Terra Secures $230M Loan for CentroCity in Little Havana

Terra Group has secured a $230M construction loan for the first phase of its mixed-use CentroCity project in Little Havana near Miami International Airport.

The loan from Apollo Global Management and Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies, arranged by Walker & Dunlop, will cover the construction—now underway—of three eight-story apartment buildings encompassing 470 unit, 350K SF of retail space and a Mater Academy charter school.

The first phase of the project is expected to be completed in 2024 on a 38-acre site between the Miami airport and the Little Havana neighborhood. Terra paid $29M in 2020 to acquire a stake in the site, which is occupied by a strip mall at 3701 NW Seventh Street.

As planned, the CentroCity project will eventually encompass 1,200 market-rate multifamily units and an office building, as well as the school and a revitalized shopping center anchored by a 100K SF Target store.

“Our ability to secure favorable construction financing for CentroCity speaks to the growing demand for low-impact infill development that will enhance an underutilized asset and make it a more positive contributor to the community while bringing much-needed market-rate housing to the area,” said David Martin, Terra CEO, in a statement.

The construction loan for Terra comes three months after the Cocoanut Beach, FL-based company reached a settlement in a lawsuit filed by the relatives of victims of the Champlain Towers beachfront condo tower collapse in 2021, which killed 98 people.

Terra was among the last of the 10 defendants named in the class-action case to settle with the plaintiffs, in an overall settlement totaling nearly $1B. In addition to Terra Group and Terra World Investments, defendants included general contractor John Moriarty and Associates, the town of Surfside, DeSimone Consulting Engineers and the Champlain Towers South Condominium Association.

Terra developed the 18-story 87 Park condominium next to the Champlain Towers South building that collapsed on June 24, 2021. The class-action complained alleged that the Champlain Towers were “badly damaged and destabilized” because of excavation and construction work at the 87 Park building, contributing to the factors that caused the South tower to collapse.

The lawsuit claimed the 87 Park construction in 2016 destabilized Champlain South when metal sheet piles for the 87 Park luxury condo tower were driven into the ground a dozen feet from the Champlain South perimeter wall.

A pool deck next to the structural wall caved in shortly before the 12-story Champlain South collapsed. Terra and its contractor denied that the 87 Park project caused the collapse, telling the court that vibrations from the pile driving were too low to have caused structural damage to any portion of the Champlain Tower.

Terra will pay an undisclosed sum to the plaintiffs without admitting any negligence or liability for the collapse.