Bilzin Sumberg partner Jim Shindell
In an effort to limit their exposure to another real estate crash, some Miami developers are testing to see whether they can demand 50 percent deposits for unit purchase contracts, Bilzin Sumberg real estate partner Jim Shindell said in an interview with GlobeSt.com. That will help them secure construction financing, but could isolate the American buyer that has become accustomed to highly leveraged purchases, he noted. [more]
Last year’s landmark Distressed Condominium Relief Act, signed by
then-Gov. Charlie Crist, was hailed as a contributor to a series of bulk
deals, but changes to the bill approved last week by Gov. Scott give
bulk buyers and condo associations additional security in Florida’s bulk
market. The changes include an amendment to the definition of bulk buyer and a
new ability for associations to collect rent directly from tenants. The
latter means associations are able not just to pay future obligations to
the unit but also to offset all past due monetary obligations.
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Bilzin Sumberg partner Carey Stiss has negotiated a $30 million first mortgage loan on behalf of client NXT Capital, to AP WP Terrazas for a multifamily apartment project on the Miami River. NXT is a lender with offices throughout the country. The multifamily project, Terrazas Riverpark Village, is a 324-unit, Class A, two-building complex. AP WP Terrazas purchased the project in 2010 after the original developer lost the project to its lender. TRD [more]
With funds available from the federal government for certain projects, developers who had previously worked exclusively in the private sector are now looking at affordable housing development, according to Bilzin Sumberg’s Albert Dotson, a partner in the firm’s land use and zoning practice group. “There is a rise in taking advantage of some of the housing stock that’s here and re-converting it or taking advantage of the various federal and state programs to build new affordable residences,” he said. On the public side, a number of large-scale projects are on the way, including the expansion of the Port of Miami. [GlobeSt]
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Bilzin Sumberg attorney John Sumberg, a real estate heavyweight, said he is seeing a huge influx of South American investors from Brazil, Mexico and other countries. According to Sumberg, a Mexican firm recently came from Mexico and asked for help in acquiring a property in Miami Beach — foreign investors, he said, feel prices in South Florida are very low, and have significant upside. [Miami Herald]
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After losing several tenants to new buildings like 1450 Brickell,
downtown Miami’s Wachovia Financial Center has signed lease renewals and
some expansions with firms in deals worth a total of $17 million. Duane
Morris, one of America’s largest law firms, signed a seven-year renewal
for 22,822 square feet; Porsche Latin America signed a five-year lease
renewal and will expand its Latin American headquarters to 5,881 square
feet. Another law firm, Houck Anderson, signed an early renewal
extension for 10 years and 15,678 square feet, with an expansion of
1,445 square feet. The most notable tenant to relocate from Wachovia was
law
firm Bilzin Sumberg, which signed a lease for 80,000 square feet at
1450 Brickell. [SFBJ]
A mid-December sale has cracked the top 10 commercial sales of the year in South Florida, it was announced today. (Click here to see the rest of the biggest commercial sales of 2010.) The landmark Miami Tower sold for $105.5 million in a deal that closed this past Friday. Perhaps the most recognizable office tower in Miami, the 600,000-square-foot building, designed by architect I.M. Pei, was featured in the opening credits of “Miami Vice.” Marketing for the tower began in September, and by the end of October the seller, Blue Capital U.S. East Properties, had chosen buyer I & G Miami over another unnamed bidder. Bilzin Sumberg attorney Carey Stiss, who represented Blue Capital, said the deal happened in an especially short time, given the logistical issues for purchasing a tower of this size. [more]
Not so long ago, banks were the prime tenants in Brickell and the downtown Miami corridor. But the recession has those banks in retreat, leaving a number of high-profile law firms as the anchor tenants in a rapidly filling downtown office market. “The reason there is a lot of attention now to law firms is that in our market, we don’t really have lots of enormous corporate headquarters,” said John Sumberg, managing partner at Bilzin Sumberg, which signed a 15-year lease for 80,000 square feet at 1450 Brickell. “The financial institutions really backed out of the market when the financial crisis occurred, and they stopped leasing, stopped expanding, stopped going to new space. So the law firms became the prime tenants in the market.”
[more]
Rick Scott
After a campaign that paid little attention to the housing market, real estate professionals are looking to see what the election of Republican Rick Scott as governor will mea [more]
A look at CREW Miami’s “Thinking Outside the Retail Box” event last week
From left: Suzanne Amaducci-Adams, president of CREW-Miami; Holly Cohen of J Crew; Michael Comras of the Comras Companies; Joy Medlock of Jones Lang LaSalle; Mindy McElroy of TerranovaTop real estate executives gathered in Miami last week for a panel discussion on the current retail market hosted by Commercial Real Estate Women at the InterContinental Hotel. Speakers included Holly Cohen, senior vice president of real estate at J Crew; Michael Comras, principal at the Comras Companies; and Mindy McElroy, executive vice president at Terranova. To submit your event photos for The Real Deal South Florida’s newest feature, “The Photo Gallery,” e-mail southfloridanews@therealdeal.com. TRD
