NEWS & NOTABLES

MIAMI—Cushman & Wakefield assisted Datran Center I securing the U.S. Green Building Councils' (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for Datran Center, a 500,000-square-foot class A office complex in Miami-Dade County. The Asset Services team of vice president Marlene Diaz, property manager Tesalia Corbett, senior chief operating engineer William Espinoza and chief operating engineer David Gort collaborated with owner Datran Center I, LLC in securing the prestigious O+M: Existing Buildings v2009 certification. Cushman & Wakefield has managed the asset for Datran Center I since it acquired the complex in June 2016. Datran Center is a two-building, class A office complex constituted by Datran One, an 18-story building developed in 1984 at 9100 South Dadeland Boulevard, and Datran Two, a 20-story building at 9130 South Dadeland built in 1987.

POMPANO BEACH, FL—Mark Corlew, partner of the Pompano-based real estate investment group Grover Corlew, took part in the first of a series of NAIOP city main street discussions that showcase up-and-coming areas throughout South Florida. When asked what initially attracted his firm to the area, he said, “Pompano Beach is centrally positioned close to major thoroughfares and within close proximity to thriving tri-county cities such as Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton. The city has worked effectively to plan and implement revitalization efforts such as beautification projects, and parking and main artery improvements, but continued investment is needed to build on the momentum that the city has created. We envision Grover Corlew's properties functioning as mixed-use, with flourishing ground-floor retail spaces as the city continues to evolve into a more pedestrian-friendly, residential community.”

MIAMI—George Vail has joined the Avison Young in Miami as a principal and will help expand the firm's capital markets and debt platform throughout Florida. He will also further the growth of the company's regional joint-venture and structured finance platforms. He was most recently managing director of Ackman-Ziff in Miami. Vail brings more than 20 years of commercial real estate investment sales, financing and management experience to Avison Young. During his career, he has coordinated more than $4 billion in commercial real estate transactions, which have included investment sales as well as debt, equity, senior and mezzanine financing. The deals have also included performing and non-performing loans, apartment communities, office buildings, retail centers, hotels, industrial complexes and development land sites.

DEAL TRACKER

CLEARWATER, FL—Marcus & Millichap brokered the sale of El Camino, a 54-unit multifamily property in Clearwater. The asset sold for $50,000 above the asking price of $3.425 million. Casey Babb and Luis Baez, investment specialists in the firm's Tampa office, represented the seller, a family partnership who had developed the property 45 years ago. The duo also secured the buyer, a private investor based in Miami. “There is speculation out there that rising interest rates will slow transaction velocity in the near term and we agree with that assumption for the most part,” says Casey. “This offering, however, checked a lot of boxes for investors with location, upside, price point, new roof and consequently we received 19 written offers after a three week marketing campaign. The top four bidders were all in 1031 exchanges and the prevailing Buyer went hard in 5 days and closed above the ask price 30 days later.”

PORT SAINT LUCIE, FL—Strategic Storage Trust IV, a public non-traded real estate investment trust sponsored by SmartStop Asset Management, acquired a 504-unit self-storage facility in the Port Saint Lucie suburb of Jensen Beach, FL. The acquisition is the first for the recently launched REIT. The approximately 48,000-square-foot facility is located on nearly four acres of land at 1105 Northeast Industrial Boulevard and is equipped with 96 RV and boat spaces.

MIAMI BEACH, FL—Cushman & Wakefield negotiated a long-term 10,000-square-foot office relocation lease with GDS Publishing at 1688 Meridian Avenue, a 90,000 square-foot office building in the heart of South Beach. Managing director Gordon Messinger represented Ivy Realty. Ivy acquired the office building and 1674 Meridian Avenue in July 2016. GDS is relocating from 1961 Michigan Avenue and will occupy the entire penthouse floor of 1688 Meridian. GDS Publishing expects to move over 40 employees into the new office space in the third quarter. CREC's Steven Hurwitz represented the tenant in the lease negotiations.

ORLANDO—Franklin Street arranged the sale of Chowder Bay Apartments, a 304-unit rental community in Orlando. The property at 4700 Rio Grande Avenue was sold for $21.28 million by Fieldstone Properties, LLC, a private equity investment firm, to Dominium Management Services, LLC, a Minneapolis-based apartment development and management company. Franklin Street's Darron Kattan, Keviln Kelleher, Zachary Ames and Robert Goldfinger of represented both parties in the transaction. “The asset was sold without the need to put effort into a wide scale marketing effort,” says Kattan. “This transaction is clear evidence of the continued insatiable demand for apartment investments in Central Florida.”

DAYTONA BEACH, FL—Marcus & Millichap brokered the sale of the Kushner Portfolio, a three-property, 736-unit multifamily portfolio in Daytona Beach, Florida. The $44.25 million sales price equates to more than $60,000 per unit. “Owned and operated by the seller for more than 23 years, each community has great value-add potential and the entire portfolio is poised to benefit from the significant growth taking place in Daytona Beach, which has more than $2 billion in new developments in its pipeline,” says Donaldson, first vice president investments in Marcus & Millichap's Tampa office. Donaldson and Meoli represented the seller, a private investor based in Illinois and procured the buyer, a Tampa-based investment company.

WEST PALM BEACH, FL—HFF closed the $19.5 million sale of an 18,712-square-foot high-street retail and office building located at 313 1/2 Worth Avenue in Palm Beach. HFF marketed the property on behalf of the seller, Tricony Management. The buyer purchased the retail center free and clear of financing. 313 1/2 Worth Avenue, known as Via BiCE, comprises five Mediterranean- and Spanish Colonial-style buildings that are situated along one of the intimate “Via” streets that connects to Worth Avenue, recognized by USA Today as the third “Favorite Iconic American Street.” The HFF team that represented the seller was led by senior managing director Hermen Rodriguez, managing director Luis Castillo, director Eric Williams and associate Kim Flores.

SARASOTA, FL—Commercial real estate investment firm Dilweg Companies acquired Sarasota City Center in Downtown Sarasota. Sarasota City Center is a two-tower class A office building with 13 floors in the North tower and 3 floors in the South tower. Located in the center of Downtown Sarasota, the building totals 245,293 square feet and was built in 1989. Major tenants include Boar's Head, Wells Fargo, Merrill Lynch and UBS. The building was 88% leased at the time of sale. Dilweg plans to invest more than $4 million to improve the building's operating systems, common areas and tenant amenities and provide a “best in class” office experience for existing and future tenants.

This week in Florida commercial real estate sees industry players considering revitalization beyond core markets. A number of deals in rising submarkets were also inked.

BY THE NUMBERS

Scattered sunshine in the near-term outlook. Statewide supply growth will contribute to a decline in annual hotel occupancy in Florida and a further moderation in the increases in ADR and RevPAR. Last year's performance was attributable to a mix of slowing economic growth, Zika and a hurricane, plus other high-profile events that suppressed travel to the state. Random events could arise again, but property owners will have opportunities to leverage a growing economy to strengthen property performance. Payrolls are still growing steadily, particularly in Orlando and Tampa, sustaining inbound business travel. (Source: Marcus & Millichap)

Relocations to Florida have also consistently increased to pre-recession levels. The relocation of households promotes the use of hotels as transitional residences until permanent housing is available and generates inbound leisure travel from visiting friends and relatives. Against the bright prospects offered by these and other demand drivers, the significant number of new, primarily select-service rooms and home-sharing services including Airbnb imposes hurdles. (Source: Marcus & Millichap)

NEWS & NOTABLES

MIAMI—Cushman & Wakefield assisted Datran Center I securing the U.S. Green Building Councils' (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for Datran Center, a 500,000-square-foot class A office complex in Miami-Dade County. The Asset Services team of vice president Marlene Diaz, property manager Tesalia Corbett, senior chief operating engineer William Espinoza and chief operating engineer David Gort collaborated with owner Datran Center I, LLC in securing the prestigious O+M: Existing Buildings v2009 certification. Cushman & Wakefield has managed the asset for Datran Center I since it acquired the complex in June 2016. Datran Center is a two-building, class A office complex constituted by Datran One, an 18-story building developed in 1984 at 9100 South Dadeland Boulevard, and Datran Two, a 20-story building at 9130 South Dadeland built in 1987.

POMPANO BEACH, FL—Mark Corlew, partner of the Pompano-based real estate investment group Grover Corlew, took part in the first of a series of NAIOP city main street discussions that showcase up-and-coming areas throughout South Florida. When asked what initially attracted his firm to the area, he said, “Pompano Beach is centrally positioned close to major thoroughfares and within close proximity to thriving tri-county cities such as Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton. The city has worked effectively to plan and implement revitalization efforts such as beautification projects, and parking and main artery improvements, but continued investment is needed to build on the momentum that the city has created. We envision Grover Corlew's properties functioning as mixed-use, with flourishing ground-floor retail spaces as the city continues to evolve into a more pedestrian-friendly, residential community.”

MIAMI—George Vail has joined the Avison Young in Miami as a principal and will help expand the firm's capital markets and debt platform throughout Florida. He will also further the growth of the company's regional joint-venture and structured finance platforms. He was most recently managing director of Ackman-Ziff in Miami. Vail brings more than 20 years of commercial real estate investment sales, financing and management experience to Avison Young. During his career, he has coordinated more than $4 billion in commercial real estate transactions, which have included investment sales as well as debt, equity, senior and mezzanine financing. The deals have also included performing and non-performing loans, apartment communities, office buildings, retail centers, hotels, industrial complexes and development land sites.

DEAL TRACKER

CLEARWATER, FL—Marcus & Millichap brokered the sale of El Camino, a 54-unit multifamily property in Clearwater. The asset sold for $50,000 above the asking price of $3.425 million. Casey Babb and Luis Baez, investment specialists in the firm's Tampa office, represented the seller, a family partnership who had developed the property 45 years ago. The duo also secured the buyer, a private investor based in Miami. “There is speculation out there that rising interest rates will slow transaction velocity in the near term and we agree with that assumption for the most part,” says Casey. “This offering, however, checked a lot of boxes for investors with location, upside, price point, new roof and consequently we received 19 written offers after a three week marketing campaign. The top four bidders were all in 1031 exchanges and the prevailing Buyer went hard in 5 days and closed above the ask price 30 days later.”

PORT SAINT LUCIE, FL—Strategic Storage Trust IV, a public non-traded real estate investment trust sponsored by SmartStop Asset Management, acquired a 504-unit self-storage facility in the Port Saint Lucie suburb of Jensen Beach, FL. The acquisition is the first for the recently launched REIT. The approximately 48,000-square-foot facility is located on nearly four acres of land at 1105 Northeast Industrial Boulevard and is equipped with 96 RV and boat spaces.

MIAMI BEACH, FL—Cushman & Wakefield negotiated a long-term 10,000-square-foot office relocation lease with GDS Publishing at 1688 Meridian Avenue, a 90,000 square-foot office building in the heart of South Beach. Managing director Gordon Messinger represented Ivy Realty. Ivy acquired the office building and 1674 Meridian Avenue in July 2016. GDS is relocating from 1961 Michigan Avenue and will occupy the entire penthouse floor of 1688 Meridian. GDS Publishing expects to move over 40 employees into the new office space in the third quarter. CREC's Steven Hurwitz represented the tenant in the lease negotiations.

ORLANDO—Franklin Street arranged the sale of Chowder Bay Apartments, a 304-unit rental community in Orlando. The property at 4700 Rio Grande Avenue was sold for $21.28 million by Fieldstone Properties, LLC, a private equity investment firm, to Dominium Management Services, LLC, a Minneapolis-based apartment development and management company. Franklin Street's Darron Kattan, Keviln Kelleher, Zachary Ames and Robert Goldfinger of represented both parties in the transaction. “The asset was sold without the need to put effort into a wide scale marketing effort,” says Kattan. “This transaction is clear evidence of the continued insatiable demand for apartment investments in Central Florida.”

DAYTONA BEACH, FL—Marcus & Millichap brokered the sale of the Kushner Portfolio, a three-property, 736-unit multifamily portfolio in Daytona Beach, Florida. The $44.25 million sales price equates to more than $60,000 per unit. “Owned and operated by the seller for more than 23 years, each community has great value-add potential and the entire portfolio is poised to benefit from the significant growth taking place in Daytona Beach, which has more than $2 billion in new developments in its pipeline,” says Donaldson, first vice president investments in Marcus & Millichap's Tampa office. Donaldson and Meoli represented the seller, a private investor based in Illinois and procured the buyer, a Tampa-based investment company.

WEST PALM BEACH, FL—HFF closed the $19.5 million sale of an 18,712-square-foot high-street retail and office building located at 313 1/2 Worth Avenue in Palm Beach. HFF marketed the property on behalf of the seller, Tricony Management. The buyer purchased the retail center free and clear of financing. 313 1/2 Worth Avenue, known as Via BiCE, comprises five Mediterranean- and Spanish Colonial-style buildings that are situated along one of the intimate “Via” streets that connects to Worth Avenue, recognized by USA Today as the third “Favorite Iconic American Street.” The HFF team that represented the seller was led by senior managing director Hermen Rodriguez, managing director Luis Castillo, director Eric Williams and associate Kim Flores.

SARASOTA, FL—Commercial real estate investment firm Dilweg Companies acquired Sarasota City Center in Downtown Sarasota. Sarasota City Center is a two-tower class A office building with 13 floors in the North tower and 3 floors in the South tower. Located in the center of Downtown Sarasota, the building totals 245,293 square feet and was built in 1989. Major tenants include Boar's Head, Wells Fargo, Merrill Lynch and UBS. The building was 88% leased at the time of sale. Dilweg plans to invest more than $4 million to improve the building's operating systems, common areas and tenant amenities and provide a “best in class” office experience for existing and future tenants.