Overtown Opportunity Zone project snags $55M loan

PTM Partners and Estate Investments Group are building Soleste Grand Central, a 360-unit, 18-story apartment building

Michael Tillman and Soleste Grand Central
Michael Tillman and Soleste Grand Central

UPDATED, Aug. 9, 1:25 p.m.: Michael Tillman’s PTM Partners and Estate Investments Group scored a $55 million loan from Bank OZK to build an 18-story apartment project in an Opportunity Zone in Overtown.

The developers are building Soleste Grand Central, a 360-unit multifamily building at 218 Northwest Eighth Street in Miami near the MiamiCentral train station.

The project will be a mix of affordable housing and luxury apartments. Forty units, or 11 percent, will be set aside for affordable housing. The project has already broken ground and is expected to go vertical this fall.

The development group also secured about $18 million in mezzanine financing from Nationwide Real Estate Investments, in addition to the construction loan.

The deal marks one of the first construction loans given to an Opportunity Zone project in South Florida.

The federal program gives tax incentives to developers and investors who invest in distressed areas throughout the country. Many developers have expressed interest in the program, but few have actually started putting shovels in the ground and building projects.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

By signing up, you agree to TheRealDeal Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.

The deal also shows how banks and lenders will look to finance Opportunity Zone sites.

Bilzin Sumberg’s Alexandra Lehson, Jay Sakalo and Jon Chassen represented PTM Partners and Estate Investments Group in securing and closing the financing for Soleste Grand Central. JLL’s Brian Gaswirth, Chris Drew, and Manny De Zarraga helped arrange the financing.

“The development team’s ability to secure capital for Soleste Grand Central underscores the strong demand for both multifamily investments in Miami’s urban core and the tax benefits derived from long-term investments within Opportunity Zones,” Bilzin Sumberg’s Lehson, Sakalo, and Chassen said in a statement.

Monthly rents at Soleste Grand Central will be about $1,950 for a one-bedroom, which is less than comparable rents of other Class A apartments in Brickell or downtown Miami, Tillman previously told The Real Deal. The group paid $9.7 million for the site earlier this year.

Estate Investments Group, led by Robert Suris, has completed and sold more than $200 million in residential real estate assets in the past two years, according to a press release. It’s also developing the 200-unit Soleste Bay Village in an Opportunity Zone site in Palmetto Bay.

The lender, Little Rock, Arkansas-based Bank OZK, has become one of the more active construction lenders in South Florida, NYC and Los Angeles. Last year, the $23 billion asset bank made a $558 million construction loan to Jules Trump’s The Estates at Acqualina, a condo project with two 50-story towers at 17901 Collins Avenue in Sunny Isles Beach.