MIAMI — The city of Miami’s Urban Design Review Board has unanimously voted (6 to 0) to recommend approval of Wynwood 25, a 400,000-square-foot mixed-use development in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood. Situated between N.W. 24th and 25th streets, the project will include 289 apartment residences, 31,000 square feet of retail space and 340 parking spaces. After receiving this recommendation and the approval by the Wynwood Design Review Committee, East End Capital, the developer of Wynwood 25, expects to break ground on the project in the first quarter of 2017. East End Capital anticipates for 80 percent of Wynwood 25’s residences to rent for less than $2,000 per month. The apartments will comprise mostly studios and one-bedroom layouts, all including 10-foot ceilings and full-sized washers and dryers. Amenities will include a fitness center with yoga studio, work-from-home spaces, coffee lounge, 12,000-square-foot green courtyard, bike storage, package storage and dog wash facilities, as well as a rooftop terrace with a pool, spa, barbecue areas and outdoor and covered work areas. Kobi Karp designed the project, which includes a paseo connecting 24th and 25th streets.
Florida
JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — Blue Rock Premier Properties LLC has purchased The Reserve at Beach Boulevard, a 360-unit apartment community located at 11990 Beach Blvd. in Jacksonville. Blue Rock Premier purchased the property from LLJ Multifamily Ventures for $24.6 million. The Tampa-based buyer plans to invest about $3.8 million in exterior and interior upgrades at The Reserve at Beach Boulevard, which will be rebranded as The Park at Levanzo. The asset was 95 percent occupied at the time of sale. Dhaval Patel and Brian Moulder of CBRE’s Jacksonville office brokered the off-market transaction. ARES Capital Corp. provided debt financing on behalf of Blue Rock Premier.
PORT ST. LUCIE, FLA. — Watercrest Senior Living Group plans to construct Watercrest of St. Lucie West Assisted Living and Memory Care Community, a 128-unit seniors housing community in Port St. Lucie, located along the east coast of Florida midway between Orlando and Miami. D2 Architecture designed the luxury community, which Walker & Co. is building. The facility is scheduled to open in fall 2017. When completed, there will be 102 assisted living units and 26 memory care units in a 112,000-square-foot building. Watercrest, the developer, will operate the community.
GAINESVILLE, FLA. — Walker & Dunlop Inc. has arranged a $22 million refinance loan for a portfolio of three student housing communities located near the University of Florida campus in Gainesville. Paul Ahmed of Walker & Dunlop arranged the 10-year, fixed-rate loan with a 30-year amortization schedule on behalf of the borrower, Trimark Properties. The portfolio of properties includes Solaria II, Tuscana and Savion Park. Altogether, the three properties comprise 114 units and 157,000 square feet. Community amenities at the properties include private balconies, internal courtyards, parks with jogging paths, electric wine chillers and 24-hour concierge services.
ORLANDO, FLA. — A joint venture between Phoenix Realty Group and Park Row Equity Partners has purchased The Element, an apartment community located at 2207 Lake Debra Drive in Orlando’s Metrowest master-planned neighborhood. The Element includes 27 independently owned condos, which were not included in the $34.9 million sale. Phoenix Realty Group will operate the apartment community and help administer the Homeowner’s Association. Built in 1996, The Element sits on 20.2 acres adjacent to the Metrowest golf course. Unit interiors include nine-foot ceilings and full-size washers and dryers. Community amenities include a resort-style swimming pool, sundeck and spa and a tennis court. The new ownership plans to renovate The Element’s amenities and interiors through a value-add investment program. John Alascio and Sridhar Vankayala of Cushman & Wakefield arranged a $26.3 million, fixed-rate, Fannie Mae acquisition loan through Capital One on behalf of Phoenix Realty Group.
WINTER SPRINGS, FLA. — Berkadia has arranged the $23.3 million sale of Columns at Winter Springs, a 208-unit apartment community situated on more than 16 acres at 1020 Chatham Pines in Winter Springs, roughly 16 miles northeast of Orlando. Built in 1991-1992, the property was 95 percent occupied at the time of sale. Hal Warren, Cole Whitaker and Jason Stanton of Berkadia represented the seller, Atlanta-based Seminole-Winter Springs Associates LLC, in the transaction.
KISSIMMEE, FLA. — Skanska has topped out the Florida Advanced Manufacturing Research Center (FAMRC), a 109,000-square-foot advanced research and development laboratory facility in Kissimmee, an Orlando suburb in Osceola County. The total contract value for the design and construction of FAMRC is $71.4 million, according to Skanska. Situated on 20 acres near the intersection of U.S. 192 and Florida’s Turnpike, the project will provide semiconductor research and manufacturing of advanced products for the healthcare, transportation, agriculture and consumer products industries. The new center will partner with the University of Central Florida and the International Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing Research (ICAMR), a consortium for advanced sensors, phototonics and optics. The design team for FAMRC includes HOK and Abbie Gregg Inc., a global consultant to the advanced high technology industry sector. The Osceola County Board of Commissioners is helping lead the development of FAMRC, which Skanska plans to deliver in March 2017.
OCOEE, FLA. — ARA Newmark has brokered the $42.8 million sale of Oak Forest, a 408-unit, garden-style apartment community in Ocoee, a suburb of Orlando. Miami-based Advenir Real Estate Management purchased the asset from New York-based Palatine Capital Partners. Built in two phases from 1989 to 1991, the property features two swimming pools, a newly remodeled clubhouse, fitness center, basketball and tennis courts and a playground. Kevin Judd, Scott Ramey, Patrick Dufour, Marc deBaptiste and Dick Donnellan of ARA Newmark represented Palatine Capital Partners in the transaction.
MIAMI — NAI Miami has arranged a 10-year, 11,300-square-foot retail lease at Shops of Marlins Park in Miami for a new brewery. NightLife Brewing Co. will open its new microbrewery facing the main pavilion of Marlins Park in the Home Plate parking garage known as P1 at Marlin’s Park, located at 1588 N.W. 7th St. The Shops of Marlins Park spans 57,501 square feet of office and retail space situated in three of the four parking garages of Marlins Park, home of the Miami Marlins baseball team. With the NightLife Brewing lease, occupancy at the Shops of Marlins Park is at 61 percent. Jeremy Larkin and Joseph Gallaher of NAI Miami represented the landlord, the city of Miami, in the lease transaction, which was valued at $2.6 million. The lease marks the first brewery approved in a retail zoning for the city of Miami.
MIAMI — The Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners has officially approved Link at Douglas Station, a $464 million mixed-use, transit-oriented project at the Douglas Road Metrorail Station in south Miami. Link at Douglas Station will encompass approximately 970 residential units, including a workforce housing component; 70,000 square feet of retail space; a new hotel; and a public plaza. Miami-Dade executed a ground lease with Adler 13th Floor Douglas Station LP, a joint venture between 13th Floor Investments and Adler Group, setting the stage for the construction of the project, which will be constructed in four phases on a seven-acre site bordered by US 1, S.W. 27th Avenue, Peacock Avenue and S.W. 38th Avenue. Phase I will focus on the development of a residential tower, a 150-key hotel in partnership with Driftwood Hospitality Management LLC and a portion of the retail footprint, which includes a supermarket. Link at Douglas will maintain the Douglas Metrorail Station as its central element, providing access to Miami’s downtown financial, arts and entertainment districts. According to the joint venture, the project will be designed to increase public transit ridership.