Honey, millennials shrunk the office space: panel

Crew-Miami panel discussed how the young generation is driving trends in Miami’s office and multifamily markets

By Francisco Alvarado | November 15, 2018 11:30AM

From left: Panelist Frank Guerra, Moderator Peggy Fucci, Panelists Ricardo Caporal, and Brian Koles (Credit: iStock)

In a Coral Gables office building owned by Altis Cardinal, anchor tenant American Airlines recently slashed its space by nearly half without shedding any employees, according to the real estate development firm’s founder Frank Guerra.

“American went from 27,000 square feet to 15,000 square feet with the exact same headcount,” Guerra told attendees at a Crew-Miami luncheon on Wednesday. “There’s a lot more telecommuting taking place.”

The drastic reduction was a result of creating flexible working conditions for millennial employees, Guerra explained. The office and apartment building developer joined Mattoni Group founder and President Ricardo Caporal and Property Markets Group brand and experience director Brian Koles for a panel discussion on how millennials are influencing changes in how commercial spaces are designed, residential projects are marketed and amenity packages are configured in South Florida. OneWorld Properties broker Peggy Fucci moderated the discussion.

Instead of a single cubicle for an employee that comes in five days a week, corporate tenants now want work stations that can be shared by two or more staffers who come into the office on alternating schedules, Guerra said. On the multifamily side of real estate, millennials want more business amenities than leisure ones, he added.

“We are seeing more office services on the ground floor where it may have been a racquetball court in the past,” Guerra said. “They even want conference rooms because they want to hold meetings where they live.”

Koles touted the emergence of co-living as another millennial-driven real estate trend that PMG believes will produce profitable results. Earlier this year, PMG announced it was launching X Social Communities, a division that matches roommates in fully furnished apartments in buildings owned by PMG. Over the summer, the company opened X Miami at 230 Northeast 4th Street in downtown Miami.

“Co-living with roommates is not something we invented or is a new trend,” Koles said. “I feel very comfortable telling our investors, ‘it’s a good bet.’”

Millennials also want functionality when it comes to equipping buildings with smart technology, Koles said. For instance, he said, X Miami and other PMG properties have package lockers where deliveries can be dropped off. A resident will get an alert in real time that the package has arrived, along with a code to open the locker. “We only use technology to enable convenience,” he said. “It’s not about making something flash.”

Caporal said Mattoni Group now builds more bike stations, places food warmers in communal areas for UberEats deliveries and provides pet amenities. “It needs to be convenient and practical,” Caporal said. “Five years ago, we didn’t have these things.”

Developers are also more in tune with what tenants are posting on social media websites to hold property managers accountable for problems, Guerra said. “Part of any marketing engagement we do requires monitoring social media and reporting any issues,” he said. “If someone complains, we take note and hold our people accountable.”

The goal, Guerra said, is to minimize any potential damage from online complaints. “It’s an effective way to address concerns,” he said. “One posting and the whole world knows.”

ZOM Living Celebrates Grand Opening of Luxury Garden Apartments in Tampa

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Azola Apartments – 366 units on a 25-acre site in the heart of the expanding Brandon/Riverview submarket of Tampa 

Azola brings a new level of quality to this growing suburban community and we are proud to be part of it.

ZOM Living, in partnership with affiliates of Mattoni Group and New York-based Clarion Partners, LLC on behalf of a commingled fund managed by the firm, celebrates the grand opening of AZOLA, a 366-unit multifamily garden apartment community located on Progress Boulevard near the Interstate 75/Highway 301 interchange and South Falkenburg Road. This expanding south Brandon/Riverview submarket is home to a growing number of corporate employers, such as Progressive Insurance, Spectrum, and USAA, which is bringing over 1200 new jobs to the area. An array of retail and entertainment venues is anchored by the nearby Westfield Brandon Mall, and has attracted new merchants such as Bass Pro Shop and Top Golf.

“We are excited to celebrate the grand opening of Azola with Clarion Partners and Mattoni Group” said Kyle Clayton, ZOM Florida’s Senior Vice President. “Azola brings a new level of quality to this growing suburban community and we are proud to be part of it.”

Mattoni Group’s President Ricardo Caporal, added, “We couldn’t be happier with the first-class project ZOM delivered. Both ZOM and Clarion partners share the same commitment to enhancing communities as Mattoni Group and we are proud of the work we’ve done in Riverview.”

Azola broke ground Q4 2016, started pre-leasing in late summer 2017, and is comprised of spacious and well-appointed one, two, and three bedroom units in a variety of floor plans ranging from 665 to 1,545 square feet, spread across 25 acres. A large community center contains a leasing office and on-site amenities include a club room, cyber café, and fitness center. Construction financing was provided by the Synovus Bank and Hancock Bank.

About ZOM:

ZOM Living is one of the most highly regarded luxury multifamily developers in the United States, and has joint ventured or directly developed nearly 20,000 apartment units nationwide, with an aggregate value of over $4 Billion. Throughout its 40-year history, ZOM has garnered more than 160 industry awards for project design and development expertise, including the prestigious National Multifamily Development Firm of the Year award and garnering two national Pillar Awards from the (NAHB) National Association of Home Builders, for Best Low-Rise Project (Baldwin Harbor/Orlando) and Best High-Rise (Monarc at Met3/Miami).

ZOM is headquartered in Orlando and has regional development offices in South Florida, Dallas, Washington D.C., Chicago and Raleigh. ZOM has 5,000 units currently under construction or in design/predevelopment throughout the U.S., with a total capitalization of $1.6 Billion. For more information on ZOM’s multifamily portfolio, visit http://www.zomliving.com.

About Mattoni Group

Founded in 2009, Mattoni Group is a private equity real estate investment and management firm headquartered in Miami. With a growing portfolio of residential and commercial properties across the region, Mattoni Group has more than two decades of combined experience in the real estate industry – including property acquisition, construction, management and financial analysis. For more info please visit http://www.mattonigroup.com

About Clarion Partners

Clarion Partners LLC, an SEC registered investment adviser with FCA-authorized and FINRA member affiliates, has been a leading U.S. real estate investment manager for more than 36 years. Headquartered in New York, the firm has offices in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, London, Los Angeles, São Paulo, Seattle and Washington, DC. With more than $45.6 billion in total assets under management, Clarion Partners offers a broad range of real estate strategies across the risk/return spectrum to its more than 300 domestic and international institutional investors. More information about the firm is available at http://www.clarionpartners.com.

 

Miami investor Ricardo Caporal buys dev site near Westchester

A company controlled by Miami investor Ricardo Caporal paid $5 million for a development site near Miami’s Westchester neighborhood, property records show.

AmeriLumber Hardware & Building Material Inc. sold the 1.37-acre property on Bird Road and Southwest 70th Court to Altis Ludlam Miami LLC.

The lot is just north of a development site owned by a self-storage company and west of the proposed Ludlam Trail, a 6.2-mile trail intended for cyclists and pedestrians that has yet to be built.

Caporal, founder and president of the Mattoni Group, declined to comment about his plans for the site.

In November, Mattoni paid $10.5 million for commercial units at 1010 Brickell Avenue. The Brickell-based private equity group also invested in a handful of apartment projects in West Miami that were geared toward young professionals and working families.

Miami investor Ricardo Caporal buys dev site near Westchester

Construction starts on new Tampa apartments with rooftop bay views

TAMPA — The Altman Companies began construction this week on Altis Grand Central, 314 studio and one, two-and three- bedroom apartments near the University of Tampa.

Amenities will include a dog park with doggie spa, “chic bowling lounge” and rooftop pool and lounge with views of Tampa Bay. The eight-story towers at 548 W. Grand Central Avenue will rise across the street from the popular Oxford Exchange, home to a restaurant, bookstore, coffeehouse and gift shop.

Boca Raton-based Altman, which has eight other apartment communities in Florida including in Lutz and Wesley Chapel, is partnering on Altis Grand Central with Mattoni Group, a Miami investment real estate firm.

http://www.tbo.com/news/business/realestate/construction-starts-on-new-tampa-apartments-with-rooftop-bay-views/2344187

“There is still a lot of money around” CRE Pros on the state of the market in Miami

Following weeks of nonstop news coverage about hurricanes, real estate professionals were understandably concerned that investors might shift their sights away from Florida and its severe weather events. But the experts who spoke about capital markets and foreign investment during Bisnow’s Miami State of the Market event Tuesday agreed: the impact was almost nil.

Walker & Dunlop Managing Director Kevin O’Grady said he is in the midst of several hundred millions of dollars in deals, with foreign investors flying for tours, and “there hasn’t been a peep about the weather.” “There may be a short-term hangover, especially in the residential market,” O’Grady said, but the hurricane was otherwise mostly a temporary nuisance. “Living at the water has a price, but it’s certainly worth paying it,” Fortune International Group CEO Edgardo Defortuna said. “I’d rather have a hurricane than an earthquake.” He added that, because of building codes that came into effect after Hurricane Andrew in 1992, newer properties suffered little from Irma. As far as foreign investment, Defortuna said that “the urgency has gone out” recently, and buyers are being more selective. That is because cheap properties that had been available in the wake of the recession have all been scooped up and deals are harder to find. Also, he said, the high cost of the dollar is making some investors stick to their own countries until they see a more favorable exchange rate. In past years, foreign buyers often made deposits on projects during pre-construction phases, Defortuna said, but as exchange rates worsened over the construction period, they abandoned deals and walked away from deposits. Now, some projects are requiring 50% deposits to hedge against those scenarios, Defortuna said, and his company has stepped in to offer financing outside of typical bank loans and bridge such gaps.

But U.S. investors are also interested in Miami. “The capital has been taken over domestically,” O’Grady said, a push that is “really dominated by the debt funds … Investors want bondable returns.” As recently as the 1990s, he said, Miami was not generally perceived as a stable or attractive market for growth. Starbucks did not even put coffee shops here because it was too hot. Projects were built, but not with institutional-grade capital. That is changing, he said, as outsiders have come to understand that Miami is a gateway city for foreign capital and people want to live here full time. “Our exponential growth is just beginning,” he said. Foreign investors in politically turbulent nations will always invest in U.S. real estate for stability, the panelists agreed. Baker & McKenzie LLP partner Steve Hadjilogiou said foreign clients come to him primarily seeking advice regarding estate taxes and the tax rate on capital gains. He said he sees a lot of investment vehicles set up as corporations. After the Panama Papers saga exposed how foreign entities use shell companies to dodge tax obligations, companies are seeking advice on how to better comply with regulations. Because of the exposé, “we live in a more compliant world,” Hadjilogiou said. “There’s no time to fool around with tax savings restrictions and other things we saw a few years ago.” Overall, the panelists agreed that Miami is still young and ripe for development. “There’s still a lot of money around,” Integra Realty Resources Senior Managing Director Anthony Graziano said. He said real estate remains attractive, especially with the stock market at record highs and investors wondering when it might start to tumble.

“There doesn’t seem to be an end in sight” for real estate in Miami, O’Grady said. “We’re really at the beginning of our growth cycle,” he said. This is great for investors, but bad for affordable housing advocates, as experts pointed out on other panels during Tuesday’s event. “I don’t know if you can fix it,” Plaza Construction Southeast Region President Brad Meltzer said. “Cities that are 100 years ahead of us, you don’t see any affordable housing in the center of San Francisco or New York City. People have to move out to the suburbs and take transportation in. Property values are not going to go down. It’s just not going to happen.” Dezer Development CEO Gil Dezer said that builders are helping, not hurting, the city as they bring money into the region. “We are basically exporters — without exporting any product,” he said. People cannot take their real estate with them when they leave, he added. “Every time you see a crane go up, it’s making housing more affordable,” Key International Co-President Inigo Ardid said. Consider the current market, he said, which has some 12,000 rental units and 17,000 condos under construction. The supply would eventually make rents come down or at least slow the rate at which rents are increasing. Although, he said, “It may take some time before you feel it.”

https://www.bisnow.com/south-florida/news/capital-markets/miami-cre-market-79613?be=adriano.salucci%40bisnow.com&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wed-27-sep-2017-000000-0500_south-florida-re

Mattoni Group and The Estate Group Break Ground On Latest Venture in Blue Lagoon

Miami, Fl – September, 2017

Mattoni Group, Fortune Capital and The Estate Group have officially broken ground on Soleste Blue Lagoon, a luxury rental community in the heart of Blue Lagoon Miami minutes away from Coral Gables, Miami International Airport and downtown Miami.

The 330-unit luxury class A rental community will be comprised of an 8-story apartment building totaling approximately 222,210 square feet of rentable space. Community amenities boast easy access to public transportation, restaurants and shops, resort style swimming pool, spacious beachfront sun deck, private cabanas, resident lounge and cyber cafe.

The project will feature well-appointed studios as well as one-, two- and three-bedroom units in a variety of floor plans ranging from 394 to 1,073 sq. ft. Additionally, the gym will include a world class fitness studio with club quality equipment, WiFi throughout, 24-hour emergency maintenance, and garage parking with controlled access

Soleste Blue Lagoon is the fourth partnership between Mattoni Group and The Estate Group shifting the Blue Lagoon and West Miami area, including the recently sold Soleste Club Prado and Soleste West Gables. The project has an anticipated completion date for Q2 of 2019.

 

About Mattoni Group: (MG) is a forward-thinking, vertically integrated real estate investment and management firm headquartered in Miami with a growing portfolio of residential and commercial properties across the region and more than two decades of combined experience in the real estate industry – including property acquisition, construction, management and financial analysis. For more info please visit www.mattonigroup.com

 

About Estate Investments Group, LLC: (EIG) A full service, vertically integrated real estate investment, development and construction team leveraging 100+ years of managing client relations in the Florida market.  Please visit www.eigfl.com .

 

The Halal Guys Opening 2 Miami Restaurants

The countdown to the best chicken and gyro combo platters in Miami is on! The Halal Guys will open its newest restaurants in South Miami near the University of Miami at 5966 South Dixie Highway. Soon to follow will be their second location at 1010 Brickell Avenue.

Miami-based investment real estate firm Mattoni Group is excited to welcome the famed NYC eatery as one of the first retail tenants in the building. “Since Brickell is a growing metropolitan residential community, the area has a high density of residents, making it a desirable location for retailers,” said Mattoni Group Founder and President Ricardo Caporal.

There will be more fun than falafel at the Grand Opening events, both slated for Fall 2017. The first 100 people to enter the restaurant get a special The Halal Guys tumbler, which earns them free drink refills for LIFE! Throughout the day, the crew will be serving up more than their specialty sandwiches and platters – lucky diners will have the chance to get The Halal Guys t-shirts and sunglasses, plus exclusive rewards cards that include free food prizes!

The Halal Guys legend began nearly three decades ago in New York City, when the three founding business partners learned there was a huge demand from New York cab drivers looking for American Halal food. An immediate success, The Halal Guys is well known for their famous chicken and gyro over rice platter and signature white and hot sauces. Even today, diners across the world will wait in long lines just to enjoy their unique and delicious food.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/06/prweb14462937.htm#!

Miami’s Soleste Club Prado Sold for $61M

Soleste Club Prado, a new luxury midrise building located at the northwest edge of Coral Gables, FL, was acquired by Denver-based Grand Peaks for $61 million. The eight-story, 196-unit multifamily tower was developed on a 1.8-acre site at 950 Red Rd. in West Miami.

The first residents took occupancy in June 2016, and the building was 95% leased at the time of sale. Units at Soleste Club Prado feature top-of-market interior finishes, including porcelain flooring throughout the living areas, modern white cabinetry, Kenmore stainless steel appliances, and quartz countertops.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Robert Given, Zachary Sackley, Troy Ballard and Neal Victor negotiated the disposition on behalf of a joint venture of the Florida-based Estate Investment Group, Mattoni Group and Fortune Capital Partners.

“Soleste Club Prado is the first midrise, Class A multifamily property to transact in South Florida in nearly a year,” said Given.

Miami’s Soleste Club Prado Sold for $61M

Apartment building in red-hot neighborhood sells for $61 million

A 196-unit apartment building in West Miami has sold for a record $61 million, continuing the tiny neighborhood’s trend of surging property values and interest from institutional investors.

Soleste Club Prado, an eight-story, 196-unit building at 950 Red Road just west of Coral Gables, was completed in 2016 by developers Estate Investment Group (Estates), Fortune Capital Partners and Mattoni Group. The building offers one, two and three-bedroom units ranging in rent from $1,680 to $3,475 and is 95 percent leased out.

The sales price for the 168,872 square-foot building works out to $360 per square foot.

The buyer was Grand Peaks Properties, the Denver-based parent of the national apartment management company Grand Peaks Property Management, which operates five other South Florida rental residential buildings in South Miami, Doral and Plantation.

“The potential we saw in West Miami is being fulfilled,” Estate principal Robert Suris said in a statement. “The project’s proximity to some of Miami’s most popular destinations and its premium design and amenities made it a natural choice, both for buyers like Grand Peaks, and today’s ultra-discerning renters.”

Although it takes up less than one square mile and has one of the smallest tax bases in the county, West Miami had the biggest surge in property values in Miami-Dade in 2017 — 28 percent. New construction rose to $55 million and existing property grew by 13 percent.

The previous West Miami record was set in August 2016, when the Chicago-based real estate investment and property management firm Waterton paid $57.4 million for Soleste West Gables, a seven-story, 206-unit building at 2101 Ludlam Rd.

Estate has six other multi-family buildings in development through Miami-Dade.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/real-estate-news/article155170559.html

Miami firms sell Tampa-area rentals for $49.7M

Adler Group and Mattoni Group sold the 250-unit complex in Riverview

Two Miami-based firms, Adler Group and Mattoni Group, sold a 250-unit, Tampa-area rental apartment complex for $49.7 million.

PASSCO Companies, LLC, bought the Pearce at Pavilion Apartments for about $200,000 per unit, a record per-unit price in the Tampa-area market, according to Adler and Mattoni.

“We are proud to have participated in the land acquisition, development, construction, lease up and exit of this project,” Michael M. Adler, CEO of Adler Group, said in a prepared statement.

The Pearce at Pavilion Apartments “filled a void in the Tampa submarket by providing unparalleled apartment residences and amenities,” Adler said.

The apartment property, which has a 93 percent occupancy rate, is located at 3603 Pavilion Palms Circle in Riverview, a 10-minute drive from downtown Tampa.

Monthly rents range from $1,249 to $2,019, and the property’s one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments range in size from 737 square feet to 1,280 square feet.

Common-area amenities at the Pearce at Pavilion Apartments include a clubhouse, spa and swimming pool, cabanas, and an outdoor kitchen and living room, plus a Wi-Fi lounge, media room and fitness center with on-demand yoga and spin classes.