Middle Market Digest: Early This Week in Florida

Early this week in Florida saw another condo development top off. Grandbridge Capital Real Estate just made a key personnel move and the deals are still flowing across the state.

BY THE NUMBERS

Office development lagging in Tampa, FL. Although net absorption has outpaced new inventory over the last four years and rents are climbing, construction is slow. The lack of large blocks of contiguous space in the region instigated the first speculative office building in the metro in years. The 150,000-square-foot Renaissance VI building in Tampa's Westshore District recently announced that Auto Club Group AAA will lease the entire space upon completion in 2018. A further tightening of vacancy may prompt more projects in the planning pipeline to begin.

NEWS & NOTABLES

MIAMI—Grandbridge Real Estate Capital has appointed G. Alex Haw as senior vice president and manager of its Miami-Southeast FL loan origination team based. Before joining Grandbridge, Haw led debt originations as the market manager for TD Bank's Miami commercial real estate platform. His background includes balance sheet originations, CMBS and debt capital markets, as well as workouts in the real estate and energy sectors. While at TD Bank, Haw sourced and executed $600 million in construction and term debt originations for multifamily, office, retail and lodging properties primarily in Florida. Haw also held several senior positions during his 12 years with Bank of America, including commercial real estate banking, CMBS, and real estate special assets. In addition, he served as vice president of global project finance for Citibank/Salomon Smith Barney in New York where he structured and syndicated construction financings.

DEAL TRACKER

HIALEAH, FL—Franklin Street arranged the sale of two one-story apartment buildings totaling 15 units in the central section of Hialeah. The buyer, 83-85 S LLC, paid $1.2 million for the portfolio, which equates to $81.2 thousand per unit or $230 per square foot. The two multifamily buildings together have 5,300 square feet and are 100% occupied. “This is a very strong price on a per square foot basis for this area,” says Hernando Perez, director of Multifamily Investment Sales for Franklin Street. “Hialeah has a very stable rent market with little new construction over the past decade.  Working-class families tend to settle for lengths of time, so it's a great city in which to be a landlord.” Perez, Dan Dratch, Oscar Banegas, Kameron Djamal and Greg Matus listed the properties on behalf of the seller, Oak Tree Investments Holding LLC of Miami, and secured the buyer.  Franklin Street's Insurance Services team, led by Evan Seacat and Ryan Cassidy, provided insurance.

DORAL, FL—State Street Realty closed the sale of a 29,000-square-foot industrial property in Doral. The transaction is valued at $5.6 million which is a new benchmark for highest per square foot sales price for a free-standing warehouse above 20,000 square feet, at $193 per square foot. The buyer, Church of Jesus Christ the Almighty, Inc., was represented by Diego Jonathan Aguero of Florida Real Estate Experts. State Street Realty president George Pino, Frank Trelles and Brian Cabielles represented the seller, Granite Capital Investments, in this transaction. Granite Capital is a value-add real estate investment firm in South Florida properties and the principals are Tony DeRosa and Phyllis McHenry.

MIAMI—Emerald, an office tower in Aventura, hit the market for sale and lease of up to 40,000 square feet of office space. CBRE's Carol Ellis-Culter and Alina Plasencia are marketing the property with co-broker partner at Miami Real Estate Group, Andres Asion.

AUBURNDALE, FL—Crossman & Company negotiated the sale of Berkley Square in Auburndale. to a private investor in Coral Springs, FL. Crossman managing director Brian Carolan represented the Miami-based seller in the $2 million transaction. Berkley Square sits on 1.2 acres at 2122 West Highway 92 in Auburndale. The center's 13,600 square feet is 100% occupied. Auburndale is approximately 50 miles Northeast of Tampa. The site is part of a Wal-Mart Supercenter and provides excellent visibility from US Highway 92, which has an average daily traffic count of over 35,000.

BUILDING BLOCKS

MIAMI—Ocean Land Investment's AquaBlu has topped off. It is the fourth of the highly popular Aqua-branded developments to reach that benchmark. The project is slated to fully completed and move-in ready by the second quarter of 2018. Situated at 920 Intracoastal Drive, on the west side of the Intracoastal Waterway, AquaBlu offers ocean views overlooking the historic Bonnet House Museum and Gardens.

Early this week in Florida saw another condo development top off. Grandbridge Capital Real Estate just made a key personnel move and the deals are still flowing across the state.

BY THE NUMBERS

Office development lagging in Tampa, FL. Although net absorption has outpaced new inventory over the last four years and rents are climbing, construction is slow. The lack of large blocks of contiguous space in the region instigated the first speculative office building in the metro in years. The 150,000-square-foot Renaissance VI building in Tampa's Westshore District recently announced that Auto Club Group AAA will lease the entire space upon completion in 2018. A further tightening of vacancy may prompt more projects in the planning pipeline to begin.

NEWS & NOTABLES

MIAMI—Grandbridge Real Estate Capital has appointed G. Alex Haw as senior vice president and manager of its Miami-Southeast FL loan origination team based. Before joining Grandbridge, Haw led debt originations as the market manager for TD Bank's Miami commercial real estate platform. His background includes balance sheet originations, CMBS and debt capital markets, as well as workouts in the real estate and energy sectors. While at TD Bank, Haw sourced and executed $600 million in construction and term debt originations for multifamily, office, retail and lodging properties primarily in Florida. Haw also held several senior positions during his 12 years with Bank of America , including commercial real estate banking, CMBS, and real estate special assets. In addition, he served as vice president of global project finance for Citibank/Salomon Smith Barney in New York where he structured and syndicated construction financings.

DEAL TRACKER

HIALEAH, FL—Franklin Street arranged the sale of two one-story apartment buildings totaling 15 units in the central section of Hialeah. The buyer, 83-85 S LLC, paid $1.2 million for the portfolio, which equates to $81.2 thousand per unit or $230 per square foot. The two multifamily buildings together have 5,300 square feet and are 100% occupied. “This is a very strong price on a per square foot basis for this area,” says Hernando Perez, director of Multifamily Investment Sales for Franklin Street. “Hialeah has a very stable rent market with little new construction over the past decade.  Working-class families tend to settle for lengths of time, so it's a great city in which to be a landlord.” Perez, Dan Dratch, Oscar Banegas, Kameron Djamal and Greg Matus listed the properties on behalf of the seller, Oak Tree Investments Holding LLC of Miami, and secured the buyer.  Franklin Street's Insurance Services team, led by Evan Seacat and Ryan Cassidy, provided insurance.

DORAL, FL—State Street Realty closed the sale of a 29,000-square-foot industrial property in Doral. The transaction is valued at $5.6 million which is a new benchmark for highest per square foot sales price for a free-standing warehouse above 20,000 square feet, at $193 per square foot. The buyer, Church of Jesus Christ the Almighty, Inc., was represented by Diego Jonathan Aguero of Florida Real Estate Experts. State Street Realty president George Pino, Frank Trelles and Brian Cabielles represented the seller, Granite Capital Investments, in this transaction. Granite Capital is a value-add real estate investment firm in South Florida properties and the principals are Tony DeRosa and Phyllis McHenry.

MIAMI—Emerald, an office tower in Aventura, hit the market for sale and lease of up to 40,000 square feet of office space. CBRE's Carol Ellis-Culter and Alina Plasencia are marketing the property with co-broker partner at Miami Real Estate Group, Andres Asion.

AUBURNDALE, FL—Crossman & Company negotiated the sale of Berkley Square in Auburndale. to a private investor in Coral Springs, FL. Crossman managing director Brian Carolan represented the Miami-based seller in the $2 million transaction. Berkley Square sits on 1.2 acres at 2122 West Highway 92 in Auburndale. The center's 13,600 square feet is 100% occupied. Auburndale is approximately 50 miles Northeast of Tampa. The site is part of a Wal-Mart Supercenter and provides excellent visibility from US Highway 92, which has an average daily traffic count of over 35,000.

BUILDING BLOCKS

MIAMI—Ocean Land Investment's AquaBlu has topped off. It is the fourth of the highly popular Aqua-branded developments to reach that benchmark. The project is slated to fully completed and move-in ready by the second quarter of 2018. Situated at 920 Intracoastal Drive, on the west side of the Intracoastal Waterway, AquaBlu offers ocean views overlooking the historic Bonnet House Museum and Gardens.