The Congress Group wants to build a 27-story apartment building next to the Civica store in the Miami Health District, marking a change from previous plans for a medical office at the site.
The Boston-based company wants to build a 380-unit project on a 0.85-acre site at 1050 14th Street NW, in the triangular parking lot south of the Civica store, according to Congressional CEO Dean Stratouly and real estate records. .
“Not only here, the office market is weak across the country,” Stratulli said, explaining the decision to build apartments instead of offices.
Congress, in partnership with Peakhill Equity TS, paid $16 million for the development site and secured an $8.3 million loan from Miami-based LV Lending, according to an LV press release. The seller is Boston-based Taurus Investment Holdings.
The project is the second and final phase of a plan that Congress and Boston-based Taurus launched two years ago.
In 2020, the two companies partnered to purchase the entire 1.8-acre site, including Civica’s store and adjacent parking lot development, for $30.5 million. According to Stratouly, in the first phase of the project, the duo completely transformed the original two-story retail center into a three-story building with 20,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor and 40,000 square feet of medical offices on the upper two floors. . The project was completed at the end of last year.
The retail portion is fully leased and two tenants are in talks for a medical office, he said. Retail tenants include Smoothie King, Salsa Fiesta and Dunkin’.
For the second phase, Congress and Taurus plan to build a 460,000-square-foot medical office building on the parking lot. Instead, Congress partnered with Peakhill to buy out Taurus’ ownership stake in the site and change the plan to multifamily.
Stratouly said construction is scheduled to begin in the first quarter, with completion expected in 2027.
Over the past 35 years, Congress has purchased, developed, repositioned, managed and authorized more than 7 million square feet of land worth more than $1.5 billion, according to the company’s website.
Under the leadership of Peter Merrigan, Taurus has a portfolio of more than 70 million square feet of purchased and developed real estate, and more than 200 projects valued at more than $10.4 billion, according to its website.
Peakhill Equity is a Toronto-based private investment firm focused on value-add and development projects in the U.S. and Canada, according to its website. The organization is led by Jonah Belkin and Harley Gold.
The Health District (named for its proximity to Jackson Memorial Hospital and other medical facilities) and nearby areas have attracted the attention of developers.
Last summer, The Estate Companies completed the 240-unit Soleste Spring Gardens apartment building at 1033 Spring Gardens Road near the health district.
In Alapata, Lissette Calderon will complete 13-story, 192-unit Residence No. 17 at 1569 NW 17th Street in 2021. She is expected to complete the 14-story, 323-unit The Julia at 1625 NW 20th Street and Residence 14 at 1625 NW 20th Street. Early next year, the 14-building Allapattah residences at 1470 NW 36th Street will have 237 units.
