From left: Michael Adler, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Adler Group, Inc., Arnaud Karsenti, Managing Principal, 13th Floor Investments and Ted Lerner, Real Estate Developer & Owner of the Washington Nationals (Adler Group, 13th Floor Investments and Barings)
The billionaire family that owns the Washington Nationals bought an apartment tower near Dadeland Mall for $114 million, marking continued investor appetite for multifamily projects amid a robust market.
Rockville, Maryland-based Lerner Enterprises acquired the Motion at Dadeland at 8400 South Dixie Highway in Miami, according to a news release. The joint venture of Motion developers Adler Group, 13th Floor Investments and Barings, sold the building.
Avery Klann of Newmark represented the sellers, and Rob Carey and Ted Taylor of JLL represented the buyer.
The deal for the 25-story, 294-unit property breaks down to $387,755 per apartment.
Motion, completed in 2019, offers studios as well as one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Amenities include a pool and gym. The building also has 8,000 square feet of retail space.
It’s 99 percent leased at market-rate rents, according to the release. Monthly rents range from $2,465 to $4,218 for one-bedroom units, and from $3,079 to $4,788 for two-bedroom units, according to Apartments.com.
Motion is steps away from the Dadeland North Metrorail station. It was developed as part of a public-private partnership with Miami-Dade County, which is pushing for more residential projects near public transportation stops. The push is in part a way to alleviate traffic congestion and cut residents’ car-related costs.
Adler, 13th Floor and Barings scored a $50 million construction loan for the tower in 2016.
This is not Adler and 13th Floor’s first transit-oriented development near a Metrorail station in partnership with the county. The developers, both based in Miami, are building the Link at Douglas near the Douglas Road stop. One apartment tower is completed, and construction on a second is expected to wrap up in 2022. Adler, led by Michael and David Adler, and 13th Floor, led by Arnaud Karsenti, are planning additional apartments, as well as retail and offices space at the Link.
Their Motion development partner, Barings, is a global investment management behemoth with more than $387 billion in assets under management, according to its website. Barings, whose parent is Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Lerner Enterprises, founded in 1952 by Ted Lerner, is an office, residential, retail, hotel and mixed-use developer and manager that has largely focused on the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, according to its website. Its website lists no other South Florida residential properties.
Ted Lerner is a former managing principal owner of the Washington Nationals professional baseball team. He ceded the role in 2018 to his son, Mark Lerner. Forbes pegs Ted Lerner’s net worth at $4.8 billion.
Lerner Enterprises’ purchase of Motion is the second deal this month for apartments near Dadeland Mall. Barry Sternlicht’s Starwood Property Trust paid $371.1 million for the two-tower Palmer Dadeland, marking the biggest South Florida apartment deal this year.