From the December issue: HFZ cancels Fasano condo project at the Shore Club hotel
HFZ Capital Group is canceling Fasano Residences Miami Beach, a 67-unit luxury condo project planned for the Shore Club hotel property, and returning buyers’ deposits. Sources said Fasano Residences was between 40 and 45 percent presold.
Douglas Elliman Florida CEO Jay Parker said that the delayed closure of the hotel was “sparking confusion” but that the developer was communicating with its buyers.
Rumors had swirled that Brazilian hospitality firm Fasano would no longer brand the development. Parker said early last month that HFZ was still connected to the flag, which it brought on in August 2015. Agents also complained that HFZ was difficult to reach, especially in recent months, and would not provide a timeline.
Fasano Residences joins projects like Auberge Residences & Spa Miami and H3 Hollywood that have been canceled this cycle due to the challenging condo market.
HFZ paid $175.3 million for the property at 1901 Collins Avenue in late 2013. In the meantime, the firm will determine whether it relaunches the project as planned or as a new development, Parker said. The hotel, which has been deteriorating in anticipation of the project, will keep operating.
The Security Building in downtown Miami and rendering of the new WeWork with Adam Neumann
WeWork to open flagship location in downtown Miami
WeWork finally has an opening date for its downtown Miami location, two years after inking a deal with the property’s owners.
The co-working firm will open its new location this month at the Security Building, a historic 15-story building at 117 Northeast First Avenue. WeWork signed a 15-year lease for the entire nearly 97,000-square-foot building. It will be WeWork’s fourth Miami-area location.
Sources previously told The Real Deal the Security Building site was being considered for a WeLive outpost, a co-living concept.
“We were definitely exploring different options, but with the resurgence of downtown Miami, we think this is a perfect space for WeWork,” said Adam Wacenske, the general manager for the company’s Southern region.
The location will have space for more than 1,200 WeWork members, including private offices, 17 nooks, 28 meeting rooms, 20 lounges, phone booths and event space.
Investors Andrew Joblon, Daniel Gohari, Rory Greenberg and Ricky Weisfisch acquired the building, also known as the Capital Lofts building, for about $25.5 million in 2015. It was built in 1926 and designated historic by the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
Jeff Greene and rendering of the Banyan Boulevard apartment building
Jeff Greene pulls plug on micro-unit development
Billionaire Jeff Greene has pulled back from what was to be West Palm Beach’s first foray into micro-apartments after concluding that the numbers don’t work.
“I was really excited after seeing a show about them in New York City, thinking this is the way to affordable housing,” he told The Real Deal.
The project was to include 348 apartments in a 12-story building at 550 Banyan Boulevard in downtown West Palm. Unit size was slated at 300 square feet to 549 square feet, with rents between $995 and $1,200 a month. Rent for one-bedroom apartments start at about $1,400 in the downtown market.
Greene intended to compensate for the small size of the units with amenities including a pool, a fitness center and a screening room. But “amenities cost a fortune,” he said.
“If I could figure out a way to build it cheaper, I would do it tomorrow,” Greene said.
A conventional apartment project he planned for downtown, at 530 Clematis Street, also is on hold. He said he wants to see how quick the absorption is — and at what rents — for the 1,000 apartments in four downtown buildings that are scheduled to be completed next year.