Cora Merrick Park secures $67.5 million construction loan

Constellation Group and the Boschetti Group scored a $67.5 million construction loan for a wellness-focused condo project in Coral Gables two months after breaking ground.

BHI provided the financing for Cora Merrick Park, a 74-unit luxury condo development at 4241 Aurora Street, across from Shops at Merrick Park. Berkadia’s Miami office arranged the loan, with Scott Wadler and Matt Nihan leading the financing.

Construction began in April and is expected to wrap in 2028, a year later than originally projected. The project will rise on a 0.7-acre site that Constellation and Boschetti acquired for $6.1 million in 2022, records show.

The development is among the first residential projects in Miami seeking certification through the International Well Building Institute’s residential program, which focuses on health and wellness standards in housing. The project is also one of the latest examples of developers betting that affluent buyers will pay top-dollar for amenities centered on wellness.

The units will be priced from around $900,000 to more than $4 million for penthouses, with Douglas Elliman leading sales and marketing.

Residences will range from one-bedroom units to three-bedroom-plus-den penthouses. The project’s amenities will include a rooftop pool deck, yoga and meditation spaces, a fitness center and what developers say will be Coral Gables’ first rooftop padel court.

The development will also feature a 5,000-square-foot public park anchored by a sculpture from Catalan artist Jaume Plensa, which the developers plan to donate to the city.

The development team originally envisioned the Cora site as an apartment project before pivoting to condos, which have grown more in demand across South Florida. As higher interest rates and construction costs have made multifamily development more challenging, many developers have shifted toward condos, where presale deposits can help fill the equity stack and make construction financing easier to secure.

That doesn’t mean lenders are opening the floodgates. Construction financing remains difficult to obtain, particularly as South Florida’s condo market shows signs of slowing after several years of record-breaking growth.

The financing adds to a busy stretch for Berkadia’s Miami office. The brokerage secured more than $680 million in land acquisition, construction and condo inventory loans across South Florida this year and more than $1.7 billion over the past year.

Constellation, led by Eduardo Otaola, has become one of the most active luxury developers in Coral Gables and Coconut Grove. Together, Constellation and Boschetti are also behind Ella Miami Beach, a 95-unit condo project in North Beach.