Crescent Heights Lands $224M From Blackstone to Build in Miami’s Edgewater
By Julia Echikson April 4, 2022 6:12 pm
reprints
Crescent Heights scored $224 million in loans from Blackstone (BX) for a mixed-use Edgewater development.
The 39-story project, NEMA, will feature 588 rental apartments, 748 parking spots and a Whole Foods outpost on the ground floor, totaling 911,895 square feet.
The development, located at 2900 Biscayne Boulevard in the Edgewater neighborhood, stands between Northeast 29th and 30th streets, just east of Midtown Miami, a popular residential district.
Edgewater is designated as an Opportunity Zone, a federal designation that grants tax breaks for development in distressed areas. The program has come under scrutiny for granting financial relief for the wealthy since some Opportunity Zone developments, including NEMA, are marketed as luxury assets.
Construction for NEMA began in mid-March. The development, designed by Arquitectonica and Rockwell Group, is slated to open in early 2024, according to a spokesperson for the national developer.
The Blackstone financing includes a $179 million senior mortgage, according to property records, as well as a $45 million mezzanine loan, according to a source familiar with the deal, bringing the total debt to $224 million.
For Crescent Heights, the development is years in the making. The firm bought its first parcel in 2001, completing the buyout of the entire 38,273-square-foot block in 2019 for $11.2 million in total, according to property records.
NEMA is a national portfolio brand of Crescent Heights. The first residence under the NEMA name launched in San Francisco a decade ago, and others followed in Chicago and Boston. Besides Miami, the firm is developing NEMA projects in Los Angeles and Seattle.
In Miami, Crescent Heights is also working on several other projects. It’s developing a luxury condominium, Five Park, in Miami Beach with David Martin’s Terra. Just west of the Adrienne Arsht Center, the developer is buying a lot from the Miami-Dade County School Board with plans to build a massive mixed-use development.
Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.
