David Hamamoto

From the New York website: NorthStar Realty Finance CEO David Hamamoto was the highest-paid chief executive in the real estate industry last year, raking in nearly $74 million from two real estate investment trusts he runs.

Hamamoto raked in more than $60 million for his role at NorthStar, which manages more than $19 billion worth of hotels, Crain’s reported. NorthStar Asset Management, a firm he spun off to shareholders last year, paid him about $14 million.

However, Hamamoto was not the highest paid real estate executive overall. Blackstone’s head of real estate, Jonathan Gray, made $206 million last year between salary, bonuses, and profit-sharing. However, he did not make the Crain’s Fortune 100 list of best paid CEOs, since he is not a chief executive.

Outsize compensation for real estate executives is increasingly common. Last year, three of the top ten highest-paid CEOs of publicly traded companies owed their fortunes to the real estate industry.

In August, NorthStar agreed to purchase Griffin-American Healthcare REIT for $4 billion. [Crain’s] — Tess Hofmann

Foundations are being set for All Aboard Florida’s station in downtown Miami, and the company recently released a video update on construction progress for the project.

JC Freyre, the company’s vice president of construction, said workers are setting the augercast piles that will support the two-acre, mixed-use station when it’s completed.

MiamiCentral will stretch five blocks along Northwest First Avenue and house five rail tracks. The tracks will be suspended 50 feet in the air, with retail and restaurants filling the space below. Above the tracks, All Aboard will build two apartment buildings — with a combined 850 units — and a 200,000-square-foot office building.

The Miami to West Palm Beach leg of the rail service will begin operating in 2017, with trips between Miami and Orlando offered later that year.

“Getting all that to dance together is challenging,” Freyre said in the video. “But it’s actually a lot of fun.”

Check out the video below:

— Sean Stewart-Muniz

Aventura ParkSquare, a planned mixed-use development in Aventura, recently hosted a sales gallery launch with developers, community leaders and guests.

The 7.5-acre project will consist of five buildings, which will house a 207-room hotel, 131 residences, 100,000 square feet of office space, 55,000 square feet of retail space and 45,000 square feet of medical offices. The project will also include a 4,000-square-foot Icebox Cafe, part of 55,000 square feet of retail.

Condo units will be priced from $500,000 to $850,000, and will range in size from one to three bedrooms. Groundbreaking is expected to start in the summer. The project is slated to open in early 2017.

The new sales center was designed by Steven G. Interiors. Crescendo Real Estate will sell the 131 luxury condos. — Katherine Kallergis and Sean Stewart-Muniz

110 East Flagler Street and Moishe Mana

Moishe Mana is adding another downtown Miami property to his assemblage, The Real Deal has learned.

Mana spent $4.5 million, or $750 per square foot, on the 6,000-square-foot site at 110 East Flagler Street. The Israeli businessman owns a bundle of properties on the block directly north: in January, he spent $35 million on 48 to 76 East Flagler Street.

Shai Ben-Ami and Mika Mattingly of Sterling Equity Commercial represented Mana. Boris Kozolchyk of Pointe Group Advisors represented the seller.

“Moishe Mana’s vision is taking shape and his instinctive strategy and master plan will be revealed in the very near future. We are truly honored to be a part of Moishe’s team and to be engaged in his vision,” Ben-Ami said in a statement.

On the same block, Mana owns the buildings at 130 and 134 East Flagler Street, which he acquired in July for $2.5 million.

In March, Mana paid $7.8 million, or $262 per square foot, for a 29,748-square-foot retail building at 32 Southeast First Street, less than a block from the residential development Centro and the soon-to-open Langford Hotel. Earlier this year, he purchased the Thomas Center, at 172 West Flagler Street and 21 Southwest Second Avenue, for $5.1 million. The two-story property totals 26,083 square feet, and represents a strategic addition to his growing downtown Miami portfolio, because it connects Flagler to the burgeoning Miami River area.

The most recent purchase brings Mana’s downtown Miami assemblage total to more than 530,000 square feet of retail properties, and about 5 acres of land. He has yet to release his redevelopment plans for his properties.

Miami Beach reigned supreme for expensive condo sales last week, with five of last week’s most expensive transactions taking place in the city, according to data from condo.com

The week was led by a $6 million sale in the EDITION Residences, brokered by Douglas Elliman agent and “Million Dollar Listing Miami” star Chris Leavitt. Unit 1202 had a pending sale in 2013, but the condo was re-listed late last year for $6.5 million. The sale closed on Thursday with a price of an eye-popping $2,686 per square foot, according to the MLS.

Miami Beach’s next most expensive closing belongs to Jill Hertzberg of Coldwell Banker, who brokered the sale of a $4.3 million unit at the Bath Club. That condo, which was on the market for 179 days, traded for $1,453 per square foot.

Prices for the remaining units on this week’s list ranged from $2.8 million to $1.26 million, and were spread throughout Miami-Dade County.

The county saw 190 condo sales last week for a total of $78 million, marking a weekly high for the month of June so far. The average price per unit was $411,411 and the average price per square foot was $296.

Here’s a breakdown of the data for the week of June 14 to June 20. Click on the map for more information:

Most expensive
EDITION Residences, Miami Beach | $6M | $2,686 psf | 893 days on market | Christopher Leavitt of Douglas Elliman

Least expensive 
Peninsula, Aventura | $1.26M | $410 psf | 161 days on market | Joel Matus of Williams Island Realty

Most days on market
EDITION Residences, Miami Beach | 893 days on market | $6M | $2,686 psf | Christopher Leavitt of Douglas Elliman

Least days on market
Ocean Two Condo, Sunny Isles Beach | 65 days on market | $1.355M | $713 psf | Elisa Wagner of The W Realty

From left: Hudson Hotel and Howard Lorber

From the New York website: For more than two years, Morgans Hotel Group – which owns the Delano, Mondrian and Hudson Hotel brands – weathered financial losses, leadership turnover and shareholder battles.

Now, it appears the hotel group is close to being sold.

It’s not the first time that Morgans was for sale. As far back as 2013, executives said they were pursuing “strategic alternatives” for the company. But a series of recent changes at the top illustrates a new push to sell.

In late May, interim CEO Jason Kalisman, the grandson of real estate giant Alfred Taubman, resigned from his post as interim CEO. At that time, Vector Group Chair Howard Lorber, who sat on the board, was tapped as chairman, and CFO Richard Szymanski took on Kalisman’s duties. Earlier in the month, Morgans also tapped former Goldman Sachs real estate exec Jonathan Langer, a former board member, to work as a consultant to the board’s Special Transaction Committee.

“The chances of a big transaction, or a deal to sell the company or the hotels, is closer than we ever were in the past,” said Kim Opiatowski, an analyst at APB Financial Group.

In particular, Langer’s new role illustrates the company’s commitment to find a buyer for the business, its assets or parts of the company. According to Morgans’ most recent quarterly filing, the company is paying him $375,000 quarterly, half in cash and the other half in company stock. It’s also giving him $500,000 in cash and stock for his consulting work for the company over the past year.

According to Opiatowski, both Langer and Lorber are known for being “transactional” and “getting things done.” She added: “The fact that Langer specifically stepped off the board and took the consulting role may mean he has something very specific in mind.”

During the company’s first-quarter earnings call on May 11, a week and a half before he stepped down, Kalisman stressed that the board was “really trying to push this to a conclusion.” Morgans reported a loss of $12.8 million on revenue of $53.3 million during the first quarter.

“The company needs to do something transformative, whether it’s selling itself or merging with someone,” Kalisman added. “I don’t think Morgans as it stands today can continue for the long term.”

A potential deal isn’t likely to close before August, however, since Morgans currently holds a mortgage loan backed by the Hudson Hotel in New York and the Delano South Beach. The loan doesn’t mature until next year, but it has a prepayment penalty through August 9.

Morgans owns and operates 14 hotels in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, London and Istanbul.

In New York, it owns the 878-room Hudson and operates the 117-room Morgans Hotel in Times Square and the 168-room Royalton Hotel, just north of Bryant Park. (It operated the Mondrian Soho until April, when Morgans was ousted from its management agreement by new owner Alex Sapir.)

At the Hudson, occupancy was nearly 77 percent – down 5.4 percent year-over-year – during the first quarter. Its revenue per available room, or RevPAR, was $119.12, down 14.3 percent year-over-year.

Investors have pressured Morgans to sell the business several times over the past few years. Most notably, Ron Burkle and his Yucaipa Cos. backed such a plan in 2013. “Stop playing with the company as though it’s your new toy,” Burkle wrote in a letter to Kalisman, who was then chair. Yucaipa later made an unsolicited bid for the company.

After Morgans rejected Yucaipa’s bid, OTK Associates, controlled by the Taubman and Olshan families, wrested control of Morgans, but said they would “appropriately evaluate and pursue strategic alternatives” for the company.

Morgans has, effectively, been in play ever since.

Today, Burkle and Yucaipa are, by far, Morgans’ largest shareholders with a 36.5 percent stake in the company. OTK owns a 13.1 percent stake.

Lorber’s Vector Group is another major shareholder, though, with a 7.4 percent stake. Since March, Lorber has personally acquired more than 17,000 shares, valued at $118,000 based on a stock price of $6.83 per share at the end of the day Thursday.

According to Miami-based Vector’s proxy statement, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Lorber’s total compensation in 2014 was $29.6 million. He owns 6 million shares of Vector’s stock, or 5.1 percent.

Reached by phone on Friday, Lorber told The Real Deal, “We’re in the process of speaking to potential buyers.”

Inverrary 441 Apartments and Joe Milton

Ownership of a 324-unit apartment complex in Lauderhill changed hands for $21.75 million, according to Broward County records.

A trust tied to Coral Gables-based J. Milton & Associates sold the complex to Joseph Milton, Cecil Milton and Frank Milton. The 7.3-acre site includes eight apartment buildings and a main office.

The recently renovated one and two-bedroom apartments range from 750 square feet to 1,100 square feet. Rents range from $875 to $1,175, according to the complex’s website.

Inverrary 441 Apartments, at 1196 North 40th Avenue, features a pool, playground, barbecue and picnic areas, elevators and a paved parking lot surrounding the buildings. The development last sold in 1998 for an undisclosed amount, according to Broward County property records.

J. Milton & Associates is a real estate development company with condo and rental properties in Sunny Isles Beach, Blue Lagoon and Miami, among other cities.

A Juan Valdez location in Lima, Peru.

A new tenant at the Miami International Mall is looking to put a zip in shoppers’ steps.

Juan Valdez Café, a Colombian coffee brand, is opening a kiosk at the mall this summer.

The shop, planned to sit next to H&M in the mall, will sell Colombian Arabica coffee from at least four regions in Colombia, along with an array of pastries, cappuccinos, espressos and cold drinks.

This will be the brand’s fourth location in Miami, with two stores near Bayfront Park and another in the Miami International Airport.

The company is planning to open 60 stores throughout Florida over the next five years, which will add onto its current total of 300 locations internationally, according to a news release.

Juan Valdez Café is operated by Procafecol, a company formed by the Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia in 2002 for the express purpose of marketing and running the brand. The federation is an non-governmental organization that represents Colombian coffee farmers. Its namesake belongs to Juan Valdez, a figurehead of the Colombian coffeegrowing community that allowed his name to be used to create the Juan Valdez Café brand in 2002, according to the company’s website. — Sean Stewart-Muniz

Tamiami East shopping center

North Miami-based IMC Properties paid $15.9 million for Tamiami East, a shopping center at 14180 Tamiami Trail in Miami.

The 54,864-square-foot retail center is anchored by a 45,000-square-foot LA Fitness. Affiliates of Gemini Real Estate Advisors, a real estate investment company based in Huntersville, North Carolina and New York City, sold the 5.2-acre retail site, which was developed in 2004.

Kirk D. Olson, Drew A. Kristol, James “Chris” Rea, and Brian Munnand of Marcus & Millichap brokered the deal. SunTrust Bank granted the buyer a $11.5 million loan for the property.

“We completed the transaction with only 10 days due diligence and went hard with a substantial deposit,” IMC president Yoram Izhak said in a press release. “The acquisition is a natural progression for us as we own the property next door. The purchase also satisfies the requirements of our 1031 exchange.”

Other tenants include CPR Cellphone Repair, GameStop and Pollo Tropical. It last sold for $15.1 million in June 2005, according to property records.

“Tamiami East is a fully occupied shopping center with a strong anchor tenant and a good mix of small shop tenants with excellent exposure to heavily traveled SW 8th Street in western Miami-Dade County,” Olson said in the press release.

A rendering of The Harbour’s aromatherapy trail

Here’s the latest in the seemingly endless array of amenities developers are adding to their repertoire: an aromatherapy trail, with plantings of chamomile, eucalyptus and other plants aimed at restoring and soothing the mind and body.

The trail will surround The Harbour, a planned twin-tower condominium project at 16385 Biscayne Boulevard in North Miami Beach, The Real Deal has learned. Developed by Key International and 13th Floor Investments, each 32-story building will have 425 units. The waterfront project represents the fourth collaboration between the two firms.

The Harbour is now 80 percent reserved, and is converting to contracts, according to Arnaud Karsenti, managing director of 13th Floor Investments and Liliana Paez, CEO of Key International’s sale arm. Prices begin at $550,000, with residences ranging from one to three bedrooms and 1,032 square feet to 2,442 square feet.

Rendering of The Harbour

The condo is being marketed as a tropical oasis, with such amenities as a variety of watersports, marina and boat rental, an outdoor exercise track, and an indoor-outdoor spa, Paez told TRD.

The Harbour’s aromatherapy trail, which runs the entire five-acre property, will feature five areas with different scents. Each is geared to provide special restorative powers, Paez said. There is a lavender walk for tension relief and clearing the mind; a chamomile walk, to combat stress and anxiety; a eucalyptus walk, for pain relief; a mint walk for energizing and revitalizing; and a gardenia walk as an anti-depressant.

The aromatherapy trail — available only to residents — will also be peppered with watering stations that will offer water infused with coconut, lemon and green tea, and chlorophyll, the developers said.

The Harbour is expected to begin construction as early as the end of this year, when the developers secure construction financing.

The dining room of Ernest Hemingway’s home in Havana, Cuba (Credit: Güldem Üstün)

1. Hemingway’s Havana home to get $900K in U.S. improvements [Sun Sentinel]
2. Housing market hot as buyers spring into action [Sun Sentinel]
3. Executive pay: How South Florida CEOs stack up [Miami Herald]
4. Terra Group reveals its secret sauce [GlobeSt.]

— Sean Stewart-Muniz

Current reader favorites:
1. Scott signs law making condo terminations more difficult
2. Rezoning of 205 acres in Wynwood gets first OK
3. JDS affiliate brings combined South Beach portfolio to $42M
4. RedSky Capital nabs Wynwood site for $6M
5. Moishe Mana adds to his downtown Miami Monopoly board

Sheraton Miami Airport Hotel and Executive Center

Thayer Lodging, a private hospitality investment company based in Annapolis, Maryland, sold the Sheraton Miami Airport Hotel and Executive Center for more than $104,000 per room, Miami-Dade County records show.

An affiliate of Dune Real Estate Partners paid $42.3 million for the 405-key hotel at 3900 Northwest 21st Street in Miami. Dune also obtained a $56.4 million mortgage for the property, according to county records. Deutsche Bank AG is the lender.

The 10-story hotel, built in 1976, sits on a 4.8-acre lot. The property last sold for $12.5 million in 2004, and before that for $29 million in 1997, according to property records. The Sheraton, which is located a quarter of a mile away from Miami International Airport, features a 2,400-square-foot fitness center, a pool overlooking the Miami River and golf course, two restaurants, a poolside bar, 17 meeting rooms, and a 4,000-square-foot ballroom.

Dune, a New York City-based real estate investment firm, includes the Standard High Line and the Mark Hotel and Residences, among other properties, in its portfolio. The company is also developing 56 Leonard, a planned 60-story, 145-unit residential building in Manhattan, according to Dune’s website.

In August, companies linked to the seller paid $535.5 million for the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa in Hollywood.

2364 Duane Street in Los Angeles

From the New York site: For the past five years, mortgage rates in the U.S. have remained around 50-year lows — a situation that has allowed healthy price growth, with double-digit percentage price gains in 51 metropolitan areas in the first quarter of this year. But if the Federal Reserve raises interest rates later this year, as many suspect it will, this momentum could be thrown off.

Rates on 30-year conventional mortgages averaged 4 percent last week, and before that, they had been below 4 percent since November, according to the Wall Street Journal.

“The rates have been so low for so long that trying to persuade anyone that 4% or 4.5% is still a bargain may not be easy to do,” said said Glenn Kelman, chief executive of brokerage Redfin.

If the Federal Reserve raises interest rates, mortgage rates are expected to rise over time.

Economists say that modest increases are unlikely to knock people in many metro areas out of the buying market, because for-sale housing is still relatively affordable compared to average incomes, especially when compared to rising rental prices.

However, in expensive West Coast housing markets like Los Angeles, a mortgage rate of 4 percent means that a typical household would have to spend 41 percent of its income on mortgage payments for a median-priced house. [WSJ] — Tess Hofmann

350 Meridian Avenue in Miami Beach and Peter Zalewski

A second new condo project in the high-end South-of-Fifth neighborhood of Miami Beach has been completed just a month after the area’s first project of this real estate cycle was finished in May.

Transactions for a pair of units in the newly completed 350 Meridian boutique condominium project in South Beach were recorded on June 19 for a combined $3.9 million, for an average price of more than $1,085 per square foot, according to Miami-Dade County records.

The remaining pair of units in the three-story building — developed by SOFI 350 LLC with Nicolas Brocherie and Victor Uzan — are currently listed for sale at a combined $7.4 million, for an average asking price of more than $1,400 per square foot as of Monday, according to the Southeast Florida MLXchange and the Florida Division of Corporations.

Nearly a month earlier, on May 20, the first transaction deed for a condo in the newly completed 321 Ocean project that features a pair of buildings — one fronting the famed Ocean Drive and the other the Atlantic Ocean — with a combined 22 units was recorded, according government records.

As of Monday, 21 units in the 321 Ocean project have been recorded at an average of nearly $1,665 per square foot, for a combined price of more than $88.5 million, according to government records.

None of the units in the 321 Ocean project are currently on the resale market, according to the data.

Aside from the 350 Meridian and the 321 Ocean projects, at least five more luxury condo projects — Glass, Louver House, Marea South Beach, One Ocean and Three Hundred Collins — with more than a combined 120 units are in the presale phase or already under construction in the South of Fifth neighborhood as of Monday, according to the preconstruction condo projects website CraneSpotters.com. (For disclosure, my firm operates the website.)

Overall in Miami Beach, developers have announced plans to build 37 new condo buildings with more than 1,760 units as of Monday, according to the data.

In completing the 350 Meridian project, developers have now constructed 31 new condo buildings with more than 2,715 units east of I-95 in the tri-county South Florida region of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties since this cycle began in 2011.

An additional 112 new condo buildings with more than 11,165 units are currently under construction in South Florida, according to the data.

The new condo projects that are under construction or recently completed account for 32 percent of the nearly 43,150 units announced for South Florida during this latest boom.

The unanswered question going forward is whether new condo sales in the pricey South of Fifth area can continue at this pace, given the strengthening U.S. dollar impacting many foreign buyers and the growing supply of resale units available for purchase in South Beach’s most exclusive neighborhood.

Peter Zalewski is a real estate columnist for The Real Deal who founded Condo Vultures LLC, a consultancy and publishing company, as well as Condo Vultures Realty LLC and CVR Realty brokerages and the Condo Ratings Agency, an analytics firm. The Condo Ratings Agency operates CraneSpotters.com, a preconstruction condo projects website, in conjunction with the Miami Association of Realtors.

Apartment building at 337 20th Street in Miami Beach

A 56-unit apartment building in the Museum District of Miami Beach sold for $11.4 million, according to a deed recorded in Miami-Dade County records on Tuesday.

RJF Finlay, a real estate development, construction and management company, sold the Granite at Miami Beach apartments to Riviera Plaza Apartments. The buyer is tied to Intervest Properties, a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based commercial real estate investment firm.

The property, at 337 20th Street, was originally built in 1926 and renovated in 1992. It’s located two blocks west of Collins Avenue near the Bass Museum of Art and the Setai Miami Beach. The three-story building sits on an 18,750-square-foot lot, according to Miami-Dade County property records. It last sold for $5.8 million in March 2012, records show.

The gated site includes a private landscaped garden, according to RJF Finlay’s website.

In South Florida, Intervest Properties owns the office building at 910 Southeast 17th Street in Fort Lauderdale, the Harbor Walk office building at 1650 Southeast 17th Street in Fort Lauderdale, and the Kendall Marketplace at 13901 Southwest 88th Street, among other properties.

A mortgage for today’s sale was not recorded.

6021 Le Lac Road and Senada Adzem and Chris Leavitt

A Tuscan-style estate with a private lake in Le Lac, a gated community in Boca Raton, has just listed for $19.995 million, The Real Deal has learned.

The 16,140 square-foot villa, spread over nine acres, at 6021 Le Lac Road, has eight bedrooms, nine bathrooms and three half-baths. The resort-style property includes a private island with gazebo, loggia with summer kitchen, mosaic-inlaid pool, tennis court, half basketball court and field house.

Douglas Elliman’s Chris Leavitt, star of “Million Dollar Listing Miami,” and Senada Adzem, who appeared as a guest star on two episodes of the show, have the listing.

The property represents the debut of their newly formed partnership, the Chris Leavitt and Senada Adzem team, which will focus on luxury properties from Miami Beach to Palm Beach County. Together, they have a combined $172 million in listings, which they said represents the highest volume of any Douglas Elliman team in South Florida.

“We really are excited to create this partnership together, to be even more powerful as a unit,” Leavitt told TRD. “It’s a great marriage.”

The Le Lac property is the only one for sale in South Florida with its own lake, Adzem said. The manicured grounds are surrounded by 120 towering fishtail palms that run along the property’s perimeter, she said.

Le Lac, a 200-acre gated community, has 32  multi-acre estates, surrounded by 60 acres of interconnecting lakes. Among the community’s residents are golfer Greg Norman and Boston Red Sox owner John William Henry II, Adzem said.

Palm Beach County property records show the owners of the 6021 Le Lac Road home as Daniel and Barbara Goldberg.

The estate is “really out of fairy tale,” Leavitt told TRD, highlighting the architecture and finishes and such features as the gazebo and bridge over the lake.

“There is an incredible sense of peace and serenity when you arrive,” he said, “and it stays with you.”

Howard Taft and Charles Penan

Crossings Shopping Village, a shopping center in Miami’s West Kendall neighborhood, recently obtained $20 million in financing, according to a press release.

The 109,000-square-foot retail site is anchored by Publix Super Market, CVS/Pharmacy and Youfit Fitness Center. Miami-based Aztec Group’s Howard Taft and Charles Penan secured the loan for the property at 13047 Southwest 112th Street. A Florida-based bank was the lender, according to the press release.

“Crossings Shopping Village is an institutional quality asset located in the dense in-fill trade area of West Kendall,” Charles Penan, director at Aztec Group, said in a statement. “The terms of this financing transaction speak to the strength of both the ownership and the asset itself.”

Crossings Shopping Village Association, an affiliate of Michael D. Friedman, owns the 11-acre property, which was developed in 1982. The company paid nearly $7 million for the shopping center in 1987, according to Miami-Dade County property records. — Katherine Kallergis

2601 North Miami Avenue and David Edelstein

David Edelstein’s SBT Wynwood sold two properties on North Miami Avenue in Wynwood for $13 million this week. 

Edelstein, who heads New York-based TriStar Capital, sold 2601 and 2637 North Miami Avenue to a partnership between Vitality Holding and Cabi Developers, Brightway Properties associate Gaston Miculitzki told The Real Deal.

Miculitzki represented the buyer and RFK’s Ben Mandell represented the seller.

The properties total 33,825 square feet of land. The single-story warehouse at 2601 North Miami Avenue was built in 1949 and spans 7,780 square feet. The two-story warehouse at 2637 North Miami Avenue was built in 1925 and spans 10,174 square feet. They last sold for a combined $5 million in June 2013, according to Miami-Dade County property records.

Edelstein has been active in South Florida this cycle. He picked up a Wynwood retail site next to Miami’s Midtown for $10.2 million in May. And in April, SBT Wynwood sold nearly a square city block, at 2801 Northwest Third Avenue, to Thor Equities for $29 million. He also has holdings on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach. After a lawsuit that sought to derail construction was dismissed, he plans to build a 15,789-square-foot, two-story tall retail building on land his company leases from the Miami Beach Community Church at the corner of Drexel Avenue and Lincoln Road.

Last week, the city of Miami Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board unanimously approved a slate of changes to zoning and land use designations that would allow denser residential developments on roughly 205 acres in Wynwood at a meeting. The board also recommended approving Wynwood as the city’s first Neighborhood Revitalization District, which will encourage builders to create wider sidewalks, pedestrian walkways within large projects, provide financial incentives to developers who preserve warehouses, and make it easier to construct affordable housing.

The recommendations still need to be finalized by the city commission.

Sears is closing hundreds of stores around the country.

From the New York website: For a long time, malls were dominated by brands like Sears, Gap, and Abercrombie & Fitch. But the tide is turning in retail.

Big apparel brands are grappling with shoppers who increasingly want deeply discounted clothes over classic logos and status. Gap is closing one-quarter of its stores and laying off hundreds of workers after disappointing sales. J. Crew just fired 10 percent of the workers at its corporate headquarters as sales and profits continue to plunge.

The teen-apparel market is also struggling as a whole, with big-name players like Abercrombie & Fitch and Aeropostale closing stores.

Sears, Macy’s, and JCPenney have also shuttered hundreds of store locations in recent years.

More than two dozen malls have shut down in the last four years and another 60 malls are on the brink of death, The New York Times reported, citing Green Street Advisors, a real estate and real-estate investments trust analytics firm.

Despite the changes, certain businesses are benefiting from mall-closure trends.

“At a time when some big department stores are struggling and Internet shopping is on the rise, the mall industry is doing surprisingly well,” writes Robbie Whelan at The Wall Street Journal.

Mall sales have steadily risen every year since the recession as other industries have filled the void in the malls that haven’t shut their doors.

Here are the industries taking over the remaining malls.

1. High-Tech stores

Technology-focused tenants like Tesla, Microsoft, and Apple are majorly driving sales, according to The Journal.

Because technology is more expensive than clothing, it’s easier for these stores to turn a profit. Consumers are also increasingly spending on this category instead of traditional goods like home decor or clothing.

Technology stores also require fewer staff and smaller spaces than department stores, resulting in fewer overhead expenses.

2. Medical Clinics

Urgent care clinics like City Practice Group of New York and Concentra are growing at a rate of about 20% a year, reports Doni Bloomfield at Bloomberg Business.

Many are taking over spacious, empty leases in malls to satisfy growing demand from consumers, according to Bloomberg.

Malls benefit from the arrangement too.

“Clinics often pay higher rents (about $25 per square foot), have better credit, and tend to sign longer-term leases,” Bloomfield writes.

3. Gyms

Equinox and other gym brands are quickly taking over malls, Emily Thompson writes on the retail blog The Robin Report.

“Today, some real estate developers are embracing non-retail properties — like fitness centers — as a new kind of anchor store,” Thompson writes.

Gyms are desirable for malls because their customers often visit once or twice a week. Once people are at the mall, they might decide to go shopping or visit the food court for dinner.

And more Americans are getting active — meaning that demand for gyms is soaring.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/industries-taking-over-malls-2015-6#ixzz3diWp7Iw9