CPF Investment Inks $33M Refi on Avi Aviation Complex

MIAMI-CPF Investment Group has completed a $33 million refinance for AVE Aviation & Commerce Center, a 2.6 million square-foot master-planned mixed-use business park. The park is located at the western edge of Opa-Locka Executive Airport.

JP Morgan financed the transaction, which will make possible the development of a new 135,000-square-foot facility for fixed-based operator Banyan Air Service. Banyan signed a 20-year, $40 million lease late last year. The funds will also enable CPF to build out a 12,000-square-foot retail strip, as well as a proposed 120-room hotel.

“Supply for new industrial properties located near major expressways is limited and will continue to be in high demand for businesses seeking distribution centers,” says Ernesto Cambo, principal of CPF. “This refinancing demonstrates confidence in bringing the continued growth of this business park to fruition.”

Plans for the business park call for a $5 million service-oriented retail strip fronting northwest 57 Avenue. That’s just north of the Gratigny Parkway and less than a mile south of the Palmetto Expressway. The strip will include a Subway, a bank, sit-down Cuban restaurant and other retailers that complement the surrounding industrial and office space. RaceTrac, which signed a 20-year ground lease for a full-service, 24-pump gas station and 6,000-square-foot convenience store in April, also plans to develop an adjacent 73,000-square-foot parcel.

Since mid-2010, AVE has signed more than $53 million and 250,000 square feet of leases with total occupancy of its existing buildings currently at 94%. Several buildings have already been completed and leased, including a 500,000-square-foot mail sorting facility for the US Postal Service and Building “N”, a class A, 151,000-square-foot industrial facility with tenants including Goodyear, Suntrade Imports, BK Frames and Cintas, among others.