year.

Building Engines has its tools integrated into an app called Prism. The company hosts more than 1,000 clients, counting 35,000 properties and 3 billion square feet among its portfolio.

The 21-year-old company has created software that helps owners and landlords manage building properties, such as heating and ventilation systems, and the vendors who service them.

“The majority of our investor clients use Building Engines in one way, shape, or form in some segment of their CRE portfolio,” Jay Koster, president of JLL’s Americas capital markets and investor services, told Business Insider.

In addition to bringing clients and programming tools to help operate properties, Building Engines is also bringing a treasure trove of data to JLL. Building Engines has various datasets, such as the performance of HVAC systems in office buildings, and Curran told Business Insider it hopes JLL will help analyze that data and use it towards decisions made by investors.

News of the deal comes amid a wave of acquisitions among some of proptech’s biggest players. The Wall Street Journal previously reported Unicorn VTS is acquiring Toronto-based Lane Technologies for $200 million, marking one of the largest deals in the history of the sector.

The transaction is another step towards a VTS-led office-app firm, advancing ground laid by the New York-based software and data company’s acquisition of Rise Buildings in March for around $100 million.

Two months ago, JLL purchased Skyline AI, an artificial intelligence startup the commercial brokerage hoped to use for estimating future property values and picking new investment opportunities.

That acquisition was a similar play for data, as Skyline was tracking 400,000 properties with data related to demographics, occupancy levels, asset performance and tenant feedback. Skyline AI was capable of gathering data from more than 300 sources, including real estate analytics and crime statistics.

Building Engines is no stranger to the acquisition space. Making its own acquisition in 2019, the firm snapped up Real Data Management — a mainstay among New York commercial real estate technology — as CRE tech was seeing scores of consolidation and drawing droves of investor interest.

[Insider] — Holden Walter-Warner

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