Richman breaks ground on Edgewater rentals with $59M loan

Rendering of Biscayne 27
Rendering of Biscayne 27

Multifamily developer the Richman Group just broke ground on an apartment building in Edgewater with a nearly $58.6 million construction loan, property records show.

Bank of America provided the financing to Richman affiliate Biscayne Apartments LLC for Biscayne 27. The 330-unit building will feature a sixth-floor amenity deck, about 9,600 square feet of retail on the ground floor, a parking garage, courtyard, pool and spa, according to a notice of commencement filed Monday. It will have eight stories of apartments and a five-story garage.

At this stage in the cycle, multifamily lending is still relatively stable, Bilzin Sumberg partner Suzanne Amaducci told The Real Deal in its March issue. “The best-positioned deals by far are mature, stabilized projects that are seeking to refinance with low leverage,” she said. Fewer construction loans for rental projects have closed in recent months, compared to the rush of new development seen in 2015 and early 2016.

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Richman closed on the 15-parcel, 2.1-acre development site for nearly $30 million in May of last year. The seller at the time was Encore Capital Management, led by Nitin Motwani. Encore planned to market the site for a high-rise development, but changed plans to a mid-rise complex to attract buyers.

Greenwich, Connecticut-based Richman is the seventh largest owner of rental apartments in the United States, according to the company. It has developed about 20,000 residential units in the country, and recently completed two projects in South Florida, Azura in Kendall and Portico in Sunrise. 

Richman could not immediately be reached for comment. First Florida of South Miami is the project’s general contractor.