Miami developers courting Chinese investors

South American and Russian investors drove Miami’s recovery through the housing downturn, but now developers are reportedly looking at Chinese buyers to sustain the boost.

While Chinese buyers only make up 3 percent of the market in Miami, they are one of the fastest groups of foreign buyers, according to a published report.

Latin American investors from countries like Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia and Argentina accounted for 62 percent of sales in 2014.

But with South American and Russian currencies losing strength, investors are becoming discouraged, the Daily Business Review reported.

“Property values have gone up, and the currencies shifted in the other direction,” Daniel de la Vega, president of One Sotheby’s, told the Associated Press. “So South American investors may look at us and say it’s not as good of an opportunity.”

Now, big-name Miami developers are trying to draw in buyers from across the pacific.

Codina Partners, for example, sent a representative to Beijing to generate interest in the firm’s Downtown Doral revival. NR Investments made a promotional video in Mandarin for its luxury condominium project, Canvas.

In December, a Beijing company purchased a Brickell development site for $74.7 million in cash.

“Everybody wants a piece of Miami now,” Ron Gottesmann, a principal at NR, told AP. “This is the beginning of the change.” [Daily Business Review]— Sean Stewart-Muniz