01/07/09

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City Park Aventura set to break ground

A rendering of City Park Aventura's planned office component.

While the developers of the high-profile Biscayne Landing in North Miami are shifting gears toward commercial space in a dismal residential real estate market, City Park Aventura is moving full speed ahead with the original plans for its mixed-use development.

"Our project is like Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills," says Sky Development CEO Yizhak Toledana, who is developing City Park Aventura in partnership with David Levy, Sky's director of development. "This is the last piece of land for development in Aventura — and it's in the heart of the city."

City Park Aventura is a lifestyle community planned for seven-and-a-half acres at 2900 Waterways Boulevard and NE 207th Street. The development will offer 53 town homes, 51 two-story condominiums and private penthouses, ground-floor retail, a Class A office building and a flagship hotel. Miami-based Arquitectonica designed the project.

The first of three construction phases was slated for the first quarter of 2008. Phase One includes an office component, a portion of the retail component and a parking garage with more than 1,000 spaces. More than 25 percent of the space is already pre-leased. Phase One of City Park is scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2009. Phases Two and Three will break ground in the second quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009, respectively.

Meanwhile, a short drive down US 1, the Biscayne Landing builder, Boca Developers, wants approval to cut some of its planned condominium offerings in favor of more office space, retail stores and a four-star hotel. The developers believe this will offer a greater benefit to the local community in the current market.

Residential was central to the original Biscayne Landing plan, whereas, now the project is much more commercial. This represents a change in vision for the project, a vision which also includes a small theater for film festivals and wine tastings. However, the developers have not yet received approval from the city.

The new plan still calls for 6,000 housing units, but is also expected to add 7,000 new jobs to the community.

City Park is indeed unique among its location peers. Aventura is sorely lacking Class A office space. City Park offers 150,000 square feet of Class A space in an eight-story office building, complete with a full-service bank branch.

"Aventura is a small market, but its vacancy rates are consistently low and its tenants are consistently high quality," said Maggie Guajardo Kurtz, director of office brokerage for the Miami offices of Cushman & Wakefield, the leasing agent for the office and retail components. "City Park lets you take your client downstairs for lunch, dinner or a drink — you don't have to leave the complex. That's unique in Aventura."

On the retail front, the Waterways Shoppes, an open-air plaza on the Intracoastal Waterway, and Aventura Mall are the primary options. City Park will add 50,000 square feet of high-end shops, bringing greater diversity to Aventura residents and tourists who flood the area to visit nearby Gulfstream Park and area beaches each year.

"South Florida is underserved retail-wise," said Joseph Hernandez, a partner with the Miami office of Hogan & Hartson LLP, who specializes and represents real estate developers in all phases of complex commercial real estate transactions. "The economics of retail projects in South Florida are as strong today as they ever have been historically, and Aventura is one of those markets — kind of like Coral Gables, a city unto itself with an affluent residential base."

Aventura may also be underserved in the hotel arena. There are four hotels in the city, each more than 80 percent occupied year-round, according to Sky's market research. Only one, the Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club, is fresh, after undergoing a $100 million renovation. A new 16-story hotel, Toledana Figures, should be a welcome addition.

So while Boca Developers wants to include more than 200,000 square feet of additional commercial space at Biscayne Landing at the expense of residential units, Sky Development has a different story to tell in Aventura. Its plans aren't changing despite the changing market conditions.

"This project will come online with perfect timing. We have 16 months to recover from the down economy," Kurtz says. "Aventura doesn't get hit as hard as other markets. It's just a different animal. The demographics there are wealthy."