Brickell World Plaza (Credit: Daniel Christensen)

The owner of Brickell World Plaza, also known as 600 Brickell, just boosted its $50 million mortgage to $140 million, records show.

Brickell Holdings LLC owns the 40-story, 1-million-square-foot office tower at 600 Brickell Avenue. The developer, Foram Group, completed the LEED Platinum certified building in December 2011.

TD is the lender for the latest $90 million round of financing. The bank provided the initial $50 million mortgage for the building in January 2014, records show.

The building has 26 stories of office space and 11 for parking, according to its website. It’s also home to Tamarina Restaurant & Bar, which is owned by some of Zuma’s partners.

Tenants include Gunster, one of Florida’s biggest law firms, Berkley Insurance Company, Northern Trust, Crédit Agricole Private Banking Miami, and Beacon Hill Property Group. Gunster announced it was leaving One Biscayne Tower and moving to Brickell World Plaza in 2014 via a 12-year lease for the entire 35th floor.

The tower sits on a 1.9-acre property that last sold in 1990 for $12 million. Foram completed the 600 Brickell Avenue building in 2011 after deciding to slow down construction during the recession. Amenities include a 30,000-square-foot landscaped plaza, a fitness center and a conference center.

Jones Lang Lasalle handles leasing for Brickell World Plaza, according to the building’s website.

Illustration by Lexi Pilgrim for The Real Deal

From the August Issue: When mortgage interest rates slide close to all-time lows — as they have since the Brexit vote — should one sit on the fence? Or pursue the financial opportunities that didn’t exist when rates were half a percentage point higher or more?

In July, according to Freddie Mac, 30-year fixed rates dropped to an average of 3.41 percent, just above the historic low of 3.31 percent set in November 2012. Fifteen-year fixed rates, popular with homeowners seeking to become mortgage-free faster, dropped to a stunning 2.74 percent. Five-year Treasury-indexed
“5-1” hybrid adjustables, which carry a fixed rate for the first 60 months then morph into one-year adjustables, hit 2.68 percent. [more]

Rendering of the Satori community (Inset: Tony Lama)

Miami Lakes councilman Tony Lama has been championing a proposal that would help developers — including Lennar — score building permits faster in the town.

But according to a new report, an attorney who has regularly worked with Lennar in the past held a fundraiser for the councilman the same day he made his proposal.

Under Lama’s proposal, developers would be able to acquire a building permit ahead of the county recording a construction plan, potentially speeding up a project by several months.

The Miami Herald reported that Melissa Tapanes, a high school friend of Lama’s and an attorney at Bercow Radell and Fernandez, hosted a fundraising event for the councilman and gave $1,700 to cover the party’s expenses. Her firm also donated $500 to Lama’s campaign.

The fundraiser was held July 13, the same day Tama’s building permit proposal was dated, the Herald reported.

Lennar is currently planning a massive community with 484 homes called Satori on a former Miami Lakes cow pasture it purchased for $74 million this year from landowner Betty Dunn.

Though Tapanes’ firm has regularly worked with Lennar in the past, she told the Herald that her firm represented Dunn, not the homebuilder, in the deal.

Lama defended his proposal to the Herald, saying it would allow Miami Lakes to gather impact fees from developers sooner, while also accelerating the pace of new projects. He brought up Lennar’s planned community specifically during a July town council meeting as one of the developments that would benefit if the ordinance passes.

“This is the type of behind-the-scenes influence peddling that gives good government a bad name,” Miami Lakes Mayor Michael Pizzi, who opposed Tama’s plan, told the Herald. “Councilman Lama was elected to represent the public’s interest, not to represent the interest of Lennar or his friend who works for Lennar’s law firm.” [Miami Herald] — Sean Stewart-Muniz

Rendering APOC Townhouses (Credit: RLC Architects)

The Boca Raton Planning & Zoning Board recommended approval of a 90-unit rental townhome development in a business park.

The planning and zoning board recommended Thursday night that the city council approve the proposed APOC Townhouses development in the Park at Broken Sound, formerly known as the Arvida Park of Commerce, where three apartment developments are now under construction.

The townhome developer, Delray Beach-based NCC Development, plans to build a dozen three-story residential buildings and a three-story clubhouse. The 90 planned townhomes include 69 with two bedrooms and 21 with three bedrooms. Monthly rents for the townhomes would range from $1,700 to $2,800.

“It’s a product that’s not in the park right now,” the townhome project architect, Juan Caycedo of RLC Architects in Boca Raton, told the planning and zoning board at the Thursday night meeting. “Your choice today is apartments, apartments and more apartments.”

Six of the 12 planned residential buildings would have covered parking structures, and the rest would have driveways and single-car garages. The 12 residential buildings would feature six different building designs.

The townhome project’s “dynamic design was inspired by the predominately contemporary architecture within the [former] Arvida Park of Commerce as well as the ‘millennial’ work force the project is intended to serve,” according to a city staff report prepared for the planning and zoning board.

The townhome project’s location in the Park at Broken Sound is a 4.96-acre site at 950 Broken Sound Parkway Northwest. The existing zoning for the property is light industrial research park and the designated land use is “planned mobility,” a land-use classification the city created in 2012 to allow residential and retail development in the 700-acre Park at Broken Sound.

If approved by the city council, the townhome project will be the fourth residential development located within the Park at Broken Sound.  The first apartments will open there before the end of 2016.

A trio of current developments — Allure, Altis and 850 Boca — ultimately will put a total of 1,050 rental apartments in the Park at Broken Sound. Developers Jamie Danburg, Sergio Rok and Jimmy Tate are building the 282-unit Allure project, Boca Raton-based Altman Companies is developing the 398-unit Altis project, and CC Residential, a partnership of Armando Codina and Jim Carr, is behind the 370-unit 850 Boca development.

The planning and zoning board recommended approval of the townhome development with several modifications, including changes related to sidewalks, planted buffer zones for sidewalks and pedestrian walkways near parking structures.

On May 10, the Boca Raton Community Appearance Board recommended approval of the townhome project contingent on the developer’s response to recommended modifications. These include enhanced hedge landscaping along Northwest Broken Sound Boulevard, larger trees on internal roads that match the scale of the 12 proposed residential buildings, and a tree layout that won’t conflict with utilities.

Donald Trump (Illustration by Lexi Pilgrim for The Real Deal)

From the New York website: Donald Trump hasn’t released his own tax returns yet, but the GOP presidential candidate’s tax plan for the country looks like it could be a huge windfall for debt-laden real estate companies.

The plan would effectively provide negative tax rates for leveraged investments by allowing businesses to deduct interest and file immediate write-offs (known as expensing) for investments in equipment and buildings, the Wall Street Journal reported. Ultimately, that could push developers toward projects that only make sense with tax benefits. Under current law, companies must spread deductions over several years.

“It is insane to do expensing and continue to allow interest deductions,” said NYU law professor Lily Batchelder, a former aide to President Barack Obama. “This is converting the tax code basically into a direct spending program for anything that people can get a tax lawyer to say is debt-financed business investment.”

She added: “The people that would benefit most from this are people that would use a lot of debt and are in real estate.”

Trump has not officially announced the proposal, and the campaign has indicated it will release more details in the coming weeks. But last week Trump said he supported full expensing.

The real estate mogul has resisted ending interest deductions. “He just thought it would be hard for businesses to capitalize without this,” according to Trump economic team advisor Stephen Moore.

Expensing has become popular among Republicans as a way to spur business, while Democrats are concerned it could result in potential revenue loss.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, allowing immediate interest deductions could result in negative 61 percent tax rates.

“I guess the pro would be you really would encourage investment in plants and equipment,” said Steve Rosenthal, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center, said. “The con is that you would open up huge arbitrage opportunities.” [WSJ] — E.B. Solomont

Two weeks after securing $36 million in construction financing, Harvey Hernandez’s Newgard Development Group has broken ground on its Gale Fort Lauderdale Beach condo project.

April demolition work on the Gale Fort Lauderdale

To commemorate the event, the developer hosted a ceremony this week attended by roughly 50 agents, project partner Dev Motwani and city officials, including Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler and Vice Mayor Dean Trantalis.

The developer began clearing the Gale’s bayfront development site at 401 Bayshore Drive in April, demolishing several mid-rise buildings ahead of vertical construction. Newgard expects to open its 12-story condo and hotel project by early 2018.

Rendering of the finished project

When completed, the Gale will have 129 condos sized between 800 square feet and 2,100 square feet, with prices starting in the mid $500,000s. Buyers at the building will have access to amenities like an eighth-floor lounge, swimming pool, fitness center and private theater. The developer is also offering a rental program through its neighboring Gale Hotel for investors. Menin Hospitality will manage the hotel component.

ONE Sotheby’s International Realty is handling sales, and 70 percent of the projects units are under contract after launching marketing in March 2015. — Sean Stewart-Muniz

Self storage facilities

The Boca Raton Planning & Zoning Board delayed its decision on proposals to encourage development of self-storage centers.

“They can be quite nice,” board member Janice Rustin said at the board’s meeting Thursday night.

But she and the rest of the board postponed their decision on a self-storage facility developer’s proposed ordinances to amend the city’s code of ordinances and its comprehensive plan for development. The board will reconsider the proposed changes at its Sept. 22 meeting.

The changes would create a regulatory pathway for the developer’s proposed conversion of a one-story industrial building at 1900 Northwest First Court in Boca Raton to a two-story self-storage center.

Several board members said the ordinances proposed by the developer could trigger an undesirable surge in self-storage developments in Boca Raton. The Boca Raton Development Services Department had recommended denial of the developer’s proposals prior to the board’s meeting Thursday.

One proposed ordinance would increase a self-storage development’s maximum “density,” or floor area ratio, in city districts zoned for land uses including commercial, general industrial, light industrial and manufacturing.

Floor area ratio (FAR) equals a building’s total enclosed square feet divided by its lot size, or “footprint,” in square feet.

The proposed maximum floor area ratio for self-storage centers is 1.0, well above the maximum levels for commercial property (0.78), general industrial buildings (0.50), light industrial facilities (0.60), and manufacturing plants (0.50)

“This, to me, is too broad,” Rustin told the developer’s attorney, perhaps because “you’re trying to do this for a specific project.”

Attorney Charles L. Siemon of law firm GrayRobinson, who represented the developer at the planning and zoning board meeting, said the proposed ordinances would not lead to excessive self-storage development.

“The concept of runaway self-storage is a fallacy,” Siemon told the board.

Siemon said the proposed ordinances would encourage self-storage development primarily in areas of Boca Raton zoned for manufacturing.

Siemon also said his client proposed changes to Boca Raton’s regulation of self-storage development because he was encouraged to do so while trying to advance his own development in a series of city council workshop meetings.

As a result, what began as a “molehill” has become a “mountain,” he said, even though self-storage developments “are permitted in quality areas all over the country.”

Hugh Hefner, Daren Metropoulos and the Playboy Mansion at 10236 Charing Cross Road

From the Los Angeles website: In case you haven’t heard, the Playboy Mansion has a new owner.

His name is Daren Metropoulos. His father is the billionaire investor who currently owns Hostess. He was already Hugh Hefner’s neighbor before coughing up a cool $100 million for the iconic pleasure palace. Got it? Good.

Now, here’s where it gets interesting.

The 33-year-old plans to combine the two Tudor Revival-style estates to create one giant compound, according to his spokesperson. The resulting 7.3-acre residence would emulate the original vision laid out by architect Arthur Roland Kelly in 1929.

In other words, he probably won’t be demolishing the bunny fortress.

But before Metropoulos can take a dip in the grotto, he must restore his new home. Those who know the property said it will be an arduous — and expensive — process. Not to mention, Hefner will remain in the mansion until his death, as stipulated in the deal.

“The property needs a lot of work,” luxury broker Greg Harris of Compass told TRD. “But it’s a great house and can’t be duplicated or rebuilt.”

Renovations, according to interior designer Kenneth Bordewick, could cost as much as the house itself. With his company Beverly Hills Luxury Interiors, Bordewick renovated the Playboy Mansion’s bathrooms about a decade ago.

“It’s in horrible disrepair and the whole place smells like a urinal,” Bordewick said.

Inside the Playboy Mansion (Credit: SF Home Decor)

Fellow Beverly Hills interior designer David Phoenix had a lower renovation estimate — $20 million, or what socialite Petra Ecclestone paid to renovate her $85 million Spelling Manor.

But Phoenix added that the process could take four to six years.

“The whole property needs to be gutted,” he said. That means new plumbing, electricity, lighting, flooring and beyond.

If there’s one thing the experts agree on, it’s that the Playboy Mansion, in its current state, is a dire departure from its original grandeur.

The biggest challenge will be preserving its history while updating the structure to modern luxury standards, according to both designers.

No toes in the grotto

Restoring the Playboy Mansion won’t be too novel for its new owner. In 2009, Metropoulos bought the property next door, also built by Kelly, and renovated it extensively.

“I feel fortunate and privileged to now own a one-of-a-kind piece of history and art,” he said in a statement announcing the closing of his latest buy. “I look forward to eventually rejoining the two estates and enjoying this beautiful property as my private residence for years to come.”

Metropoulos also obtained all the statues and arcade games on the property, according to someone close to the deal.

But are they worth keeping?

“I would get rid of 90 percent of the furniture,” Bordewick said, “[It would be] 100 percent, but there’s some historic value.”

The infamous grotto (Credit: Vivomasks)

His other ideas for renovations? A his-and-hers extension of the master suite, new security systems, an estate curator, a better theater, a manicure-pedicure salon, a hotel-caliber spa, and a total makeover for the infamous grotto.

“I’d rip it out,” Phoenix agreed. “I don’t know anyone who would want put their toe in that.”

He added that he would optimize the park-like grounds and brighten the decor.

“With this [gothic] style of architecture, it tends to be dark,” Phoenix said. “I would give it light — a town and country look that says, ‘hello.’”

A stately past

Before the Playboy Mansion became the shangri-la of every post-adolescent male in America, it was the stately home of Arthur Letts Jr., the heir of Broadway Department Stores. His father, the elder Letts, was the developer of Holmby Hills in its entirety.
But the British-born magnate died before he could create his own manor in the 400-acre neighborhood, which he named after his childhood village of Holdenby, according to Curbed. And so his son took up the torch and hired Arthur Kelly to design a high-society abode.

“It is to be of the rambling English type,” reported the L.A. Times in 1926. “The work of landscaping the grounds is now under way, rare plants and trees for the estate being furnished by the famous Letts hothouses in Hollywood.”

(Credit: SkyscraperPage.com)

When it was complete, the estate had a redwood grove, an aviary and a secret bar. The arboretum, Bordewick said, is still in existence today.

Letts, Jr. lived in the sprawling mansion throughout his three marriages until his death in 1959. Two years later, aerospace inventor Louis Statham and his wife Anne became its new owners. Their renovations took another two years, and by the time they moved in, the mansion had a new playhouse, which would later become a trophy room, game room and meeting room.

Its modern chapter came to be in 1971, when Hefner acquired it for just over $1 million, then the largest real estate transaction in L.A. history. And the rest was, well, also history.

Brian Stoffers

From the New York website: Commercial real estate lending volumes bounced back from their winter slump in the second quarter and even surpassed 2015 levels.

U.S. loan origination volumes grew 5.7 percent year-over-year, CBRE reported. CMBS lending volume is down significantly from last year amid lackluster bond markets and looming risk-retention rule changes, but banks jumped into the fold, the Commercial Observer reported. They increased their share of U.S. commercial real estate lending to 49 percent, CBRE noted, compared to 10 percent for CMBS shops.

CMBS lending fell to $31 billion in the first six months of the year, down from $54.4 billion a year earlier.

“While we remain cautiously optimistic, investors should prepare for additional volatility as the Federal Reserve contemplates potential rate hikes later this year and the CMBS market will have to cope with rising levels of loan maturities and risk-retention issues,” said Brian Stoffers, who head’s CBRE’s debt and financing division. [CO] – Konrad Putzier

2009 shot of Ocean Drive (Credit: chensiyuan) and a mosquito

Zika has spread to Miami Beach, with five newly confirmed cases, Gov. Rick Scott announced on Friday.

Scott said that the Florida Department of Health has added a new Zika active transmission zone in Miami Beach that runs south to north from 8th Street to 28th Street and east to west from the beach to the Intracoastal Waterway.

The spread of Zika is sure to have a dampening effect on tourism and the real estate industry in Miami Beach. The new 1.5-square-mile zone encompasses Lincoln Road, Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue, filled with hotels, restaurants and shops that are popular with tourists as well as locals. The area is also full of luxury homes, condominiums and commercial real estate targeted by investors. And it includes the Miami Beach Convention Center and such high-end hotels as the W South Beach, the Delano South Beach and 1 Hotel and Homes.

“Tourism is a driving force of our economy,” Scott said during a press conference. “And this industry has the full support of the state in this fight against this Zika virus.”

(Click to enlarge) Miami Beach Zika transmission zone

Previously, only one area in the country had been declared an active transmission zone for the virus: a one-square-mile chunk of Miami that included Wynwood, parts of Edgewater, Midtown and the Design District. Businesses and tourism in Wynwood, one of Miami’s hottest areas, have already been hit hard by Zika fears.

State health officials have pinpointed more than a dozen cases of Zika transmitted by locally borne mosquitoes in that one-square-mile. Overall, to date, there are 36 confirmed cases of locally transmitted Zika. The virus is chiefly of concern to pregnant women, potentially causing birth defects like microcephaly. For others, Zika can present symptoms like rash and fever, or possibly none at all.

On Friday, health officials said they have cleared 17 blocks in the Wynwood area as Zika-free after aggressive testing found no continued evidence of active transmissions.

And during his press conference, Scott said that the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity had already contacted 55 Wynwood businesses to offer assistance in recouping losses incurred from the lack of customers and tourists visiting the area.

(Click to enlarge) Wynwood Zika transmission area

Yet, Joseph Furst, chairman of the Wynwood Business Improvement District refuted Scott’s claims that his administration is helping businesses and property owners in Wynwood from the negative economic impact caused by the ongoing locally transmitted Zika virus outbreak.

Furst told The Real Deal that it was the first time he had heard about any state assistance.

“I think it’s not happening,” Furst said. “Our executive director has not been in touch with the governor’s office for aid or help. Yet he’s here telling us he has reached out to 55 businesses. That’s hard for me to justify.”

Furst, who is Goldman Properties managing director for Wynwood, said that during the first two weeks of the Zika “crisis” there was a 50 to 60 percent drop in business. “People are coming back,” he said. “But there’s definitely been economic damages and economic loss. And we absolutely expect for the city, county and state governments to help us.”

He also criticized Scott and state health officials for creating so-called Zika zones like the one that includes Wynwood.

“I wish the messaging was focused more on how to get better testing to people and how get the entire community better informed as opposed to labeling boxes around our cities and counties,” Furst said. “If I had an opportunity to speak to the governor, I would urge him to lift the box from the Wynwood, Midtown, Design District area.”

5446 North Bay Road (Inset: Jonah Hill playing Efraim Diveroli, left, and Miles Teller playing David Packouz)

“War Dogs” is a film based on a Miami Beach story too strange to be fiction: a pair of young, upstart stoners hustle their way from peddling guns and ammo to landing a $300 million arms dealing contract for the United States government.

Along the way, director Todd Phillips leaned heavily on what some would argue are Miami’s best assets: glimmering ocean views, towering palm trees, and ultra-flashy real estate — including a waterfront spec manse built by Todd Glaser.

At the beginning of the film, our unlikely protagonist David Packouz (played by Miles Teller) is working a dead-end job as a massage therapist in Miami Beach, lamenting his life of oiling up rich people’s backs to make rent.

One such scene plays out in the outdoor spa of an all-white mega mansion facing Biscayne Bay. Packouz is there to massage Gary, another of his wealthy clients, who “accidentally” drops his towel mid-session.

County film permits pulled by The Real Deal reveal the locale to be none other than spec developer Glaser’s ultra-modern project at 5446 North Bay Road, which is currently listed at $29 million.

Kim and Todd Glaser

Glaser told TRD that he met director Todd Phillips over dinner one night through a mutual friend, Harmony Korine, who co-wrote “Kids” and directed “Spring Breakers.”

“We met several years ago and became very good friends,” Glaser said. “When [Phillips] came to Miami, he told me ‘Look, I’m shooting a film and we need an uber-sick house.’”

The irony is that Glaser knew the real people depicted in “War Dogs:” Packouz and his partner, Efraim Diveroli. Glaser rented unit 2 at 2228 Park Avenue to Diveroli for “$9,000 or $10,000” a month in the late 2000s, and had to cancel the lease following the federal investigation against the partners for repackaging illegal Chinese ammunition as part of their deal with the U.S. to supply Afghanistan’s military.

“I was actually able to help him in the movie story line with some of the stuff that I knew,” Glaser said.

About midway through “War Dogs,” Packouz and Diveroli have elevated themselves from small-time gun runners to international arms dealers.

Befitting their new-found wealth, the two pick out a pair of condos in a ritzy Miami tower. In the true story, those units are in South Beach’s Flamingo complex. But for the film, Phillips picked out a more modern building: downtown Miami’s Marina Blue. County permits don’t show a unit number, though the floor plan and views are an exact match to the penthouses at the Marina Blue.

Penthouse shot from “War Dogs,” left, and a snapshot from a video tour of a Marina Blue penthouse

It wasn’t the only locale swap made: instead of Albania, where the two potheads sourced 100 million rounds of AK-47 ammo, the film crew shot in Romania. And for their scenes in Jordan and Iraq, the team flew to Morocco.

“War Dogs” isn’t the first time one of Glaser’s properties has made it to the big screen. His personal home in Miami Beach was featured in “Transporter 2,” and famed singer-songwriter Rihanna used 5446 North Bay Road as a location in her “Needed Me” music video, which has some 80 million hits on youtube.

For a single day of shooting “War Dogs,” Glaser said, the production team cut him a check between “40,000 or $50,000,” though he wasn’t sure what the exact sum was.

While he’s had luck with the movie biz, Glaser has had trouble selling the North Bay Road mega-manse. It was first listed for sale back in 2014 after construction finished for $37 million, but he sliced $5 million off the ask after almost two years. In July, the price was further reduced to $29 million, with the listing currently belonging to Douglas Elliman’s Brett Harris.

Considering the home’s $450,000 annual property tax bill, the filming only dented Glaser’s carrying costs, though he said “it certainly helps.”

Rendering of 200 North Miami Avenue

1. Mana’s parking-less project in downtown Miami catches praise from officials [Miami Today]
2. Florida attorney general goes after alleged foreclosure fraud [Daily Business Review]
3. Miami condo developers make push for Chinese buyers [Miami Herald]
4. Development decisions trigger Miami initiative on right to sue [Daily Business Review]

— Sean Stewart-Muniz

Rendering of Azure

The developer of the two-building Azure condo in Palm Beach Gardens enlarged units in the second building to attract buyers relocating from big single-family homes. Tom Frankel, developer of Azure, told the Palm Beach Post the second phase of Azure initially was designed with 67 units, but he reduced the number to 55 units, each measuring about 5,000 square feet.

The first Azure building is nearing completion and nearly sold out: 45 of the 46 units have been pre-sold at prices from $900,000 to $3 million. Frankel said the first building will open for occupancy in October. Construction of the second Azure building is scheduled to start Wednesday. Frankel told the Post that 37 of the units in the second building have been pre-sold.  [Palm Beach Post] — Mike Seemuth

Hilal Borque of Turyap Realty in Miami

Wealthy condo buyers from Turkey have emerged as a hot market for residential real estate in Miami.

The Wall Street Journal reported that developers of luxury condos in Miami are selling about 5 percent of their pre-construction units to Turkish buyers.

This year, for example, Turkish buyers paid $4 million for three units at Ritz-Carlton Residences Sunny Isles Beach, which is under construction in the northeast Miami-Dade County community, according to Edgardo Defortuna, whose company Fortune International Group is co-developing the Ritz condo project with Chateau Group.

In October of last year, Turkish Airlines began operating a daily flight from Istanbul to Miami. Estimates by real estate agents put the number of Turks who reside part-time in Miami at 10,000. A newly built Turkish consulate opened in Miami earlier this year to handle an influx of Turkish citizens.

Hilal Borque, who last December opened a Miami franchise of Turyap Realty, based in Instanbul, told the Wall Street Journal that Miami condos can be good investments for Turkish buyers: “There’s a good return on investment, and the returns are in dollars.”

Reid Boren of Two Roads Development told the Journal wealthy Turks historically bought second homes in London or southern France, but many of them now regard second homes the United States as a more stable investment. Boren recently sold a two-story penthouse at Biscayne Beach, his 399-unit condo development, to a Turkish buyer for $8.6 million.

Turkish interest in U.S. homes has increased since the recent attempted coup to overthrow the government of Turkey. Other factors include terrorist attacks throughout Europe and the deflated value of the lira, Turkey’s currency. [Wall Street Journal] — Mike Seemuth

Naples (Credit: Naples Water Tours)

July sales of houses and condos fell 14 percent in the Naples area from last year’s level, yet the median closing price increased.

The Naples Area Board of Realtors also reported that the number of area homes listed for sale in July increased 36 percent.

Home sales in Naples typically decline during the off-season in summer, when many winter-season residents return to their northern homes.

“Home prices continue to remain stable, and we are absorbing the inventory,” Jeff Jones, Managing Broker at the Naples-Park Shore office of Coldwell Banker, said in a written statement.

The Realtors reported that the number of sales of houses and condos in the Naples area homes fell to 627 in July from 726 in July 2015, yet the median sale price in July increased to $300,000 this year from $270,000 last year.

The number of Naples-area residences listed for sale in July jumped 36 percent to 4,801 this year from 3,518 last year. Pending home sales in July declined 25 percent to 681 this year from 913 last year.

Rendering of CityPlace in Woodbury, Minnesota

Aventura-based Elion Partners and a co-developer expect to finish building a mixed-use development spanning 100 acres in a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota, next year.

The development, called CityPlace, is unfolding east of the Twin Cities in Woodbury, Minnesota, and will feature a Whole Foods Market and a 116-room Residence Inn by Marriott.

The co-developers of CityPlace are Elion Partners and Bloomington, Minnesota-based Kraus-Anderson Realty Co.

The 100-acre site of CityPlace is a former office campus for State Farm Insurance. The insurer vacated the Woodbury location in 2006.

Elion Partners and Kraus-Anderson bought the land in 2014 from a real estate company called Wellington Management that had failed to advance its own mixed-use project there.

The roster of current and committed retail tenants at CityPlace includes Nordstrom Rack, La-Z-Boy Home Furnishings, Sur La Table, Verizon Wireless, Bank of America, Mattress Firm, Caribou Coffee and Einstein Bagels. [Woodbury Bulletin] — Mike Seemuth

The gardens at Les Cedres

From the New York site: The onetime home of King Leopold II in Saint Jean Cap Ferrat in the south of France has hit the market, asking one billion euros, or roughly $1.1 billion.

Les Cedres

So what do you get for this extraordinary price? Just 10 bedrooms (that’s $100 million per bedroom!) according to the Express. There is also an Olympic-sized swimming pool 35 acres of gardens with15,000 plants and around 20 greenhouses, a ballroom and stables for up to 30 horses.

Known as Les Cedres, the property is owned by Suzanne Marnier-Lapostolle, who is part of the Grand Marnier liquor dynasty. Grand Marnier was bought by drink brand Campari in March, and it also acquired a stake in the home. With the heiress looking to downsize, Campari has decided to sell the home.

There are around 15 gardeners currently employed full-time at the property, according to Marnier-Lapostolle, and she hopes the new owner will keep them on. However, the land the gardens occupy is what makes the property so valuable and whoever buys it will most likely develop the land into mansions.

Nevertheless, a broker in Monaco told the Mail Online: “Everything needs to be done to prevent that. We have not received instructions to sell. These kind of properties tend to be marketed very discreetly. Despite France’s problems, there should be a buyer around.”[Express] –Christopher Cameron

The Hermès store at 240 Worth Avenue

The Palm Beach Town Council approved a request by luxury goods retailer Hermès of Paris to occupy a new two-story building more than double the size of its current location.

Hermès is planning to relocate to Royal Poinciana Plaza from 240 Worth Avenue in Palm Beach, where the retailer has operated since 1977. Hermès opened its 3,444-square-foot store on Worth Avenue before opening its flagship store in Manhattan.

The two-story Hermès building at Royal Poinciana Plaza will span 8,108 square feet. The plaza is in the late stages of a major renovation scheduled for completion in fall.

Cena Jackson, a spokeswoman for Hermès, told the Palm Beach Daily News the retailer is moving to Royal Poinciana Plaza to occupy a contemporary space with adequate floor space.

Pam Coniglio, the mayor of Palm Beach, said Hermès will become a “significant anchor” at Royal Poinciana Plaza that will draw shoppers to the retail property. [Palm Beach Daily News] — Mike Seemuth

The Mons Venus strip club in Tampa. (Credit: AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Strip clubs have no impact on the market value of nearby homes, according to a study by university economists.

The findings of the study undercut claims by local governments that they should restrict the presence of strip clubs because of such “secondary effects” as reduced property values in their neighborhoods.

The authors of the study are Taggert Brooks of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and Brad Humphreys and Adam Nowak of West Virginia University.

They surveyed about 317,000 home sales in Seattle, Washington, from 2000 through 2013 and uncovered little evidence that strip clubs have any influence on prices of nearby homes. Seattle had a moratorium on  new strip clubs from 1998 to 2005, when a federal judge found the moratorium unconstitutional. New strip clubs started opening in Seattle in 2008.

The study focused on variation in home resale prices based on proximity to strip clubs, home-price changes after a nearby club opened or closed, and the impact of specific strip clubs on the housing market in their neighborhoods.

Most of those measurements provided no link between home prices and strip clubs that was statistically significant.

“There was nothing we picked up that was really significant in any way, shape, or form,” Nowak told the Journal. [Wall Street Journal] — Mike Seemuth

A dog hotel

From the New York site: Apartment hunting in New York is already a nightmare. But for serious dog people, finding an apartment suitable for themselves and their pet can seem impossible.

For a “certain bread of pet owner,” building amenities designed to attract people are failing to land, as a dog’s wellness becomes a primary concern, according the New York Times.

“Many people who don’t have children view their pets as their children, and they consider their pets’ needs in the same way others would consider how the schools or playgrounds are in a particular neighborhood,” said Arlene Kagle, a psychologist. “These are people who have a great deal of empathy, so they worry about their pets as they would worry about another human being — though some have been known to carry it to extremes.”

And in NYC’s super competitive real estate market, taking it to extremes means passing up a dream apartment in Tribeca and renting something pricier in Chelsea, all so a dog can be near its favorite spa.

That is exactly what Kaitlin and Ben Fund did for their golden retriever, Hobie.

“When we bought Hobie,” Kaitlin told the Times, “we promised ourselves that because he’s a big dog we would send him to day care so he wouldn’t be cooped up at home with nothing to do.”

Seems like the pooches are putting the owners in the doghouse these days. [NYT] –Christopher Cameron