Jenny Bernell’s Clearline Real Estate landed a $94.5 million construction financing package to build an apartment project in Miami’s Arts & Entertainment District, as South Florida experiences a record multifamily pipeline.
Clearline, based in Miami and New York, plans the 24-story Excel Miami Apartments with 427 units at 1550 Northeast Miami Place. The project will consist of studios, as well as one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments, and also will include 13 townhouse loft units.
Conway, Arkansas-based Centennial Bank provided a $68.5 million senior loan, with the bank’s Jay Brito handling the financing. Southern Realty Trust and its affiliate, Sunrise Realty Trust, lent a $26 million subordinate loan, each one holding a $13 million portion of the financing, according to Southern Realty’s news release.
Southern Realty is a commercial real estate lender formed last year, and publicly traded Sunrise Realty is a commercial real estate institutional lender, their websites say. The companies, based in the same West Palm Beach office, focus on properties in the Southeast.
Bernell founded Clearline in 2021 after working for New York-based Kushner Companies for nearly seven years, including as executive vice president of development. In 2022, Clearline paid $19.8 million for the roughly 0.9-acre Excel development site in an Opportunity Zone.
Clearline also owns the 1.4-acre assemblage at 2000 North Miami Avenue and 2021 Northwest Miami Court in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood. The firm paid $19.1 million for it in 2022. The site’s zoning allows for a 12-story project with 310 units. Clearline also is a partner in the Urby-branded, 289-unit apartment project at 26-60 Northeast 27th Street in Wynwood.
South Florida’s multifamily market boomed from late 2020 through 2022 due to an influx of out-of-state residents, creating unprecedented demand and record rent hikes. The boom prompted developers to start new projects, with nearly 26,300 units completed in 2022 and 2023, according to CoStar Group. By year-end, developers are expected to complete a record 23,863 apartments in South Florida, a Berkadia report says.
The hefty new supply and a slowdown of the pipeline of out-of-staters has led to a drop in rents. The tri-county region’s median monthly rent was $2,376 last month, a 4 percent drop, year-over-year, and a 7.2 percent drop from October 2022, according to Redfin data published in the Miami Herald.
Some developers are continuing to secure construction financing for projects, homing in on in-demand neighborhoods.
In September, Denver-based Aimco scored a $172 million senior construction loan and $56 million in preferred equity from partner Sixth Street for a 38-story, 114-unit apartment tower at 560-640 Northeast 34th Street in Miami’s Edgewater. Also, 13th Floor Investments landed an $83 million construction loan for the five-story, 398-unit Parks at Hallandale rental complex with workforce housing at 2002 Pembroke Road in Hallandale Beach.