South Florida’s multifamily real estate market in 2025 was marked by high expenses and a slowdown in deal volume, with no transaction surpassing $200 million except for one notable exception. The largest sale of the year was the $235 million acquisition of the 101 Via Mizner apartment building in Boca Raton, which took place through bankruptcy proceedings.
The seller, Penn-Florida Companies, had placed the property into Chapter 11 reorganization to avoid foreclosure on a $145 million loan. Social media figure and multifamily investor Grant Cardone partnered with Penn-Florida to purchase the asset out of bankruptcy. “The deal saved Penn-Florida Companies, which had developed 101 Via Mizner and was facing foreclosure from its lender, from losing the building.”
A bankruptcy court approved the joint venture between Cardone’s Aventura-based Cardone Capital and Boca Raton-based Penn-Florida to buy 101 Via Mizner for $235 million. The 14-story building contains 366 units at 101 East Camino Real in Boca Raton. Under this arrangement, Cardone Capital contributed $220 million while Penn-Florida added $15 million. The partners plan to convert the property into condominiums with projected unit sales totaling about $400 million.
Penn-Florida completed construction of 101 Via Mizner in 2016 but filed for Chapter 11 protection earlier this year as Blackstone Mortgage Trust sought foreclosure on its loan.
Grant Cardone has been active in South Florida’s multifamily sector for several years. His firm paid over $500 million in cash last year for three Broward County apartment complexes: Manor at Flagler Village (382 units), Edge at Flagler Village (332 units), and Laurels at Jacaranda (468 units). In 2021, Cardone acquired a four-property portfolio comprising 1,688 apartments across Fort Lauderdale, Sunrise, and Weston for $744 million.
Other major transactions included TA Realty’s repurchase of San Merano at Mirasol Apartments in Palm Beach Gardens for $193 million after assuming an existing Freddie Mac loan from Blackstone. Favo Capital bought Hollywood’s 1818 Park tower for $190 million via an all-stock deal that gave GCF Development a long-term equity stake in Favo.
IMT Capital acquired a Boynton Beach complex—now named IMT Gulfstream—for $183.5 million using a Fannie Mae loan; Dermot Company sold it after having purchased it two years earlier for $143 million.
Spanish billionaire Amancio Ortega continued his global real estate investments by purchasing Veneto Las Olas tower in downtown Fort Lauderdale for $165 million through his family office Ponte Gadea. This follows Ortega’s other recent purchases including Miami’s Sabadell Financial Center ($274.4M) and Atlas Plaza retail property ($110M).
Pantzer Properties paid $161 million for The Point at Miramar apartment building after closing its latest real estate fund targeting East Coast properties.
Property Reserve—the investment arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—bought Del Ola apartments in Boca Raton for $152.5 million as part of ongoing acquisitions throughout South Florida since last year.
Additional deals included TA Realty acquiring Pines West apartments in Pembroke Pines ($118M), West Shore buying Palm Beach Gardens Apartments ($117.9M), and Related Fund Management purchasing Mira Delray complex ($116.9M).
The overall market faced challenges such as expensive insurance costs despite some stabilization recently, higher interest rates following Federal Reserve hikes during 2022–2023—with six rate cuts since then—and increased supply leading to slower lease-ups and lower average rents region-wide compared to November last year.
Buyers often turned to agency loans or assumed sellers’ existing debt; some relied on discretionary funds allowing lower leverage or closed all-cash transactions.
