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Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim McMannis who wrote (22363)	7/20/2004 11:09:26 PM
From: jrhana	Respond to of 306849

<I hate those sign up screens> So do I-sorry about that-for some reason it did not do it to me when I did a Google search-so here it is: Israelis buy up Miami land Parking lot magnate Hank Sopher has turned over the heart of his Miami land holdings to a group of Israeli investors. They plan to invest $1 billion in developing the area. BY DOUGLAS HANKS III dhanks@herald.com An Israeli company has quietly assembled a large portfolio of land in the heart of downtown Miami and plans at least $1 billion worth of projects there, people familiar with the venture said Tuesday. The assemblage would give Africa-Israel Investments the ability to significantly shape the future of downtown Miami as it shifts from a commercial district to one also crowded with high-rise condominium towers. ''We're talking about millions of square feet here -- probably a million and a half,'' said Edie Laquer, the commercial broker who helped put together the deal. The land package comprises downtown real estate both prime and shabby. Much of the assemblage comes from Hank Sopher, the parking lot magnate who bought up vacant land west of Biscayne Boulevard in the late 1990s. That was before a historic real estate boom sent property values soaring and lured residential developers into downtown. Laquer said Africa-Israel plans a high-rise off Biscayne where the old Howard Johnson hotel stood at 11th Street, but she declined to offer details about any of the other parcels. Sopher also has lots around the old Miami Arena, and he stands as the lone bidder for the government-owned sports facility, which the city wants to sell. The Africa-Israel deal raises the possibility that the arena could wind up a part of the company's plans. ''I've heard the arena might be in play, which would make sense. But they haven't given us any details,'' said City Manager Joe Arriola, who plans a meeting with the developers later in the week. $90 MILLION PACKAGE Company and city officials will hold a news conference Monday to discuss plans for the land, part of a larger assemblage by Africa-Israel in the Miami area that the company has said will cost about $90 million. Seth Gordon, a Miami public relations executive hired by the developers, said Africa-Israel has not acquired the kind of large land assemblage that would let it build a sprawling project like Midtown Miami, the cluster of high-rise towers planned on a 56-acre rail yard north of downtown. ''There's no mega-block there,'' Gordon said of the Africa-Israel assemblage. ``It is individual parcels scattered around.'' But the $1 billion price tag is roughly equal to the cost of the 18-block stretch of seven high-rise towers planned at Midtown, said Otto Boudet-Murias, an aide to Miami Mayor Manny Diaz for economic development. ''This is big,'' Boudet-Murias said. ``Very big.'' Developers already plan three large and pricey condominium towers on Biscayne near the arena, and they are reporting strong sales. But with a flood of new projects announced for the downtown area and surrounding neighborhoods, some have warned of a looming glut of new condominiums. TOO MANY PROJECTS? Roughly 16,000 new residential units are either announced or under way in the urban corridor stretching from the Brickell neighborhood to the area above the Performing Arts Center, north of downtown, according to the Downtown Development Authority. That's about four times what has been built since 1995. The downtown portion is part of a larger 15-acre assemblage by Africa-Israel that includes land in the Brickell Avenue neighborhood, Miami Beach and north of downtown. There are 25 lots in all, including 14 from Sopher's holdings with partner UBS Warburg. Company Chairman Lev Leviev, recently listed on Forbes magazine's roster of the world's 500 wealthiest people, was quoted by Bloomberg News last month as saying the company would spend $90 million on the Miami venture. It was unclear if the price quoted reflected the cost of the entire land assemblage, or just the parcels in downtown Miami. A COUPLE PHASES Mayor Diaz said he assumed the development would proceed in phases, meaning the $1 billion in construction would unfold over a number of years. In his remarks to the press in Israel, Leviev described the Miami projects as a mix of commercial and residential uses. High-rise buildings typically have residential units in the upper floors, with a mix of office and retail space on the ground level. Gordon said one of the developers involved in the Africa-Israel venture is Shaya Boymelgreen, a luxury apartment builder based in New York. If it goes forward, the deal would offer a lucrative bookend for Sopher's real estate foray into Miami. Sopher will serve as a passive investor in the Africa-Israel venture, according to Gordon and Laquer. BUYING SINCE 1998 The New York parking lot magnate began buying up vacant land off Biscayne in 1998, when supply seemed ample. ''Everything was for sale. Edie had a sign on most of everything,'' Sopher said of Laquer, his longtime broker, during an October interview with The Herald. ``To me, it was a no-brainer.'' Sopher converted the vacant land to parking lots to generate revenue to meet his mortgage payments, and in recent years the developers began calling. ''Hank had what they wanted,'' Laquer said of Africa-Israel. ``And they had what Hank wanted.'' Herald staff writer Michael Vasquez contributed to this report. miami.com