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 millionPrologis, 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 millionSecond 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 millionClose 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 millionTIAA-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 millionLast 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.
Industry experts say Miami’s hotel market could be reaching its peak in 2016 as revenues and occupancy rates begin to level out.
Last year was solid for the individual hotels that make up Miami’s leisure industry: more than 44 million travelers passed through the Miami International Airport, a bevy of new hotel developments opened their doors and room rates saw steady gains compared to 2014.
Occupancy rates hovered around 78 percent, mostly flat from the previous year, and hotel owners’ average revenue per room grew to nearly $153 — about a 6 percent jump, according to year-end data from STR.
“On one hand there’s a story about what’s going on at the property level, and then there’s a separate story about how buyers and sellers and lenders are acting right now and how the transaction market has been,” Max Comess of brokerage HFF said. “The stories have been a little disconnected.”
Comess said turmoil in global markets has started to put a damper on activity from certain investment groups and lenders as their strategies become more cautious. Plunging stock markets hurt real estate investment trusts in particular, he said, whose share prices “fell precipitously” compared to the highs seen earlier in 2015. One example of that early-year bravado was the $278 million sale of the former James Royal Palm in South Beach to the Chesapeake Lodging Trust.
That closing came in February, which also saw the $230 million sale of the Miami Beach EDITION to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority “The REITs for the most part have exited the market,” Comess said. “They were really driving South Beach, downtown Miami; a lot of the resort markets throughout the state.”
Another factor playing into the market right now is a strong U.S. dollar shrinking the appetite of foreign travelers and investors, he said.
Less purchasing power for tourists abroad roughly equates to fewer hotel rooms booked. South American countries in particular are facing harrowing economic conditions, which Comess said is troubling because Miami is such a hub for that continent.
However, Comess said these trouble spots don’t mean Miami’s hotel sector is in bad health. If anything, it’s “bouncing off the top” as it starts aging into its golden years. Wendy Kallergis, president and CEO of the Greater Miami and the Beaches Hotel Association, would agree.
“It’s going to even out because we had so much growth in 2015,” she said. Hotels this year got a slow start, she said, at least partially because the northern states enjoyed warmer holidays than usual. But she expects business to return to normal during the spring, especially with big-ticket events like the annual Ultra Music Festival bringing in travelers.
She also said occupancy leveling out is a byproduct of more hotels opening their doors as opposed to a decrease in demand. Miami Beach alone saw the opening of the Edition, Faena Hotel, Nautilus, Aloft, Hyatt Centric, Hampton Inn Miami South Beach and 1 Hotel South beach, altogether bringing just under 2,000 rooms online in a single year. That trend will likely continue as the EAST Hotel at Brickell City Centre, Langford Miami in the downtown area and the Surfside Residence Inn all open this year.
And while the market maturing usually means a return to stability, the year will not be without its trials, experts say. “We expect this year to be challenging. The Miami Beach Convention Center is closed; several hotels are already reporting that this is leading to a loss of business,” Paul Weimer, vice president of brokerage CBRE’s hotel division, said .
[The convention center is not fully closed as events like Art Basel will still take place there, but it is taking no new reservations while renovations are underway.] “The dollar has remained strong, making it more expensive for international travelers. Many of our feeder markets continue to experience economic issues… I think we will be very lucky if RevPar ends unchanged year over year.”