Kushner brings on PTM Partners for Opportunity Zone rental towers in Miami

OZ-focused PTM Partners joined as a 50-50 partner

PTM Partners' Michael Tillman and Nicholas Pantuliano with Kushner's Laurent Morali and Nicole Kushner with renderings of the project (PTM Partners, Kushner)
PTM Partners' Michael Tillman and Nicholas Pantuliano with Kushner's Laurent Morali and Nicole Kushner with renderings of the project (PTM Partners, Kushner)

PTM Partners joined Kushner Companies as a joint venture partner in a major multifamily development in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood.

PTM, an Opportunity Zone-focused real estate development firm based in Miami, is now a 50-50 partner in the three-tower planned development at 2000 Biscayne Boulevard, where Kushner has been planning a 1,300-unit, phased project, according to the two firms. Mo Beler of Walker & Dunlop represented Kushner in the deal.

The site is in a federally designated Opportunity Zone, which provides tax incentives to developers and investors that invest in them.

The developers plan to break ground on the first building, with 36 stories and 420 multifamily units, in the fourth quarter, according to a release. Leasing would begin in the first quarter of 2023, and the building is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2024.

New York-based Kushner, led by Charles Kushner, Nicole Kushner Meyer and Laurent Morali, closed on the 0.8-acre property this summer.

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Amenities in the first building, designed by Miami architect Kobi Karp, will include a pool deck with grills and a Zen garden, a fitness center with a yoga room, outdoor boxing and CrossFit, a spa and dry sauna, a recording studio and more.

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Michael Tillman, CEO and chief investment officer of PTM, said in a statement that the project will “elevate the local rental market while delivering both financial and social returns.”

The $165 million multifamily project now has more units that are about 10 percent smaller on average than originally designed, and it will include more studios than before.

Kushner closed on two loans totaling $127 million for the project more than a month ago, including a $75 million leasehold mortgage from Valley National Bank and a $52 million mortgage from AIG Asset Management.

The developer plans to build two additional towers at 1900 Biscayne Boulevard in Miami, on property it has not yet purchased.

Both firms have been active in South Florida. PTM, led by Tillman, Nicholas Pantuliano and Scott Meyer, recently built an 18-story apartment project in an Opportunity Zone in Miami’s Overtown neighborhood with its partner Estate Investments Group.

In Fort Lauderdale, Kushner is partnering with the publicly traded real estate investment trust Aimco on a massive downtown Fort Lauderdale development. The planned 3-million-square-foot, mixed-use project on Broward Boulevard is expected to have 1,300 apartments, office, retail and a hotel.

Kushner is also building the mixed-use Wynd 27 and Wynd 28 developments in Wynwood with its partner Block Capital Group.