Jenny Bernell Nabs Construction Loan for Wynwood Apartments

Jenny Bernell’s Clearline Real Estate scored an $89 million construction loan for a 310-unit apartment project in Wynwood.

Clearline will start construction of the 12-story 2000 Wynwood on a 1.4-acre site at 2000 and 2010 North Miami Avenue and 2021 and 2025 Northwest Miami Court in Miami, according to records.

Little Rock, Arkansas-based Bank OZK provided the $65.3 million senior loan, records show. PGIM Real Estate is the lender for the $24 million mezzanine loan, according to a source.

Designed by Leo Daly Architects, 2000 Wynwood will consist of all market-rate apartments and 12,500 square feet of retail.

Clearline bought the development site for $19.1 million in 2022.

Bernell started Clearline, which is based in Miami and New York, in 2021 after working for New York-based Kushner Companies, including as EVP of development, for about seven years.

Her other Miami projects include the 24-story, 427-unit Excel Miami Apartments that are under construction in the Arts & Entertainment District. In November, Clearline scored a $94.5 million construction loan for the project at 1550 Northeast Miami Place in Miami.

Wynwood has become a magnet for multifamily developers in recent years. This year, Oak Row Equities, L&L Holding Company, Shorenstein and Claure Group completed the mixed-use Wynwood Plaza, including a 12-story, 509-unit apartment building.

Developers also have seized on the Live Local Act, which allows for bigger buildings than permitted by a site’s zoning as long as developers include apartments at workforce and affordable rents.

Many of the proposed Live Local projects in Wynwood would surpass the 12-story maximum height allowed in the neighborhood. Brooklyn-based LivWrk wants to build a 1,363-unit Live Local Act apartment project with three 45-story towers on the northwest corner of North Miami Avenue and Northwest 24th Street. Also, former Los Angeles Dodgers player Alex Guerrero plans a 41-story, 234-unit Live Local tower in the Wynwood Norte neighborhood that’s north of Wynwood.