Lissette Calderon’s Miami River apartment project scores refi amid multifamily distress

As multifamily landlords and developers face a distressed market, Lissette Calderon scored fixed-rate refinancing for a Miami River apartment building.

New York-based Apollo Asset Management provided the $54.5 million loan to Calderon’s Miami-based Neology Development Group, a press release states. The fixed-rate mortgage is for five years and is secured by Pier 19 Residences & Marina, a 21-story tower with 199 units at 1951 Northwest South River Drive. 

A Berkadia team led by Charles Foschini and Christopher Apone arranged the refinancing on behalf of Neology, the release states. The Apollo mortgage replaces a $52 million bridge loan Neology obtained in 2021, records show. 

In 2018, Neology paid $61 million for the property, which at the time was a failed condominium project called River Oaks Tower & Marina. The same year, Calderon renamed the project and converted the building to luxury rentals after a $2 million renovation. 

Roughly 95 percent occupied, Pier 19 offers one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with asking rents ranging from $2,300 to $4,500 a month, the release states.

In a statement, Foschini said Pier 19’s refinancing gives Neology financial resources to free up capital for the firm’s other projects. In recent years, Calderon has set her sights on Allapattah, where Neology has three multifamily developments.

In 2022, Neology landed a $57.5 million construction loan for Fourteen Residences Allapattah, a planned two-building complex with 237 units at 1470 Northwest 36th Street. Berkadia also arranged the financing, which was provided by Churchill Real Estate. 

Neology recently completed The Julia, a 14-story building with 323 apartments at 1625 Northwest 20th Street that was built with a $78.2 million construction loan. And in 2021, Calderon’s firm completed No. 17 Residences, a 13-story building with 192 apartments at 1569 Northwest 17th Avenue. 

South Florida’s multifamily market is experiencing some upheaval after record high demand and asking rents in 2021 and 2022 resulting from an influx of new Florida residents during the pandemic. Since last year, apartment building owners have felt a profit squeeze as result of rising interest rates and property insurance premiums, as well as lower cash flow as rents have plateaued or begun declining.