The lights have now been turned on at South Beach’s new Five Park tower.
The 48-story tower broke ground in 2021 at the entrance to South Beach. It is said to be taller than any other building in the city of Miami Beach, at 519 feet. When complete, it will include 280 luxury residential units.
The tower was designed by Arquitectonica. Terra and GFO Investments are the developers.
Source: The Next Miami
Developer David Martin acquired a minority stake in the site of the former Deauville Beach Resort, a property that billionaire developer Stephen Ross had under contract two years ago.
Deauville Associates, led by the Meruelo family, sold a 25 percent interest in the 3.8-acre oceanfront property at 6701 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach for $12.5 million. TMG 67 Communities LLC, a company tied to Martin’s Coconut Grove-based Terra, purchased the stake, records show.
A spokesperson for Terra said the firm is “leading plans to bring an iconic development” to the site and suggested that Terra plans to reconstruct the former resort. The company declined to share additional details about its plans.
Terra also did not respond to a request for comment on whether the $12.5 million represents the full amount of its investment in the deal.
The Deauville, a historic hotel built in 1957, designed by Melvin Grossman, was demolished in 2022 after the Meruelos submitted a structural report to the city that determined it was an unsafe structure. The Meruelo family, led by Belinda Mereuelo, was criticized for not maintaining the building. It had been shuttered since 2017.
Source: The Real Deal
Terra has offered half a billion dollars to buy out an oceanfront condo building in Miami Beach, six months after a Related Group-led venture backed out, according to a letter obtained by Commercial Observer.
Located at 5445 Collins Avenue, the property, Castle Beach Club, sits on 4 acres along the famed Miami Beach strip, offering 576 linear feet along the ocean.
The deal — if finalized — would effectively become the most expensive land purchase in the Miami area. Terra, led by David Martin, will most likely tear down the 18-story building and construct an ultra-luxury condo complex. The site can accommodate a structure up to 200 feet tall.
The proposed buyout is part of a growing trend following the deadly collapse of Champlain Towers South, a condominium built in 1981 that was poorly maintained. Some condo associations of similar, decades-old buildings are choosing to sell to developers to avoid footing the bill for costly repairs, now mandated by Florida law.
In late 2021, the homeowners association of Castle Beach Club put the property, which dates back to the 1960s, on the market, hiring a team led by Colliers’ Ken Krasnow and Gerard Yetming to shore up the highest price.
Jorge Perez’s Related Group and 13th Floor Investments first swooped in a year ago, together bidding $500 million. But the joint venture backed out of the deal in October after their financing fell apart as interest-rate hikes rattled capital markets and a handful of unit owners held out.
Last Friday, Terra officially entered the picture, matching Related’s original offer.
A letter penned by Yetming was sent to unit owners announcing Terra’s $500 million bid, which averages out to $877,192 per unit. The property’s 570 unit owners are set to receive individual offers in the next two weeks, after which they will have about two months to decide whether to accept the offer. To complete the sale, Terra will likely need 95 percent buy-in from condo owners.
“We can confirm that Terra has the capability to complete this purchase, and has the funding in place to do so,” according to a letter.
The source of Terra’s financing remains unclear, though the developer is said to have a partner on the deal with whom it previously worked with.
Back in 2022, Terra and seven other firms had bid on Castle Beach Club, according to The Real Deal, which first reported the most recent proposal.
Source: Commercial Observer
Construction of a centerpiece hotel for the Miami Beach Convention Center will move forward this year, co-developers Terra and Turnberry announced.
Miami-based Terra and Aventura-based Turnberry said they hired Dallas-based Balfour Beatty as general contractor of the project and site work has already begun. They expect to start vertical construction of the Grand Hyatt Miami Beach Convention Center Hotel later this year and complete the project in 2025.
The 17-story hotel will have 800 rooms, making it the fifth-largest hotel in South Florida and the second-largest hotel in Miami Beach, according to the Business Journal‘s Book of Lists.
The hotel will include four floors of meeting and ballroom space, a resort-style pool deck, a signature restaurant, retail space, a lobby lounge and bar, and a sky bridge with access to the convention center.
It will be developed at the corner of 17th Street and Convention Center Drive.
The project will be privately funded.
Source: SFBJ
Three months after selling a retail strip along Alton Road to Michael Shvo for $39.3 million, Robert Shor is back to buying, scooping up a vacant retail property across the street for $10 million.
Through an affiliate, Shor bought a commercial condominium at 1665 Alton Road from an entity tied to Orlando Garcia of Coral Gables-based Secured Debt Investments, according to records. The 9,000-square-foot condo is on the ground floor of a two-story building immediately north of the 1111 Lincoln garage and retail building.
Irma Figueroa and Vicki Freeman of the Comras Company represented the seller. Seth Gadinsky of Gadinsky Real Estate represented Shor.
In June, Shor sold the 60,000-square-foot commercial strip across the street at 1656-1680 Alton Road, as well as an adjacent 0.2-acre parking lot at 1677 West Avenue, to Michael Shvo, who plans to redevelop the property into a 250,000-square-foot office and retail complex. The property includes the former Epicure Gourmet Market & Café building.
Shor said an Ace Hardware store on that strip, set to close next year, will reopen in April in the vacant retail space he bought this week.
Alton Road, a main north-south connector on the western end of Miami Beach, is poised for more development after city residents in August approved a zoning referendum that allows for bigger projects in the Alton gateway area. The vote allows developers Russell Galbut and David Martin of Terra to build a taller mixed-use project at 710 Alton Road.
Source: The Real Deal
Residents of Miami Beach approved all six referendum questions on their primary ballot Tuesday, including a handful that will have an impact on development in the city.
The most impactful measure passed allows the developer of the Alton Road Gateway Project to increase the allowable density on its site.
Terra, which is replacing the community health center at 710 Alton Road, will be allowed to build to a 2.6 floor-area ratio, clearing the way for a roughly 15-story tower with about 120 units, office space and retail, Terra’s Russell Galbut told The Real Deal. In exchange for the allowable density — the site previously allowed 2.0 FAR — Terra has agreed to build a new health center and library across the street from its project.
A ballot measure that would force developers who are building in vacated city alleyways and side streets to get voter approval to increase their projects’ floor-area ratio also passed Tuesday night. Developers had previously been able to build denser projects than zoning allows by incorporating former city streets and alleys into their projects — they will now need to get a referendum approved to get that additional FAR.
“I was a bit disappointed, but not surprised,” that the FAR referendum passed, said Neisen Kasdin, a managing partner at law firm Akerman and a former mayor of Miami Beach. “I’ve always held the belief that the U.S. Constitution protects property owners’ rights to not be subject to popular vote.”
Another referendum passed that would allow developers to build denser residential projects if they convert properties zoned as apartment-hotels. The city voted to ban those types of properties last year, and now voters have approved an incentive for developers to convert those buildings to permanent housing.
“There is this idea that transient [developments] are viewed as disruptive,” Kasdin said. “This incentivizes developers from working on transient projects.”
Voters also approved adding a rule that the city’s Board of Adjustments, which hears land use and zoning cases, must have an architect among its seven members.
Source: Bisnow
Affiliates of megamall developer Triple Five, along with Terra and Starwood Capital Group are crying foul over property tax bills from Miami-Dade County.
A number of developers and investment groups have recently filed lawsuits against Miami-Dade Property Appraiser Pedro J. Garcia for their tax appraisals for the 2019 tax year. Others include the owners of Aventura ParkSquare, the SunTrust office building on Brickell and the Delano South Beach.
The latest suits come as Miami-Dade issued preliminary taxable values for 2020 earlier this month, based on assessments and market conditions on Jan. 1. More such suits could arise, as businesses continue to lose money and commercial real estate values fall due to impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
“A litigation showdown is looming between property owners and the government over property taxes,” said attorney Josh Migdal, a partner at the Miami law firm Mark Migdal & Hayden, who handles real estate cases.
“Property owners are faced with budget shortfalls due to decreased revenue,” Migdal added. “However, a decrease in tax revenue collection due to the virus will require the government to maximize its property tax collection to prevent its own budget shortfall.”
Florida is heavily reliant on property taxes since the state does not have a state income tax.
Overall, preliminary property tax values across Miami-Dade County rose in 2020 compared to the previous year. The estimated taxable value for Miami-Dade County properties totaled $324.36 million, up 5.1 percent from 2019, according to the property appraiser’s office.
The biggest increases were in West Miami (14.6 percent); Florida City (13.8 percent); Homestead (10.8 percent); Hialeah and North Miami (each up 10.4 percent). Much of the boost in appraised value is due to new construction, the property appraiser’s report shows.
Yet, the property appraiser’s office said falling prices for condos properties in Bal Harbour, North Bay Village, Key Biscayne and Aventura will have a negative impact on property taxes in 2020. It also says that coronavirus is starting to impact commercial real estate values.
“I will do everything within my authority to assist property owners who are struggling during these unprecedented times,” Garcia said in a statement. “As the real estate market changes during 2020, my office will consider these factors and make the necessary corrections permitted by law.”
The property appraiser’s office declined to comment on the recently filed suits. Among them, Triple Five, the Canadian developer, sued over the assessed value of its property in west Miami-Dade, where the group plans to build American Dream Miami mall.
The developer alleges the property appraiser gave an agricultural designation for 46.5 acres of its property, but denied the agriculture designation for two parcels totaling 38.32 acres. The properties were valued at $5.13 million and at $1.5 million, respectively, which the Triple Five alleges are “amounts in excess of their agricultural values.” The developer alleges the entire property should be classified as agricultural for the 2019 tax year, according to the complaint.
Developer Terra is also suing over a 11,865-square-foot parcel it owns at 2765 South Bayshore Drive in Coconut Grove. The company alleges the property is based on appraisal practices that are not “professionally accepted appraisal practices nor acceptable mass appraisal standards” in Miami-Dade County.
A company tied to Starwood Capital Group sued the property appraiser over a hotel it owns at 6700 Northwest 7th Street near Miami International Airport. The complaint alleges the $20 million assessment does not represent the value of Springhill Suites Miami Downtown/Medical Center because it exceeds the market value.
An affiliate of Integra Investments is suing the appraiser over Aventura ParkSquare, its mixed-use project in Aventura. The development group claims the property appraiser misappraised its property and it should not owe $106,629 in property taxes. The 1.2-million-square-foot project, at 2920 Northeast 207th Street, was completed in 2018. It includes a 131-unit luxury condo building, a 100,000-square-foot Class A office component, 55,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space, and a hotel.
Alliance Re Holdings, the investment group that owns the SunTrust building at 777 Brickell Avenue is suing the property appraiser over its appraised value at the office tower. The group, led by Adolfo Geo Filho, who is tied to Brazilian construction company Construtora ARG, alleges it should not owe $2.2 million in property taxes. Alliance Re Holdings alleges the “Property Appraiser’s assessment of the property is arbitrarily based on appraisal practices.” The Filho-led group purchased the SunTrust building for $140 million in February 2015. Tenants include SunTrust, Truluck’s and Quest Workspaces.
The owner of the Delano South Beach is suing the property appraiser’s office over the hotel’s $172,905 tax bill. A company tied to SBE Entertainment Group, led by Sam Nazarian, also alleges the property assessment is arbitrarily based on appraisal practices that are not professionally accepted nor acceptable in Miami-Dade County.
Source: The Real Deal