Rendering of the Four Seasons Hotel and Residences at The Surf Club

A Florida company paid $9.3 million for a condo at the newly completed Four Seasons Residences at The Surf Club in Surfside, property records show. 

Nikki Investment Corp., a company that lists an Aventura address, bought unit 521 in the north tower of the Four Seasons, which is the first of the project’s two residential towers to receive its temporary certificate of occupancy. The Aventura address is tied to Francesca and Glenn Halpryn. Francesca Halpryn, an agent with One Sotheby’s International Realty, could not immediately be reached for comment. Glenn Halpryn is a real estate investor, according to Bloomberg.

Fort Partners developed the Surf Club project, which includes a 72-room hotel, two 12-story residential towers, a private club, two restaurants, four swimming pools, cabanas, a gym, oceanside gardens and a park. It was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Richard Meier of New York-based Richard Meier & Partners. The Four Seasons was developed on the 9-acre site of the former private beach club founded in 1930 by Henry Firestone Club and designed by Russell Pancoast.

Only three units have closed in Miami-Dade County records since the hotel held a grand opening last month. In addition to the $9.3 million deal recorded on Monday, Vitara Business LLC paid $7.05 million for unit 319, also in the north tower; and 9WH LLC paid $4.6 million for unit 811. California records show San Francisco investor Marc Abramowitz and Anita Abramowitz control the entity 9WH.

Fort Partners CEO Nadim Ashi said at the opening that the development hit $1 billion in condo sales. Condo units range in price from $3.4 million to $18 million, and in size from 1,400 square feet to more than 7,000 square feet. Ashi said the average price per square foot is $2,400.

The developer paid $116 million for the site in 2012. Other projects in Surfside include the recently completed Fendi Chateau Residences, Jason Halpern’s planned luxury boutique condo Surf House, as well as a joint venture between Israel-based ASRR Capital and Istanbul-based Suzer Group on a project a block away from the Surf Club.

Current reader favorites:

1. Whole Foods-anchored retail center coming to U.S. 1 corridor south of Miami
2. Walnut Street Capital flips commercial property near Miami Design District
3. Insurance mogul Nicolas Estrella lists Key Biscayne home for $40M
4. FireEye founder wants to flip his Gables Estates lot for $24M, 60% more than in 2015
5. Developer McKafka sues architect, alleging construction delays and defects at the Crimson

960 Harbor Drive. Inset: Michael Cohl

A Key Biscayne compound listed for $36 million is owned by Canadian concert promoter and producer Michael Cohl, listing agent Billy Nash told The Real Deal.

Cohl, the former chairman of Live Nation and the founder of SB2N Entertainment, has hosted celebrities like Beyoncé, Julia Roberts and just three weeks ago, Rihanna, at his Key Biscayne estate.

Nash, of the Nash Group at the Keyes Co., listed the property at 960 Harbor Drive in November. He said he had it under contract in February for close to the asking price, but had to cancel the contract because the buyer became ill.

The nine-bedroom, 12,520-square-foot estate sits on more than 67,000 square feet on the Harbor Drive peninsula, which fronts Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. It has 720 feet of waterfront, a salt water pool and spa, two docks and tropical landscaping by Raymond Jungles. The estate also features a 16-seat private theater, an open-air cabana, and a tennis and basketball court.

Property records show YOYOT Realty Inc. owns the home, which is called Buena Vista. It’s split into two parcels, each with more than 34,000 square feet. A buyer could divide the estate, which Nash said is the largest buildable lot on Key Biscayne.

“There are multiple buyers for this property. It could be a hedge fund manager looking to move offices to Miami, a Fortune 500 chairman that wants to enjoy it with his family, someone international,” he said.

The $36 million price tag is based on recent sales in Key Biscayne over the past two years. Between the end of 2015 and February of last year, Evan Metropoulos, the son of Hostess investor C. Dean Metropoulos, paid a combined $58.9 million for the adjacent homes at 775 and 755 South Mashta Drive, which total 2.3 acres.

Cohl and his wife Laurie are “ready to move on,” according to Nash.

Just last week, Estrella Insurance founder Nicolas Estrella listed his Key Biscayne estate for $40 million, marking the fourth most expensive home for sale in Miami-Dade County, and the most expensive in Key Biscayne. That property sits on a 34,000-square-foot lot.

The second priciest is the 36,000-square-foot corner estate at 400 South Mashta Drive, which is asking $39 million, according to Realtor.com. Cohl’s home is the third most expensive, but has the most acreage of the top three.

Robert Merck (Photo by Studio Scrivo)

From TRD New York’s April issue: Robert Merck is the global head of real estate for MetLife, one of the largest commercial lenders in the U.S., with a $67 billion real estate and commercial mortgage portfolio. The Georgia native joined the company in 1982 as a 24-year-old analyst and, after working his way up, was tapped to run the company’s real estate investment department in 2003. Since then, MetLife’s real estate business has grown exponentially: It originated a record $15 billion in commercial mortgages last year, up from $3 billion in 2002, and it invested $1.5 billion in commercial real estate globally. In 2005, the company sold its trophy headquarters building at 200 Park Avenue to Tishman Speyer for $1.72 billion. The following year, Merck oversaw MetLife’s historic sale of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village to Tishman Speyer for $5.4 billion. [more]

Rendering of Genting’s proposed hotel atop a redeveloped Miami-Dade bus terminal.

The Genting Group struck a deal with the Miami-Dade commission to redevelop an Omni bus stop north of downtown Miami. 

Under a 90-year lease of the space above the county bus station, Genting will spend $16 million on upgrades to the transit stop, and pay Miami-Dade $10 million in cash before it builds a 36-story hotel above the depot, the Miami Herald reported. Only with a series of approvals could the Malaysian gambling giant build the casino it’s been betting on.

Genting has assembled about 30 acres of land in the area, now known as the Arts and Entertainment District. That includes spending $236 million for the former waterfront site of the Miami Herald and $185 million on the adjoining Omni retail and hotel complex.

Genting subsidiary Resorts World’s plans for the bus terminal would cost about $200 million and include 20 floors of residential units and the 300-room hotel. The tower would front a “grand public plaza” and the Boulevard Shops, which are being renovated, would also be part of the project.

Genting planned to build a 5,000-room casino resort on the land, but its efforts have been stymied for years. The company has lobbied unsuccessfully for a state a law that would allow the casino development. If state law changes, Genting would then request a change in zoning from the city of Miami, and Miami-Dade would have to endorse the request because it owns the bus stop land.

As part of the deal approved by the commission on Tuesday, Genting would take over maintenance expenses for the bus terminal and the nearby Omni Metromover station, the Herald reported. [Miami Herald] – Katherine Kallergis

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang (Credit: Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images)

From TRD New York: Interpol is searching for Chinese billionaire and real estate magnate Guo Wengui, who claims he can reveal corruption at the highest echelons of the Communist Party.

The agency issued a “red alert” on Wednesday, which is basically an international arrest warrant for Guo, though the charges he would face are not clear, the New York Post reported. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang revealed the alert on Wednesday.

According to Guo, the family of He Guoqiang, a former top Communist Party official, had a financial stake in one of China’s biggest brokerages, Founder Securities, the New York Times reported. Guo had tried to acquire a stake in the company himself, but the deal fell through. Guo has alleged that He’s son had a hand in the deal collapsing.

If true, He’s link to Founder Securities could be problematic, given the fact that he was in charge of eliminating corruption within the party’s ranks.

Guo’s also been linked to Ma Jian, a former vice minister of China’s intelligence service who was charged with corruption in February. Guo is believed to be in London, but he also recently spent time at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, where he is a member. [NYP] — Kathryn Brenzel 

On Thursday, The Real Deal South Florida is heading to Broward County to bring together more than 3,000 of South Florida’s biggest names – from brokers, developers and designers to investors and homebuyers – for a day of networking and learning.

This year, we’re going even bigger and even better. Guests will be treated to an in-depth look at new developments and industry products while networking with top real estate investors and professionals.

The event will take place at the Design Center of the Americas in Dania Beach tomorrow, April 20 from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Buy your tickets to TRD’s third annual Broward Real Estate Forum and Showcase

Confirmed panelists include Louise Sunshine (Sunshine Group), Shahab Karmely (KAR Properties), Richard Sarkis (Reonomy), Peggy Fucci (One World), Gonzalo Navarro (ArX Solutions), Bob Zangrillo (Dragon Global), Jerry Hollo (FECR), Jimmy Tate (Tate Development), Mike Pappas (Keyes Company), Tim Elmes (Coldwell Banker), Paula Silberberg (Douglas Elliman) and Beth Butler (Compass). This year’s topics include:

-The economics of development amid a new administration and continuing global market uncertainty
-Looking at how technology — including easy access to big data — will transform the South Florida real estate industry
-The future of the residential market in Broward as we hit the post-peak segment of the cycle

Didn’t make it to our last South Florida event? Here’s a look at what you missed:

All attendees will receive a copy of the now quarterly South Florida Magazine. Check out the latest edition edition of the South Florida Market Report here.

For sponsorship opportunities email forum@TheRealDeal.com.

28 West Dilido Drive and Alain Berdouare

A waterfront home on the Venetian Islands in Miami Beach just sold for $10 million to a South African buyer who plans to tear it down and build a new mansion.

Alain Berdouare, the brother of Chicken Kitchen founder Christian Berdouare, told The Real Deal on Tuesday that he sold the property at 28 West Dilido Drive on Di Lido Island. Property records show the 13,408-square-foot parcel has a 3,688-square-foot home built in 1933. Berdouare had paid $800,000 for the property in 1997.

At $746 per square foot for the land, the new sale price represents a record in Miami Beach, according to Dora Puig of Luxe Living Realty, who said she represented both sides of the transaction. The sale has not yet cleared records.

Berdouare said he had planned to build a new home on the property for himself, but when the buyer came along in the off-market deal, he decided to sell. Neither he nor Puig could name the buyer, citing a confidentiality agreement, but sources said he is from South Africa.

“The exposure and the location are fantastic. That is why the buyer chose this one,” Berdouare said. “He is very rich and paid the premium.”

Puig said he buyer wanted a property with year-round sunset views, and plans to live in Miami Beach full-time. “He could have chosen any city to move into because he is an international businessman, and he chose Miami,” she said. “This goes to show that the prime properties that have straight downtown views and water frontage will sell at a premium.”

Venetian Islands properties have been scoring high-priced sales in recent months. In February, venture capitalist Jim Goetz bought an 11,600-square-foot Di Lido Island mansion that sold for a record $22 million. In January, a French buyer paid $13.2 million for a newly built 7,076-square-foot home on San Marino Island. And in October, a finance executive paid $6 million for a waterfront San Marino teardown on a 9,953-square-foot lot, paying $610 per square foot for the land.

Greater Downtown Miami

Class A office rents in South Florida are stabilizing following a period of rapid growth and market uncertainty, according to a new report.

Asking rents for Class A space in the central business districts fell slightly in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, and increased in Palm Beach, a new batch of Colliers International South Florida reports show.

“What’s enabled pricing to be pushed so dramatically has been a lack of supply,” Colliers’ Ken Krasnow said. Over the two years, new supply will determine whether rent growth continues.

In Miami’s urban core, “what you’re starting to see is a little bit of elasticity on rents,” he said. In Miami’s urban core, annual Class A office rents during the first quarter of this year were at $46 per square foot, down 1.3 percent from the fourth quarter of last year. Suburban Class A rents increased slightly by 0.3 percent to $37.35 per square foot.

Coral Gables was a big part of that, Krasnow said. University of St. Augustine signed a lease for 53,400 square feet in the Douglas Entrance office park in Coral Gables, marking the biggest deal in the first quarter. Raymond James and Cosentino North America also inked some of the largest leases in Miami-Dade, both in the Gables.

“A lot of people were writing the suburbs off for dead a couple of years ago.” he said. “We’re starting to see some companies look at the suburban options.”

The asking price for all office space in Miami-Dade increased to $33.76 per square foot from the fourth quarter of last year to the first quarter. Overall, the vacancy rate in Miami-Dade declined by 30 basis points on a quarterly basis, which Colliers attributes to the absorption of Class B and C space.

Krasnow said some firms outpriced by rents in Miami and Fort Lauderdale’s urban cores are looking to stay – but in Class B buildings. Instead of leasing bigger spaces, they are also using alternative workspaces like Regus, WeWork and other co-working options. “Rents are obviously at a level that’s giving more companies reasons to see alternatives,” Krasnow said.

Rents in downtown Fort Lauderdale have increased by 21 percent over the past two years, according to the report. From the fourth quarter of 2016 to last quarter, Broward’s overall office asking rent increased by 0.5 percent to $26.66 per square foot. Asking rents for Class A space fell by 3.1 percent to $31.11 per square foot during the same period.

Tenants fleeing the urban core are choosing suburban areas like Sawgrass, Sunrise, Plantation and Weston. Wells Fargo, Huizenga Holdings and Brinkley Morgan left downtown Fort Lauderdale, according to the report. American Express opened its 400,000-square-foot headquarters in the Sawgrass Park submarket, which led to a high absorption rate there.

Palm Beach County’s office market has, for the most part, remained consistent. Krasnow said some buildings surrounding the core are seeing more activity. The vacancy rate in Palm Beach has been at 12.2 percent for the past three quarters, according to the report. Class A office rent increased 2 percent from the fourth quarter of 2016 to $33.50, and overall asking rent increased 0.5 percent to $28.16 per square foot.

Investment sales have slowed in recent months in South Florida, especially in Miami. Krasnow expects some properties will hit the market over the next few months in Fort Lauderdale.

“There was a lot of election noise, there was a lot of uncertainty over the past six to eight months,” he said, adding that the expected deregulation of Wall Street under a Trump presidency would be good for banks, hedge funds and other financial services firms that lease space in all three counties.

Rendering of the Related Co.s’ proposed office tower and Jeff Greene

The Related Cos. has proposed a 25-story office tower at South Flagler Drive and Lakeview Avenue in West Palm Beach, just across the Intracoastal Waterway. And the proposal has billionaire real estate investor Jeff Greene up in arms.

“This is one of the worst ideas I’ve heard since I’ve lived here,” Greene, who owns more than $200 million of property in West Palm Beach, told The Real Deal. He noted that in a 1995 referendum, voters approved a five-story height limit for downtown buildings along the waterfront. And he doesn’t think city officials should adjust those rules for Related.

“That’s what people want. They already voted,” Greene said. “Driving along Flagler Drive is one of the most beautiful things about being here. You get a small town feeling, with boats on one side and [moderate-sized] buildings on the other.”

If the new building blocks someone’s view of the water or creates an eyesore for drivers along Flagler Drive, it will be a bad thing, Greene said.

Then there’s the traffic. “There could be 800 to 1,000 cars coming out of that building each day between 7:30 [a.m.] and 9:30 a.m. and again between 5 [p.m.] and 6 p.m.,” Greene said. “People in West Palm Beach can forget about going to the beach” around rush hour in the morning or evening. The closest bridge from West Palm Beach leading to the public beach in Palm Beach starts right across the street from the proposed building site.

Greene doesn’t buy Related’s argument that traffic woes can be lessened with smart stop lights and algorithmic traffic patterns.

He also doesn’t buy the argument that West Palm Beach is starved for Class A office space. Greene plans to build 200,000 square feet of it in his mixed-use One West Palm project at 550 Quadrille Boulevard. “I don’t have a single tenant yet, and brokers say only 50,000 square feet of my space will likely be taken by new tenants. The rest would come from other buildings.”

Related sees it differently, though the New York-based company declined to address Greene’s criticisms individually.

“We build and lease office buildings all around the world, and have spoken to close to 20 qualified potential tenants who have been looking for this type of space in the Palm Beach market for a long time,” Related Senior Vice President Gopal Rajegowda said in a statement.

“The Palm Beach County Business Development Board, and the top-tier commercial brokers in this market have been telling us the exact same thing we’re hearing directly from CEOs in the Northeast,” Rajegowda said.

So Related is ready to build without pre-leasing requirements, he said. “The demand is powerful, and West Palm Beach can’t at the moment capture the opportunities that are right in front of them because they lack this type of office space with its prime position and signature architecture.”

According to a recently released report from Colliers International South Florida, the office vacancy rate in Palm Beach County has been at 12.2 percent for the past three quarters.

If top-level tenants don’t see what they want, they’ll go elsewhere, Rajegowda said. “That’s what’s been happening in West Palm Beach, and we’d like to turn these opportunities toward this remarkable city instead of seeing it bypassed.”

But Greene is unbowed. If West Palm Beach officials approve the Related proposal, he’ll reconsider all his projects in the city. “Would I go forward?” he asked rhetorically. “I’m not sure. Maybe I’d sell my properties to other developers.”

230 Brazilian Avenue. Inset: Bonnie McElveen-Hunter

Former U.S. ambassador and current chair of the American Red Cross Board of Governors Bonnie McElveen-Hunter sold her Palm Beach home for $6.85 million, about double its previous sale in 2013, property records show.

She sold the non-waterfront townhouse at 230 Brazilian Avenue to Patricia and Jon Baker of Boston. Jon Baker is the founder, chairman and CEO of International Planning Group, a life insurance-based financial management firm that works with ultra high-net worth individuals and corporations.

The Bakers’ new Mediterranean-style townhouse has three bedrooms, a gas fireplace, a heated pool, exercise room and an elevator, according to the listing. The nearly 4,700-square-foot home, built in 1998, sold for about $1,470 per square foot, which is high for a non-waterfront property.

It was listed with Betsey Hall of Hall Real Estate for $7.195 million. Hall, who could not immediately be reached for comment, brokered both sides of the deal, according to Redfin.

McElveen-Hunter bought the property in August 2013 for $3.42 million. The property is near Palm Beach’s Worth Avenue, one of the top 20 most expensive retail streets in the country, home to brands like Tiffany & Co., Cartier and Louis Vuitton.

She’s first female chair of the American Red Cross, and is also the founder and CEO of a publishing company, Pace Communications, that works with clients like Trulia and the Four Seasons, according to its website. The Red Cross recently held its 60th annual ball at Mar-a-Lago, only 2.5 miles away from McElveen-Hunter’s former townhome.

We are less than 24 hours away from our third annual Broward County Real Estate Showcase and Forum! If you can’t make it to the event, which starts at 12 p.m. Thursday at the Design Center of the Americas in Dania Beach, don’t fret — we’ll be posting live updates on our social sites throughout the day.

Follow along or add your two cents to the conversation by using #TRDForum on Twitter and Instagram. We’ll be providing live updates throughout the day, so keep an eye on @trdmiami on Twitter and @trdsofla on Instagram, as well as The Real Deal South Florida‘s Facebook page.

If you experience a last minute changes of plans, you can still buy tickets on our Eventbrite page. Enjoy the show!

From left: Sen. Patrick Leahy and Sen. Chuck Grassley

From TRD New York: After months of close to no action, senators are finally updating their proposed reforms to the controversial EB-5 investor visa program and circulating draft legislation ahead of an April 28 expiration date. On Tuesday, the offices of Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), two of the EB-5 investor visas’ loudest voices for reform, began shopping a tweaked draft of a bill they introduced in the previous Congress.

Though still far away from where much of the real estate industry stands on EB-5, it does include some provisions that reflect changes that real estate lobbyists have said they could live with. Although the Department of Homeland Security under President Obama set forth a proposal to raise the minimum invest for a visa from $500,000 up to $1.35 million, Grassley and Leahy’s current legislative proposal would would usher in an $800,000 minimum.

That’s likely an acceptable figure for many EB-5 stakeholders: In a March 8 hearing in the House Judiciary Committee, EB-5 Investment Coalition spokeswoman Angelique Brunner said she was hoping to see legislation that would result in a minimum much lower than $1.35 million and more in the neighborhood of $1 million. She previously said that the Obama-recommended minimum of $1.35 million would “kill the program.”

The bill also includes integrity measures that appear universally well received, such as requiring routine audits of regional investment centers to check for compliance with SEC regulations.

“The industry is viewing this as an offering of some type,” said Holland & Knight lobbyist Ron Klein, who represents EB-5 clients like the US Immigration Fund. “This is their attempt to put something in front of everybody and ‘say let’s get back to work on this,’” Klein said, “but there are still some very substantial issues to be resolved here.”

Key issues the real estate industry is still waiting to debate include how the effective dates of any new reforms will be put in place, as they have the potential to rock deals already in progress, damaging project finances. There are also significant disagreements on the designation of Target Employment Areas (TEAs), in which foreigners must invest to qualify for the lowest possible investment amount, currently just $500,000 and $800,000 under Leahy and Grassley’s proposal.

The proposal could change how TEAs are drawn and wrestle control away from the states, making TEAs conform with census tract criteria. Some in the real estate industry argue this is shortsighted, and that census-guided TEAs are a poor standard for measuring whether projects are impacting underserved communities.

The bill would further mandate that some EB-5 visas be reserved exclusively for rural projects, which could mean the backlog for investors who want to invest in urban projects just grows larger, said Allison Berman, head of EB-5 at Greystone. “By making the set asides, you’re not guaranteeing that funds are going to those areas,” Berman said. Ultimately, investors will decide where they are willing to put their money and where they just aren’t interested, she said.

As for when real progress will be made towards finalizing EB-5 reform, Greenberg Traurig lobbyists Kristen Ng and Laura Foote Reiff on Tuesday wrote in blog post published on the New York Law Journal website that the expiration date for EB-5 might be extended by as many as four weeks, so Congress has time sort out other outstanding budget issues to prevent a government shutdown. Others say they don’t expect real EB-5 reform to come until after a continuing resolution of the current budget is passed, which would kick the reform can to September.

That sober reality would fly in the face of what some representatives, like Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), have recently said about such extensions for EB-5, however. “The days of last-minute extensions and continuing resolutions are over,” Sensenbrenner told the House Judiciary Committee in March. “Let me repeat that: No more extensions in CRs [continuing resolutions].”

Although all sides urge that they want to negotiate, there’s been no shortage of tension between the real estate lobby and some members of Congress.

In March, Grassley and Leahy wrote a disapproving letter to the Chamber of Commerce and the Real Estate Roundtable, expressing disappointment in learning that the two lobby groups “may have recently agreed to a secretive backroom ‘deal’” in order preempt various rule changes to the EB-5 program.

The comment period for the new rule making proposed by the Obama administration closed on April 11, but the Trump administration has decided to delay consideration for all pending federal regulations anyway, following an executive memorandum sent out to all federal agencies on inauguration day. In other words, it’s up to Congress to make any substantial changes to EB-5.

Paramount Building. Inset: Mike Pappas and Francis Fiske “Bud” Adams Jr.

The Illustrated Properties brand just got a little bit bigger.

Illustrated Properties Real Estate, which merged with the Keyes Company last summer, brought Palm Beach-based Valore Group Real Estate under the Illustrated brand, Keyes CEO Mike Pappas said.

Pappas, whose company already owned the Valore Group, said the brand merger shows the company’s commitment to the Illustrated brand. The expanded office at the Paramount Theatre Building in Palm Beach will open later this year with about 50 agents, according to a press release.

Eric Sain, incoming 2019 president of the Florida Realtors, was named district sales manager for the new Palm Beach office, at 139 North County Road. Valore’s founder Kevin Leonard joined Keyes in 2011, and was recently promoted to vice president of Keyes’ luxury division, which listed more than $1 billion in luxury homes in 2016.

Pappas said Keyes is working to acquire more companies this year. “The brokerage business is continuing to consolidate and the margins keep changing,” he said. “In my dad’s day, it was a fifty-fifty split, and now it’s not that. … The only way it can work if you’re a brokerage is to do volume.”

When Keyes and Illustrated merged last year, the firms said they generated more than $6 billion in annual revenue and have more than 1,100 agents in Palm Beach County, more than double their competitors.

Rendering of Yotel Hotel

Miami’s Urban Design Review Board approved changes to a proposed condo-hotel in downtown that will reduce parking at the development site by 30 percent and shrink setbacks around the new building.

Kuwaiti company AQARAT and Miami-based Aria Development Group are proposing Yotel Hotel, a 45-story tower at 235 Northeast Second Street, which will have some condos on the upper floors, commercial spaces for restaurants and retail and 263 “cabins,” smaller, minimalist hotel rooms.

The site is located on a vacant lot near a Metromover station and Miami Dade College. According to Miami-Dade property records, NE 2nd Acquisition bought the site for $5.5 million in 2013.

Aria and AQARAT, under the holding company NE 2nd Acquisition, had previously been approved for a 22 percent parking reduction. The review board on Wednesday also signed off on the developers’ request to locate parking for the condo residents in nearby garages within 1,000 feet of the proposed hotel, and granted an 8 percent increase in the development’s lot coverage and approved replacing two residential loading berths with one commercial loading berth. The review board authorized a total of eight waivers.

Carlos Lago, a Greenberg Traurig shareholder representing NE 2nd Acquisition, said the waivers were necessary to create a more urban-oriented development. Lago said the Yotel concept is to offer affordable vacation rentals with luxury amenities.

“It’s an exciting urban product,” he said. “Since you last saw this project in 2015, it has been redesigned to enhance the pedestrian realm, activate the frontages, reduce the building’s height and scale by removing the parking podium, and creating an enhanced open space near the Metromover parcel.”

Lago said Miami 21 allows developers to eliminate parking for residential units if the project is located within 1,000 feet of off-site parking sites. “There is an abundance of public parking in downtown Miami,” he said. “Also [NE 2nd Acquisition] owns a property within a 1,000 feet that can serve for parking.”

Airbnb founders and Mayor Tomas Regalado

A Miami judge issued a temporary restraining order late Wednesday, stopping the city of Miami from enforcing its ban on short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods.

The ruling by Judge Beatrice Butchko of Florida’s Eleventh Judicial Circuit came less than a week after Airbnb and five Miami homeowners sued the city to stop Miami officials from enforcing bans on short-term rentals and for targeting Airbnb hosts who publicly identified themselves.

Judge Butchko ruled that the city of Miami was preempted by Florida state law from banning short-term rentals. She also stopped the city from requiring residents to provide their names and addresses when speaking at future city commission hearings, as a result of threats made by Mayor Tomas Regalado and City Manager Daniel Alfonso to target Airbnb Miami hosts who spoke at a March 23 hearing.

Airbnb hailed the ruling as an initial victory. “On behalf of our Miami host community, we are grateful to the court for giving this important matter immediate attention,” Airbnb said in a statement. “We are hopeful that it will result in relief and fair treatment for the 3,000 Miamians who responsibly share their homes on Airbnb.”

Mayor Regalado and Alfonso could not be immediately reached for comment.

Airbnb, along with Yamile Bell, Toya Bowles, Gary Levin, Ana Rubio and Kenneth Tobin filed suit last Friday, which stated that the Florida Legislature passed a law in 2011 prohibiting cities and counties from enacting ordinances that prohibit or unduly regulate vacation rentals. Airbnb alleges that Miami government officials, under pressure from the hotel industry, ignored state law and without legal authority began prohibiting vacation rentals on Aug. 11, 2015.

The lawsuit also alleges that the city is trying to take advantage by claiming an exemption for cities and counties that had regulations on vacation rentals prior to June 1, 2011. “The city, however, did not have any such ordinance or regulation which expressly prohibited vacation rentals,” the lawsuit states. “Instead, it attempted to belatedly and impermissibly reinterpret its existing zoning code, Miami 21.”

Current reader favorites:

1. Developers set their sights, and wallets, on city of Miami candidates in March
2. Four Seasons at the Surf Club condo sells for $9.3M
3. A mansion with a pedigree: Sprint CEO’s North Bay Road home, once owned by Rony Seikaly, hits rental market
4. Owner revealed: Former Live Nation chairman listing $36M Key Biscayne estate
5. Hedge fund chief Kenneth Tropin sells Palm Beach estate for $20.4M

Miami skyline (Credit: Getty Images)

Though the residential slowdown continues in South Florida, sellers may finally be adjusting to market conditions by lowering their prices.

Residential properties sold for bigger discounts during the first quarter compared to the same period of last year in Miami Beach, continuing a trend from the fourth quarter of 2016, according to newly released reports from Douglas Elliman.

And in Miami, inventory fell by nearly 20 percent.

“Sellers being more connected to market conditions enabled more transactions” so far this year, said Jonathan Miller, whose firm Miller Samuel authored the reports. “For the first time in three years, we had the number of sales [in Miami Beach] rise overall.”

Jay Parker, CEO of Elliman’s Florida brokerage, said South Florida is entering into a period of stability following the boom from 2012 to 2015 and an overall market reset in 2016.

Miller also attributed an overall improvement to the election being over. “There was a holdback in 2016 that was released in November,” he said.

Miami Beach

The increase in Miami Beach comes down to only five residential sales, or an increase of 0.06 percent. Miami Beach recorded 810 sales during the first quarter of 2016 compared to the 815 sales for the first quarter of this year. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2016, Q1 fared much better: sales are up nearly 23 percent to 815 sales from 663 sales.

Properties in Miami Beach spent 143 days on the market during the first quarter of this year, up from 97 days the previous year. Listing discounts also continued to increase, which makes sense given that “pricing was too high to begin with,” Miller said. “The spread is widening. The seller is traveling farther to meet the buyer, and I don’t believe it’s the buyer coming up to meet the seller.”

The discount, which is defined as the difference between the closing price and the asking price at the time of contract, increased to 12.1 percent from 8.8 percent, according to the report. In the luxury end of the market, which is typically softer in a slow market, homes sold for bigger discounts compared to the previous year. The discount was up to 20.4 percent from 12.8 percent for luxury single-family homes starting at $6.25 million (the top 10 percent of the market). But high-end houses actually spent less time on the market during the first quarter, 261 days, up from 352 days during the first quarter of 2016.

The inventory of luxury condos increased to 1,188 units from 1,063, and the condos spent more time on the market than they did in the first quarter of last year, to 207 days from 119 days. The difference between the asking price and closing price grew on a year-over-year basis, but less than with luxury single-family homes. Luxury condos, where the threshold began at $1.6 million, sold for an average discount of 13.1 percent during Q1 compared to 10.1 percent during the same period last year.

Miami

Residential sales in Miami fell 2.7 percent to 3,487 sales for the first quarter of this year from 3,583 the previous year, according to the reports. But inventory fell a whopping 19.9 percent to 10,186 properties on the market from 12,716 listed in 2016.

“Even though sales slowed, the inventory fell much faster,” Miller said. “The absorption period was almost three times longer in Miami Beach,” which he attributed to a larger share of luxury product in Miami Beach.

In Miami, homes and condos sold for the same 5.6 percent discount they sold for during the first quarter of 2016, and spent only a few days more on the market this year, 81, up from 76. Due to the shrinking supply, average sales prices rose slightly (0.3 percent) to $405,266 for the first quarter of this year compared to $404,020 in 2016. The median sales price increased more dramatically by 12.5 percent to $292,500 from $260,000 last year.

Fort Lauderdale

Condo sales in Fort Lauderdale rose by only 1.5 percent to 469 closed deals so far this year from 462 in the first quarter of 2016. Sales of single-family homes were flat at 427. Miller said the decline in the median price of luxury single-family home sales was due to an uptick in sales on the lower end of the luxury market, which actually brought the per-square-foot price up.

The reports called Fort Lauderdale one of the stronger housing markets in South Florida.

Single-family homes spent an average of 80 days on the market during the first quarter of this year, which is down 22.3 percent from the 103 days during the same period last year. They sold for an average 8.1 percent discount, which in Q1 of 2016 was 9.7 percent.

Condos spent about two days less on the market compared to the previous year, 102 days compared t0 100 days, and sold for an average 6 percent price cut, up from 5 percent in 2016.

2855-2915 Stirling Road properties

Hallandale Beach-based Capital Commercial Real Estate Group is accusing a former client of welching on a $480,000 commission fee when the proposed sale of a Fort Lauderdale Walgreens and adjacent shopping center fell apart.

In a lawsuit filed recently in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, Capital Commercial alleges that Inland Towers of North Miami Beach LLC is obligated to pay the commission even though the deal wasn’t finalized. The properties are located at 2855 – 2915 Stirling Road in Fort Lauderdale near the Oakland Plaza shopping center by I-95.

“It was the owner’s choice not to sell, but he still had an obligation to pay the broker,” said Bruce Friedlander, the attorney for Capital Commercial. He declined further comment. Lawyers representing Inland Towers did not respond to requests for comment.

On July 28, 2016, Capital Commercial alleges that Inland Towers agreed to pay a 2 percent commission fee if the brokerage firm found a buyer willing to pay a net sale price of $24 million or a gross sale price of $24.7 million. Capital Commercial was able to secure a buyer that was “ready, willing and able to purchase the property upon the terms of the listing agreement, and who agreed in writing,” according to the lawsuit.

However, Inland Towers ultimately rejected the offer and demanded a purchase price in excess of the listing agreement, the suit states. Even though the transaction didn’t go through, Capital Commercial claims it “duly earned” the commission fee.

According to Broward County property records, Inland Towers purchased the Stirling Road properties for $17.9 million in 2006. State corporate records list Joseph Cohen and Roy Mussaffi of Miami Beach as Inland Towers’ managers.

Ashley Lake Apartments and Joseph Lubeck

Multifamily real estate company Robbins Electra expects to spend about $1 billion this year on acquisitions of apartment properties, including one in the Hammocks community in southwest Miami-Dade County.

“We’ll be announcing that closing in mid-May, and we will be doing a full renovation to upgrade the property,” Joseph Lubeck, CEO and co-manager of Robbins Electra, told The Real Deal. The property, which he declined to name, is “a very substantial asset that we’re buying off-market.”

The company expects to acquire more apartment properties in South Florida, he said, even though it considers many of them overpriced.

“We definitely expect to make more acquisitions in South Florida, and several are under evaluation … [each] in need of superior management and value-added renovation,” Lubeck said from his office in Palm Beach Gardens, which serves as the acquisition, investment and sales office of Tampa-based Robbins Electra.

Robbins Electra also is preparing to sell the Ashley Lake Apartments in Boynton Beach in an off-market transaction. The company had bought the complex in 2012 for $27.1 million.  “It’s under contract now, but I can’t discuss the details,” Lubeck said. “The partners and investors felt this was a good time to recognize some profit … Most of our acquisitions are off-market and privately negotiated deals, where there’s not a significant bidding or auction environment.”

Robbins Electra owns 30 apartment properties in Florida but only two in South Florida: The Ashley Lake Apartments and The Fountains in Palm Beach Gardens. The company owns and manages about 23,000 units in multifamily developments in Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia. Robbins Electra manages only its own apartment properties and doesn’t sell management services to other companies.

“We used to own quite a bit more in South Florida, Palm Beach and south. We sold most of that,” Lubeck said, “and right now, we feel the market is very overheated and overpriced, and as a result, we’re being very cautious with our acquisitions in South Florida.”  

The multifamily real estate market in the Southeast is gradually approaching a cyclical peak, Lubeck said, comparing it to a baseball game. “We are certainly in what I would call extra innings,” he said. “My crystal ball doesn’t tell me when the game is going to end. So, I’m still expecting, at least for the next few years, a steady environment.”

Robbins Electra was formed in November from the merger of Robbins Property Associates of Tampa and Electra America, the U.S. subsidiary of Israel-based Electra Real Estate, a publicly traded company listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

The two companies bought a total of $1.15 billion of apartment properties last year. “The combined entity now is the 44th largest apartment company in the nation,” Lubeck said, “and our goal is to do another $1 billion [of acquisitions] this year, provided we can buy product smartly to meet our goals and business plans.”