Ram acquires Doral site from Salvadoran billionaire family member

A rendering of the Residences at Intercontinental
A rendering of the Residences at Intercontinental

On the heels of selling a newly completed apartment community in downtown Boca Raton, Ram, a real estate development, management and investment company, has closed on a new development site, records show. And the seller is tied to a Salvadoran billionaire family. 

Development site in Doral, and Ram CEO Casey Cummings

Development site in Doral, and Ram CEO Casey Cummings

Ram Columbia Doral, an affiliate of the Palm Beach Gardens-based company, paid $19 million for the 17-acre property at 2520 and 2611 Northwest 84th Avenue. Avante Limited, tied to Transal Corp., was the seller, according to Miami-Dade County records. Eduardo Poma is listed on the seller’s corporate records.

The Poma family of El Salvador owns Grupo Poma, an automotive, real estate, industrial and hotel company. Salvadoran billionaire Ricardo Poma was an original investor in Bain Capital.

Ram, which operates in the Southeastern United States, also closed on $48 million in financing for the parcels. PNC Bank is the lender. The firm has plans for a 332-unit, Class-A garden apartment community on the site, according to a press release. The one, two and three-bedroom units will be spread throughout 13 three-story buildings. Amenities will include two pools, green space, a gym, business lounge and condo-quality finishes.

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The development site surrounds a cul de sac. The InterContinental at Doral Miami Hotel, at 2505 Northwest 87th Avenue, is sandwiched by the two properties. The hotel was not included in the sale. Previous sales information for the properties was not available.

KAST Construction will break ground this month. Units will be delivered in early 2017, according to Ram.

“The whole purpose of this project is to provide Class-A apartment opportunities for people who work in Doral,” Hugo Pacanins, managing director of residential development at Ram, said in a statement. “People commute from all corners of south Florida to work in Doral, creating immense traffic problems. Intercontinental Village will help alleviate those issues.”

Doral has seen an influx of big name tenants and new developments this cycle. Its urban transformation includes the of addition two mixed-use, master-planned communities: Downtown Doral, developed by Codina Partners, and CityPlace Doral, developed by the Related Group, Shoma Homes and Prudential. Sergio Pino’s Century Homebuilders Group is also planning a mixed-use development, Midtown Doral, a four-phase development near the corner of Northwest 107th Avenue and Northwest 74th Street.

Last week, Ram sold the Mark at Cityscape, a 12-story apartment complex with retail and parking, for nearly $82 million. Ram could not immediately be reached for comment.