Robert Wennett Of Urban Investments

When a portfolio of properties goes on the block carrying a $500-million price tag, it makes news. Such is the case with Starwood Urban’s 1.2-million-sf, mixed-use bundle of commercial, residential and retail properties, which, as GlobeSt.com reported last month, was about to go up for sale. Robert Wennett, president of Washington, DC-based Urban Investments Advisors, is, as the name implies, Starwood Urban’s advisor in the sale, and, not surprisingly, he’s bullish that the properties–sold either as a bundle or parsed out by region–will move fast, well before the presidential elections and expected rise in interest rates changes anyone’s mind. The offerings include properties in six assets in the greater New York City region, including the 67,000-sf 430 W. 14th St. and five other properties in South Norwalk, CT, accounting for 159,300 sf. In Metropolitan Washington, the list features the 93,000-sf office structure at 5225 Wisconsin Ave., and 14 other structures in the district area. In Florida, the venture is marketing 120,000 sf in two Miami Beach buildings and 80,000 sf along Miracle Mile in Coral Gables. The crown jewel of the Miami Beach/Coral Gables collection is an upscale mixed-use development that just reached completion last quarter in the center of activity in Coral Gables. The 305,000-sf property consists of 184 luxury residential units, 25,000 sf of class A boutique office space and 40,000 sf of retail. Wennett sat down with GlobeSt.com immediately after the news broke to talk about his vision for the sale and the other opportunities that UIA is scoping out. (For the record, the assets are being brokered by Eastdil Realty and CB Richard Ellis.)

GlobeSt.com: What exactly is the connection between UIA and Starwood?

Wennett: We’ve been working with Starwood since 1998. Our venture, Urban Investments Advisors, is the exclusive advisor to Starwood Urban LLC, which is a venture between Starwood Opportunity Fund V. That, in turn, is part of Starwood Capital and Wennett Urban Retail LLC, which is a partnership that I control.