Clara Homes lands $54M construction loan for Bay Harbor Islands project, amid record South Florida multifamily pipeline

Clara Homes scored a $53.6 million construction loan for its Bay Harbor Islands multifamily project, advancing the development into its next stage. 

The deal comes as financing for South Florida developments continues to flow, amid a record pipeline of apartments. 

Miami-based Clara is developing its project with three six-story buildings with a total of 150 units on several non-contiguous lots in Bay Harbor Islands. 

The majority of the loan, or about $40 million, will be for the construction of the second building, which will have 45 units, at 1145-1163 100th Street. The site’s address will eventually be changed to 1155 100th Street, according to James Curnin, founder and CEO of Clara Homes. 

The balance of the financing will go toward pre-development of the third building, which will have 77 apartments, at 10200 and 10290 East Bay Harbor Drive.

Maxim Capital Group is the lender, Curnin said. Adam Schwartz and Aaron Appel of Walker & Dunlop represented Clara Homes.  

The first building, with 28 units, is under development at 10281 West Bay Harbor Drive. Last year, Clara Homes scored a $26 million construction loan for the building. 

In a bid to attract families who choose to live in Bay Harbor Islands, the development will have units averaging about 1,850 square feet, Curnin said. The apartments will range from two to five bedrooms. 

Construction of the first building is expected to be completed in December. Development has started on the second building, with completion slated for April 2026, according to Curnin. Construction of the third building will start in the first quarter of next year and is expected to be completed in December 2026. 

Clara Homes’ bet on South Florida’s multifamily market includes a plan for a Live Local Act project in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood. The firm wants to build an 18-story to 20-story building with about 150 apartments on the site of the Austin Burke menswear store at 2601 Northwest Sixth Avenue. 

The Live Local Act, a state law passed last year and tweaked this year, allows developers to build bigger buildings than permitted by sites’ zonings in exchange for designating at least 40 percent of the units for households earning no more than 120 percent of the area median income. The apartments have to stay at below-market rents for at least 30 years. 

Developers have continued to score construction loans for their projects, despite elevated interest rates that make financing more expensive. This month, 13th Floor Investments landed $83 million to build the 398-unit Parks at Hallandale complex with seven five-story buildings at 2002 Pembroke Road in Hallandale Beach. Also, Newrock Partners and Brickbox Development scored a $60 million loan to build a seven-story, 165-unit apartment building at 3411 North Federal Highway in Oakland Park. 

As a whole, 23,863 apartments are expected to be completed by year-end in South Florida, the biggest number since at least 2002, according to a Berkadia report.