Aimco scored a $228 million financing package to develop a 114-unit apartment tower in Miami’s Edgewater, as construction loans keep flowing in South Florida.
The Denver-based real estate investment trust landed a $172 million senior construction loan from Apollo Global Management, and $56 million in preferred equity from partner Sixth Street, according to news releases from Aimco and Sixth Street. New York-based Apollo is led by CEO Marc Rowan, and San Francisco-based Sixth Street is led by CEO Alan Waxman. Marcos Alvarado leads U.S. Real Estate for Sixth Street.
The 38-story project will rise on a 1.1-acre development site at 560-640 Northeast 34th Street in Miami. That’s immediately south of Aimco’s 28-story, 276-unit Hamilton rental tower at 555 Northeast 34th Street.
The planned tower will include about 7,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, and apartments will average 2,500 square feet, the release says. It was formerly called Hamilton House, though Aimco hasn’t yet picked a new name, the firm said through a spokesperson.
Aimco has been working on the project for at least two years, facing hurdles along the way.
After first submitting an application for a 60-story, 241-unit tower in 2022, the Miami Urban Development Review Board voted against the proposal later that year, with one board member citing “major issues” with the design. Last year, the condominium associations for nearby Bay Park Towers and Charter Club took issue with the project and filed letters asking the city to scrap eight waivers it had granted the tower. The waivers would have allowed Aimco to max out the project size, leading to “profoundly negative” effects on nearby residential condos, an attorney for the Charter Club wrote in a letter to the city.
Aimco’s latest plan shows the firm tweaked the project size down to 38 stories and 114 units.
“The project was sized to deliver a boutique luxury experience for residents,” Aimco said in an email.
Led by CEO Wes Powell, Aimco has made hefty investments in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
It’s seeking to cash out of some of its holdings. This year, Aimco listed its 32-story Brickell Bay Office Tower at 1001 Brickell Bay Drive, and adjacent 31-story, 357-unit Yacht Club Apartments at 1111 Brickell Bay Drive in Miami’s Brickell for $650 million. The 4.3-acre site offers redevelopment potential of more than 3.1 million square feet across several supertalls with condos, hotel keys, offices, retail or a combination of these.
Aimco also is listing the Hamilton apartment tower for an undisclosed price. It paid $89.6 million for the building in 2020, completing renovations and leasing it up last year.
The Hamilton has an annual net operating income of $10 million and a $101 million debt balance, according to Aimco’s investor presentation filed this month. The Yacht Club has an $11 million annual NOI and an $80 million debt balance, and Brickell Bay Office Tower has an $8 million NOI and an $81 million debt balance.
For its other planned developments, Aimco plans a 204-unit project at 510-532 Northeast 34th Street, and is joint venturing with a partner on a 650-unit apartment project at 3333 Biscayne Boulevard in Miami’s Edgewater, according to the firm’s February filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In Fort Lauderdale, Aimco and Kushner Companies are partnering on a 900-plus-unit residential project at 300 Broward Boulevard. In Fort Lauderdale’s Flagler Village neighborhood, Aimco plans a three-phase project across nearly 9 acres with over 1,000 apartments, additional hotel keys and commercial space.
South Florida apartment and condo construction lending has continued, despite elevated interest rates and economic headwinds.
This month, the Pérez family’s Related Group and Integra Investments landed a $527 million loan to build the 50-story, 152-unit St. Regis Residences, Miami, condo at 1809 Brickell Avenue in Miami. Last month, 13th Floor Investments scored an $83 million construction loan for the five-story, 398-unit Parks at Hallandale garden-style apartment complex at 2002 Pembroke Road in Hallandale Beach.