Brightline Parent Company FECI Asks $500M for Miami Rental Complex
By Julia Echikson September 22, 2021 5:18 pm
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With rents in South Florida skyrocketing, Brightline’s parent company listed a Downtown Miami rental complex for an eye-popping $500 million.
The two-tower ParkLine Miami property, located at 100 NW 6 Street, sits directly above the MiamiCentral train station. With 816 units, the asking price equates to $612,000 per apartment. The property is 90 percent leased, and monthly rents range between $1,850 and $4,295, according to Apartments.com.
Florida East Coast Industries — the company that operates the Brightline train line that runs through South Florida — developed ParkLine, which was completed in February 2020. Robert Given and Troy Ballard of Cushman & Wakefield are marketing ParkLine’s potential sale.
FECI’s business revolves as much around running train lines as it does selling real estate. Over the years, the firm has sold office and residential developments, as well as developable parcels near Brightline stations to institutional investors. FECI sold a West Palm Beach multifamily property for $114 million in 2020 and, this past July, vacant sites close to the Fort Lauderdale station for $37.2 million.
Despite the Brightline remaining shut down for more than a year, properties around its stations have emerged as prime assets. Earlier this year, private equity giant Blackstone paid $230 million for the 2 and 3 MiamiCentral office complex adjacent to ParkLine. (The train line will resume service in November and is expanding service to Aventura, Boca Raton and Orlando.)
As major financial and tech companies relocate to Miami, bringing along a new set of wealthy renters, the city’s rents are surging. Monthly leases rose a whopping 19.9 percent in just one year, according to an August report by Apartment List.
Institutional investors have taken note, scooping up multifamily rentals for top dollar. Last month, Cortland bought a seven-building Boca Raton rental for $230 million, 2021’s most expensive multifamily sale to date. For contrast, the per-unit price on that deal was $504,385.
But with a price tag that’s already double the year’s priciest purchase, the sale of ParkLine could shatter records.
Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.
