13th Floor, JSB Nab $68M Davie Rentals Construction Loan

13th Floor Investments and JSB Capital Group scored a $67.5 million construction loan for a 383-unit apartment complex near Broward College in Davie.

Coconut Grove-based 13th Floor and Miami Beach-based JSB Capital plan the five-story Parks at Davie with some workforce apartments on the northwest corner of Davie Road and Southwest 37th Street, according to a 13th Floor news release. The developers lease the site from Broward College.

Santander Bank is the lender for the construction financing. Houston-based Marble Capital made a preferred equity investment for an undisclosed amount.

Peter Mekras led the Aztec Group team that represented the developers in the loan and equity investment.

Parks at Davie will consist of studios and one- to three-bedroom apartments, with units ranging from 568 square feet to 1,415 square feet. It will include 6,200 square feet of retail and co-working space.

About 77 of the units will be at workforce rents, according to a 13th Floor spokesperson. The targeted area median income will be determined when the project is closer to completion.

Construction will start this month, and is expected to be completed in 2027, the release says.

13th Floor, led by Arnaud Karsenti, has completed about 3,900 residential units since its founding in 2008 and has more than 4,800 units in the pipeline, according to the release.

In July, the firm completed the 420-unit Savio apartment complex at 1874 Heron Club Drive in Delray Beach. The Ardid family’s Key International, Wexford Real Estate Investors and CDS International Holdings partnered with 13th Floor on Savio, which marked the first phase of their Parks at Delray development slated for a total of 693 apartments and 54 townhouses.

In Hallandale Beach, 13th Floor is developing the five-story, 398-unit Parks at Hallandale apartment complex at 2002 Pembroke Road.

JSB, led by J. Jay Lobell, is a private equity and alternative investment firm that focuses on real estate, according to its website. It has ramped up its South Florida investment in recent years.

In December, JSB paid $69 million for the 197-unit Stellar at Emerald Hills apartment complex at 5800-5840 Lakeshore Drive in Dania Beach. JSB also bought the Havn Residences & Yacht Club condo complex with 36 units and 54 boat slips at 176 Lake Drive in Palm Beach Shores for $58.5 million in 2023.

The Parks at Davie construction loan comes as South Florida faces a multifamily supply overhang. Developers completed a record 18,600 apartments last year, outpacing 15,000 new leases signed, according to CoStar Group data. That’s led to slower lease-ups, an increase in concessions and a slight decrease in rents. South Florida’s median rent dropped by nearly 2 percent in February, year-over-year, a Realtor.com report shows.

Demand is expected to catch up to supply this year and next year due to a slowdown of construction starts.

South Florida multifamily construction lending continues to flow. This month, TM Real Estate landed $53.5 million to build the 250-unit Shalimar at Boynton Beach complex at 3570 West Boynton Beach Boulevard in Boynton Beach. That came on the heels of Savanna scoring a $380 million construction loan for the two 26-story Olara project with 170 apartments and 287 condos at 1919 North Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach.