Empira plans 310-unit tower in Brickell

Empira Group bought a Brickell development site with plans to build a 26-story multifamily tower, marking the Swiss company’s second project in Miami after its debut last summer. 

The firm, in partnership with Grand Peaks Properties, purchased the 1-acre site at 901 Southwest Third Avenue and 244 Southwest Ninth Street, according to an Empira news release. The price was $21.5 million, sources told The Real Deal. 

Virgilio Fernandez of Colliers represented the seller, Progesti Corporation, led by Jose Nunez. 

Empira will lead the development of a 310-unit apartment building with 2,500 square feet of ground-floor retail and 380 parking spaces, according to the firm. The Corwil Architects-designed project will offer studios, as well as one- to three-bedroom apartments.

The property now consists of a pair of three-story apartment buildings, completed in 1962 and 1963, with a combined 68 units, according to records. A few tenants remain, according to Fernandez. 

Construction is expected to start early next year, with completion slated for 2026, the release says. 

The planned project, as well as Empira’s involvement in the purchase and development, mark a turnaround from a previous vision for the site. 

In September, Grand Peaks submitted a proposal to the Miami Urban Development Review Board for a 26-story multifamily building — but with 250 units. It was dubbed Empire Brickell. Grand Peaks had the site under contract, according to the application. 

Now, Empira will lead the development. The firm declined to comment on whether — or to what extent — Grand Peaks will be involved in the project.

Simon Banke of JLL structured the Empira-Grand Peaks partnership for the site purchase. 

Empira, based in Zug, Switzerland, is a private equity and debt investment manager focused on residential real estate in German-speaking parts of Europe. It invests primarily on behalf of German institutions such as pension funds, insurance firms and banks, Rafael Aregger, Empira’s head of investments in the U.S., told TRD in August. 

At that time, the company made its first foray into South Florida, paying $9 million for a multifamily development site at 3025 and 3051 Southwest Third Avenue in Miami’s Roads neighborhood. Empira plans an 85-unit boutique multifamily project on the site, which is a mile and a half from the firm’s Brickell property. 

Grand Peaks, led by co-founders Luke and Nick Simpson, is a multifamily buyer, developer and manager, according to its website. Among its other Miami-Dade County holdings is the 264-unit Cascades at the Hammocks apartment complex at 10605 Hammocks Boulevard in the Hammocks area. Grand Peaks bought the property for $63 million in 2021. 

Progesti, the seller, had put the two-lot property on the market in 2021, along with a nearby lot at 180 Southwest Ninth Street. At the time, the broker told TRD the three lots could fetch more than $25 million, combined. 

Since then, prices for development sites in Miami’s urban core have hit a whirlwind. They skyrocketed in the first half of last year, peaking at $39.9 million per acre in the second quarter, according to Real Capital Analytics data provided by Colliers. At the time, South Florida was still at the peak of residential and business influx, creating high demand for buildable land. 

But amid interest rate hikes and expensive borrowing costs, land prices dropped to $19.3 million per acre in the fourth quarter of last year. 

That means Empira and Grand Peaks’ $21.5 million purchase for the 1-acre property is slightly more than the average per-acre price of late last year.

The Brickell property now consists of a pair of three-story apartment buildings, completed in 1962 and 1963, with a combined 68 units, according to records. A few tenants remain, according to Fernandez. 

Empira’s project will add to the quickly redeveloping area of west Brickell. 

Directly south of the project site, the Pérez family’s Related Group, through its affordable and workforce housing arm Related Urban Development Group, is building the 29-story Gallery at West Brickell apartment tower and a seven-story school, Southside K-8 Center. The project, at 201 Southwest 10th Street and 945 Southwest Third Avenue, is rising on land owned by Miami-Dade County. Of the 465 apartments, over 160 will be workforce and affordable housing. 

A block west of Empire Brickell, at 180 Southwest Ninth Street, newly formed development firm Westpine Partners wants to build a 43-story, 328-unit apartment tower at 160 and 180 Southwest Ninth Street.