Three years after scoring approval for a 285-unit multifamily project in Pompano Beach, Art Falcone opted to sell the development site for $13.5 million.
AMAC, led by Ivan and Maurice Kaufman, and Coral Gables-based ROVR Development bought the 6.2-acre property at 3151-3251 North Federal Highway, said Jeremy Forman, vice president of acquisitions at AMAC. The buyers secured an $8.5 million loan for the purchase from New York-based Maxim Capital Group, records from real estate database Vizzda show.
The deal comes as South Florida multifamily real estate has turned from the sizzling hot market of the past four years. Many developers are pausing planned projects due to elevated interest rates, skyrocketing insurance and high construction costs. At the same time, an onslaught of new construction of the past four years and waning demand has led rents to plateau, or even drop in some submarkets.
Art Falcone, founder of Boca Raton-based firms Falcone Group and Encore Capital Management, said he sold the site as other lines of business are currently offering “better risk-adjusted returns” for his real estate firms. These include debt and equity investments into built-for-rent homes, master-planned residential developments and hospitality, Falcone said.
Falcone had paid $10.6 million for the site in 2022, according to records.
AMAC’s Forman declined to say whether the firm will pursue the already approved project on the Pompano Beach site.
In 2021, city commissioners greenlit Falcone’s proposal for a 285-unit apartment complex with three seven-story buildings and a garage. A site plan shows one of the buildings tapers down to four stories and two stories. The commission’s vote was to allocate 285 “flex” residential units to the site, which the city can do to increase development potential on a property without changing its zoning.
The project would consist of studios and one- to three-bedroom units, and include 4,400 square feet of commercial space, according to Vizzda records.
AMAC is part of the Arbor Family of Companies. Ivan Kaufman also is CEO of multifamily lender Arbor Realty Trust. Forman said AMAC and Arbor are separate companies.
ROVR is led by founding partners Oscar Rodriguez and Ricardo Vadia.
In South Florida, AMAC and ROVR are frequent multifamily development partners. The pair completed the eight-story, 402-unit Biscayne 112 apartment building at 11200 Biscayne Boulevard in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, near North Miami, in 2021.
In 2022, AMAC and ROVR scored a $67 million construction loan for the eight-story, 290-unit Arvella apartment project at 17990 West Dixie Highway in Aventura. That year, the pair also landed a $41 million construction loan for the eight-story, 180-unit Griffin 441 at 4465 Griffin Road in Hollywood. Both are under construction.