The Fed lowered rates and real estate is loving it, JPMorgan dives into Miami affordable housing: Daily digest

Every day, The Real Deal rounds up South Florida’s biggest real estate news, from breaking news and scoops to announcements and deals. We update this page throughout the day. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com

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Investor interest in real estate deals has climbed since the Fed first started cutting rates in July, through to its third and latest round of cuts announced Wednesday. The Fed’s move to drop interest rates to a range of between 1.5 percent and 1.75 percent also makes financing cheaper, leading to more real estate deals closing. [TRD]

JPMorgan Chase plans to invest $5 million to develop affordable housing in South Florida in areas near the Florida East Coast Railway transit stations and in Opportunity Zones. The total investment is expected to generate $75 million in affordable and resilient housing investments, according to the financial institution. [TRD]

Mana Group unveiled plans for its downtown Miami project, giving a rare glimpse of the first buildings that the development firm is working to renovate or rebuild. A map, designed by Zyscovich Architects and shared by Mana Group at a community meeting on Tuesday, highlights 11 buildings between Southeast First Street and North Miami Avenue that would be delivered between the first quarter of 2021 and the fourth quarter of 2024. [TRD]

As 2019 draws to a close, occupancy rates and revenue growth are sliding amid a hotel boom that is adding nearly 14,000 rooms to the Miami and Orlando metro markets, according to a recently released report. Released last week during Marcus & Millichap’s annual hotel investment forum, the report predicts that “the magnitude of supply additions” will contribute to softer occupancy and revenue growth in the coming year. [TRD]

Inside Kushner Companies’ $1B expansion into South Florida. Since the start of the year, the firm has rolled out plans to build three major apartment projects in Miami and Fort Lauderdale that will bring a total of 3,000 units – at a time when condo development has nearly ground to a halt and when the area’s multifamily market has already delivered more than 10,000 units over the past year. [TRD]

Barneys’ creditors are still holding out hope that an underdog bidder will keep the iconic luxury retailer’s doors open. Ahead of a Halloween-day hearing to finalize the sale of Barneys, the retailer’s unsecured creditors demanded to review a second acquisition bid that would save the department store. But it is unknown whether the bid will even come in before the hearing. [TRD]

Renderings of 2000 Ocean

Shahab Karmely’s KAR Properties released new renderings of 2000 Ocean. The Hallandale Beach development, which launched sales of the luxury condos in 2017, is going vertical after completing a construction pour earlier this year. The 38-story building, with interiors by Minotti and minotticucine, was designed by Enrique Norten of TEN Arquitectos. It’s expected to be completed in early 2021.

Aaron’s former chairman and CEO is taking townhouses to the auction block. Charles Smithgall wants to sell two condos he owns in Palm Beach, previously listed for $5.6 million and $5.1 million, via auction. Smithgall, who also bought a Palm Beach house earlier this year for $8.15 million, tapped B6 Real Estate Advisors’ Jeff Hubbard, James Cote, Katherine DeCoste and Christian Koulichkov to sell the two townhouses at 419 and 421 Brazilian Avenue.

An NCAA decision Tuesday means college athletes nationwide could soon be allowed to earn compensation for endorsement deals. The landmark decision is a stark reversal of the collegiate sports association’s decades-long stance against compensation for athletes. The NCAA’s governing board directed its three divisions to make changes to compensation rules by no later than January 2021. [TRD]

A group of co-living and short-term rental operators and developers discussed how their businesses are becoming a growing segment of South Florida’s multifamily market. Watch the panelists, who include Brian Lee of Common, Sonder’s Marley Dominguez, Brian Koles of PMG, and Ollie’s Andy Levin on co-living and other new housing trends targeting millennials recently at The Real Deal’s Sixth Annual Miami Showcase & Forum. [TRD]

Compiled by Katherine Kallergis