Aimco’s spinoff Air Communities pays $211M for bayfront Edgewater rental tower

Aimco’s spinoff Air Communities scooped up a bayfront apartment tower in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood for $211 million.

Air Communities, or Apartment Income REIT, bought the 296-unit Watermarc at Biscayne Bay on the northeast corner of North Bayshore Drive and Northeast 21st Street, according to the buyer’s June investor presentation filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing listed the price.

The deal breaks down to $712,838 per unit.

Mill Creek Residential, with offices in Boca Raton and Dallas, sold the 28-story building at 2150 North Bayshore Drive after completing it last year. It was built on an almost 2-acre property that includes the former site lot of Edgewater landmark Unity on the Bay, according to property records. The church has since moved nearby to 137 Northeast 19th Street.

Mill Creek, led by CEO William MacDonald, bought the development site in 2019 for $29.9 million, deeds show. The purchase came shortly after the developer had secured city approval in October 2018 for the project, billed as a $120 million investment, and originally named Moderna Biscayne Bay.

The tower has a rooftop pool, 24/7 gym, a yoga studio, virtual fitness classes, a 27th-floor clubroom and skydeck, bike storage, grilling areas, catering kitchen, a garage and retail space, according to Watermarc’s website. The units are equipped with technology allowing for remote locking and access.

Watermarc offers 993-square-foot one-bedroom, two-bath units starting at $3,900 a month; and 1,215-square-foot two-bedroom, two-bath units starting at $4,800, the property’s website says.

The purchase marks the third multifamily property that AIR, led by CEO Terry Considine, now owns in the area.

South of Watermarc and in the Arts & Entertainment District, AIR owns the 39-story, 471-unit Bay Parc apartment tower at 1756 North Bayshore Drive, property records show. Both Bay Parc and Watermarc are near Margaret Pace Park.

Shortly before Denver-based Aimco spun off its apartment communities into Air in 2020, Aimco paid $89.6 million for the Hamilton on the Bay apartment tower, developed by Carnival Cruise Line founder Ted Arison, at 555 Northeast 34th Street in Edgewater. The deal included a nearby vacant lot and an adjacent small rental building. Last year, Aimco canceled the leases at the 28-story, 271-unit building that had been in some disrepair, and then went on a shopping spree, scooping up additional properties along 34th Street.

In May, Aimco filed plans for a 60-story, 241-unit waterfront rental tower on a site across from Hamilton on the Bay. Air’s website now lists the Hamilton as one of its communities.

The South Florida multifamily market is booming. High demand has allowed for skyrocketing rents and prompted investment and development interest.

Also in Edgewater, New York-based Kushner Companies, in partnership with PTM Partners, plans a three-tower mixed-use project with about 1,300 apartments at 2000 and 1900 Biscayne Boulevard.

Russell Galbut’s Crescent Heights is developing the 39-story, 588-unit Nema with a Whole Foods retail anchor at 2900 Biscayne Boulevard.

Overall, more than a dozen projects with a total of roughly 6,000 rental and condo units are on tap in Edgewater.