Miami Mortgage News

Who were Broward’s biggest commercial buyers of 2015?

While Broward County might not have the same glitz and glamour of its southern cousin Miami-Dade, the county had plenty of big-ticket commercial deals last year that racked up millions.

The Real Deal analyzed data from the CoStar group, an information company, to compile a list of Broward’s biggest commercial buyers during 2015.

#1 Prologis – $407.5 million
Prologis, one of the country’s biggest industrial real estate firms, racked up more pricey property purchases in Broward than any other company.
The company sank a total of $407.5 million into 23 properties spread throughout the county, mostly concentrated in Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale.
What helped push Prologis to the top this year was its $820 million acquisition of a 21-property portfolio from Morris Realty Associates. Three of those properties were located in Broward, totaling about $69.4 million.

#2 Starwood Capital Group – $281.9 million
Second on the list was investment firm Starwood Capital Group, headquartered in the wealthy enclave of Greenwich, Connecticut.
The firm put $281.9 million down on 13 properties in Broward, most of which were office buildings located in Fort Lauderdale business parks.
Not to be outdone, Starwood also closed on a massive commercial sale last year. The investment firm was one of three buyers that paid $1.1 billion for Duke Realty’s portfolio of 62 properties in the Southeastern United States.
Among those properties were eight office buildings in Fort Lauderdale and one in Pompano Beach, which made up the bulk of Starwood’s investment total for Broward County last year. Together, they totaled almost $180 million worth of properties.

#3 Norges Bank – $272.3 million
Close behind Starwood was the Norwegian central bank, which had a serious hankering for South Florida real estate last year.
Norges Bank assembled $272.3 million worth of Broward County commercial properties during 2015, landing it in third place for the year’s list of biggest buyers.
Those purchases were spread out over 13 properties between Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pompano Beach, Hallandale and Dania Beach.
All 13 were purchased in a joint-venture with Prologis — our No. 1 contender — as part of the $5.9 billion acquisition of KTR Capital Partners’ portfolio of 322 distribution properties throughout the U.S.
Norges Bank is one of many foreign sovereign wealth funds picking up big chunks of U.S. real estate.

#4 TIAA-CREF – $238.8 million
TIAA-CREF is a Fortune 100 company that provides pensions for teachers and other professionals. It’s also one of the country’s largest real estate investment companies, and holds the No. 4 spot on the list of Broward’s biggest commercial buyers.
The company spent $238.8 million on Broward County properties last year. The interesting part? That was split between just two purchases.
In the first deal, the financial giant picked up Orlando-based Zom’s Casa Palma apartment complex in unincorporated Broward for nearly $90 million.
Next, TIAA-CREF paid the Related Group an incredible $149 million for its Manor at Flagler Village apartment project in Fort Lauderdale.

#5 Global Logistics Properties – $187.7 million
Last but certainly not least is Chicago-based Global Logistics Properties, a multinational real estate firm that specializes in — you guessed it — logistics properties.
Last year, GLP put down an impressive $187.7 million for 11 Broward County properties, all but one of which was located in Fort Lauderdale.
The commercial giant continued this list’s trend of massive portfolio deals with its purchase an Industrial Income Trust assemblage in a deal valued at $4.55 billion.
In Broward, that portfolio’s biggest piece was Sunrise Distribution Center in Fort Lauderdale. It alone fetched $43.8 million.

Why Barry Sternlicht isn’t investing in China anytime soon

The Starwood Capital Group chair and CEO was on Bloomberg this week when the topic of the world’s second largest economy came up. While Starwood has invested in China in the past – namely in a Chinese hotel company and a Beijing office building – Sternlicht said his firm hasn’t tapped into the market “in four, five years now.”

When asked why, Sternlicht cited reservations regarding the country’s “rulebook” on foreign investment. “I know I can get in, [but] I’m not sure I can get out when I want to get out,” he said.

“I always think of China as a company masquerading as a country,” Sternlicht added. “There are rules that I’m not sure foreign investors should trust.”

Sternlicht also said that from a real estate investment perspective, Chinese interest rates “are not that low, so you have the inverse of the U.S. where if you’re buying really good real estate, you might find that the yield on the property is lower than the cost of debt.” That, he noted, “is one of my red lights in investment – don’t do that.”

Sternlicht was part of the joint venture that developed 1 Hotel & Homes in Miami Beach earlier this year. In June, a Starwood affiliate paid $17 million for a waterfront lot on North Bay Road.

Starwood Capital secures $250 million loan for 1 Hotel South Beach

Starwood Capital Group has scored a major loan for the former Perry South Beach Hotel, which reopened as the 1 Hotel South Beach after a $100 million renovation.

Miami-Dade County property records show that the company secured $250 million in financing from Deutsche Bank for the property at 2377 Collins Ave. in Miami Beach.

A $10 million deed was filed in property records in relation to the financing. Both the buyer, 2377 Collins Resort, L.P. and SB Hotel Owner, L.P., are affiliated with the Greenwich, Connecticut-based hospitality company.

"2377 Collins Resort, L.P. transferred title to the hotel portion of the property to a related entity with the same ownership — SB Hotel Owner, L.P. — in connection with new financing," said a representative from 1 Hotel & Homes South Beach in an email. "The prior financing was secured by the hotel portion of the property and by other portions of the property (e.g., condominium units in 2399 Collins Avenue Condominium). There was no change in the ultimate beneficial ownership of any of the property."

In 2012, Starwood Capital, the LeFrak Organization and Invesco Ltd. bought the property for about $230 million. The building has 426 hotel rooms and 154 hotel condo units.

When the consortium bought the property in February 2012, it was called the Gansevoort. It was then rebranded to The Perry South Beach in 2013, and in March 2015, the 18-story property was rebranded again as the 1 Hotel South Beach.

The 1 Hotel South Beach boasts 600 feet of beachfront, a rooftop pool, a spa and fitness center, and private beach amenities.

Who were Broward’s biggest commercial buyers of 2015?

While Broward County might not have the same glitz and glamour of its southern cousin Miami-Dade, the county had plenty of big-ticket commercial deals last year that racked up millions.

The Real Deal analyzed data from the CoStar group, an information company, to compile a list of Broward’s biggest commercial buyers during 2015.

#1 Prologis – $407.5 million
Prologis, one of the country’s biggest industrial real estate firms, racked up more pricey property purchases in Broward than any other company.
The company sank a total of $407.5 million into 23 properties spread throughout the county, mostly concentrated in Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale.
What helped push Prologis to the top this year was its $820 million acquisition of a 21-property portfolio from Morris Realty Associates. Three of those properties were located in Broward, totaling about $69.4 million.

#2 Starwood Capital Group – $281.9 million
Second on the list was investment firm Starwood Capital Group, headquartered in the wealthy enclave of Greenwich, Connecticut.
The firm put $281.9 million down on 13 properties in Broward, most of which were office buildings located in Fort Lauderdale business parks.
Not to be outdone, Starwood also closed on a massive commercial sale last year. The investment firm was one of three buyers that paid $1.1 billion for Duke Realty’s portfolio of 62 properties in the Southeastern United States.
Among those properties were eight office buildings in Fort Lauderdale and one in Pompano Beach, which made up the bulk of Starwood’s investment total for Broward County last year. Together, they totaled almost $180 million worth of properties.

#3 Norges Bank – $272.3 million
Close behind Starwood was the Norwegian central bank, which had a serious hankering for South Florida real estate last year.
Norges Bank assembled $272.3 million worth of Broward County commercial properties during 2015, landing it in third place for the year’s list of biggest buyers.
Those purchases were spread out over 13 properties between Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pompano Beach, Hallandale and Dania Beach.
All 13 were purchased in a joint-venture with Prologis — our No. 1 contender — as part of the $5.9 billion acquisition of KTR Capital Partners’ portfolio of 322 distribution properties throughout the U.S.
Norges Bank is one of many foreign sovereign wealth funds picking up big chunks of U.S. real estate.

#4 TIAA-CREF – $238.8 million
TIAA-CREF is a Fortune 100 company that provides pensions for teachers and other professionals. It’s also one of the country’s largest real estate investment companies, and holds the No. 4 spot on the list of Broward’s biggest commercial buyers.
The company spent $238.8 million on Broward County properties last year. The interesting part? That was split between just two purchases.
In the first deal, the financial giant picked up Orlando-based Zom’s Casa Palma apartment complex in unincorporated Broward for nearly $90 million.
Next, TIAA-CREF paid the Related Group an incredible $149 million for its Manor at Flagler Village apartment project in Fort Lauderdale.

#5 Global Logistics Properties – $187.7 million
Last but certainly not least is Chicago-based Global Logistics Properties, a multinational real estate firm that specializes in — you guessed it — logistics properties.
Last year, GLP put down an impressive $187.7 million for 11 Broward County properties, all but one of which was located in Fort Lauderdale.
The commercial giant continued this list’s trend of massive portfolio deals with its purchase an Industrial Income Trust assemblage in a deal valued at $4.55 billion.
In Broward, that portfolio’s biggest piece was Sunrise Distribution Center in Fort Lauderdale. It alone fetched $43.8 million.

Starwood Capital secures $250 million loan for 1 Hotel South Beach

Starwood Capital Group has scored a major loan for the former Perry South Beach Hotel, which reopened as the 1 Hotel South Beach after a $100 million renovation.

Miami-Dade County property records show that the company secured $250 million in financing from Deutsche Bank for the property at 2377 Collins Ave. in Miami Beach.

A $10 million deed was filed in property records in relation to the financing. Both the buyer, 2377 Collins Resort, L.P. and SB Hotel Owner, L.P., are affiliated with the Greenwich, Connecticut-based hospitality company.

"2377 Collins Resort, L.P. transferred title to the hotel portion of the property to a related entity with the same ownership — SB Hotel Owner, L.P. — in connection with new financing," said a representative from 1 Hotel & Homes South Beach in an email. "The prior financing was secured by the hotel portion of the property and by other portions of the property (e.g., condominium units in 2399 Collins Avenue Condominium). There was no change in the ultimate beneficial ownership of any of the property."

In 2012, Starwood Capital, the LeFrak Organization and Invesco Ltd. bought the property for about $230 million. The building has 426 hotel rooms and 154 hotel condo units.

When the consortium bought the property in February 2012, it was called the Gansevoort. It was then rebranded to The Perry South Beach in 2013, and in March 2015, the 18-story property was rebranded again as the 1 Hotel South Beach.

The 1 Hotel South Beach boasts 600 feet of beachfront, a rooftop pool, a spa and fitness center, and private beach amenities.