Kushner Scores Approval for Second Rental Tower in Miami’s Edgewater
By Julia Echikson January 18, 2023 6:14 pm
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Miami city officials greenlighted the second phase of The Kushner Companies’ large rental development in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood during an Urban Development Review Board meeting Wednesday afternoon.
Called 1900 Biscayne, the development will feature two towers comprising 1,300 units plus 435 parking spots, a 30 percent reduction from city parking requirement thanks to its proximity to public transportation. Kobi Karp is serving as the architect.
A podium across Northeast 20th Street will connect the two towers, located at 1900 Biscayne Boulevard and 2000 Biscayne Boulevard. The 2.3-acre site sits within an opportunity zone, a Trump-era federal program that grants tax breaks for investments in certain distressed areas.
The New York-based developer completed the land assemblage last year, paying $37.5 million in total. It also brought investment firm PTM Partners onto the project because of its expertise with opportunity zones.
Construction began last year on the first phase, a 36-story building with 420 units at 2000 Biscayne Boulevard, for which Kushner secured a $127 million loan from AIG Asset Management and Valley National Bank in 2021.
The approval for the second phase is conditional on some design alterations, which include changes to the building’s linings and adding landscaping to the paseo connecting the two buildings. A representative for Kushner has yet to respond to a request for comment.
In the neighboring district of Wynwood, Kushner — led by Nicole Kusher, daughter of founder Charles Kushner, and Laurent Morali — is building a mixed-use development, dubbed the Wynd 27 and Wynd 28. In Fort Lauderdale, the firm, in partnership with Aimco, is developing a multi-tower development, also with 1,300 units.
Edgewater has become a hotbed for residential development. To mention just two, LCOR paid $49 million last year for a 1-acre site — adjacent to the Kushner project, also along Biscayne Boulevard — where it plans to develop a rental property. Oak Row Equities and Lndmrk Development bought a 1.5-acre site in October for $22.5 million, where the joint venture plans to build a luxury rental development.
(Disclosure: Joseph Meyer, chairman of Observer Media, owner of Commercial Observer, is married to Nicole Kushner Meyer, president of Kushner Companies.)
Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.
