The South Florida multifamily development market is seeing a shift as developers look to sell their sites after a period of rapid expansion during the pandemic. The surge in construction, driven by increased demand and growth, has now slowed due to rising costs for land, financing, and building materials.
Tony Arellano, a commercial broker, noted that developers are offering more concessions to tenants as they try to lease units in newly completed buildings. A large number of projects finished in 2023 and 2024 have led to suppressed rent growth and falling rents in some neighborhoods.
Despite this trend, some developers deny that high costs are the main reason for listing their properties. Miguel Pinto of Apex Capital Realty said, “Some of these guys bought at the top of the market. They were overleveraged, and they thought everything ws going to keep being peachy, that the rents would be peachy, that with Trump being in power, interest rates would have dropped,” adding: “None of that has happened.”
Not all owners are publicly marketing their sites but remain open to selling if offered a suitable price. Sebastian Faerman from Fortune Christie’s explained that those who had not started construction recently are unlikely to proceed with new developments during this cycle.
Some properties on the market belong to land-bankers whose strategy is buying property, securing entitlements—sometimes using tools like Florida’s Live Local Act—and then selling rather than building themselves. The Live Local Act allows owners to increase density and height allowances for workforce housing projects.
In Wynwood, Clara Homes listed its site—previously home to Austin Burke menswear—for nearly $11 million after purchasing it for $7.7 million. Clara secured approval for a 22-story tower under the Live Local Act but chose instead to list the property. James Curnin of Clara Homes commented on his decision: “I just want to move to bigger and better things.” He also mentioned frustrations with prolonged site plan approvals.
Billionaire Adam Neumann’s company Flow recently acquired a majority stake in Chetrit Group’s Miami River development—a project followed by industry observers for years.
In recent residential transactions, Patrick K. Willis sold his Fort Lauderdale mansion at 2900 Northeast 37th Street for $27.4 million to Michael Andretti. Willis had purchased the property for $12.5 million in 2021.
On the commercial side, Favo Capital paid $190 million for an apartment tower at 1818 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood through an all-stock deal with GCF Development; Charles “Chip” Abele’s firm retained an equity stake as part of the agreement.
Spec home developer Todd Michael Glaser and Posner Group aim to resell a Miami Beach estate they bought last month for $105 million at an asking price of $169 million or rent it out at $495,000 per month while planning a potential new mansion project valued up to $300 million.
Florida’s population reached 23 million last year and is projected by state demographers (Demographic Estimating Conference) [https://www.bebr.ufl.edu/population/estimates-and-projections/] (University of Florida Bureau of Economic & Business Research) to surpass 24 million by 2027; however, overall growth rates are expected to slow over coming years.
