Kushner Cos. Buys Miami Multifamily Property for $190M

Kushner Companies acquired a waterfront multifamily building in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood for $190 million from Apartment Investment and Management Company (Aimco).

The 28-story property, called The Hamilton, features 276 units at 555 NE 34th Street, a block south of Interstate 195, which leads into Miami Beach. The sale — brokered by Walker & Dunlop’s Still Hunter, Kaya Suarez, Leigh Gerke, Bennett Hopkins and Luke Duffack — equates to about $688,400 per apartment, which average 1,373 square feet. 

Private equity giant Apollo Global Management (APO) and Macquarie Group provided a $157 million acquisition loan, according to Walker & Dunlop, whose Aaron Appel, Keith Kurland, Jonathan Schwartz, Adam Schwartz, Michael Stepniewski, Mo Beler, Michael Ianno and Christopher de Raet brokered the financing. (A spokesperson for Kushner Companies confirmed the sale.)

Five years ago, Aimco purchased the 615,785-square-foot building for $81 million, according to property records. The Denver-based company embarked on an extensive renovation of the property, which dates back to 1984, after evicting 200 residents.  

The transaction also marks the investor’s second property sale in Edgewater. This month, the REIT sold its interest in the nearby 2.8-acre developable site at 3333 Biscayne Boulevard for $13.8 million to Beitel Group. The deal values the parcel at $66.5 million.

The recent sales allowed Aimco to retire $110 million in debt, which carried a weighted average rate of 8.6 percent, Aimco divulged in a public filing. A representative for Aimco did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

South in Brickell, the multifamily investor is in talks to sell two neighboring waterfront buildings for about $500 million to Oak Row Equities. 

But Aimco isn’t leaving Edgewater. In September, it secured a $172 million construction loan, also from Apollo, to develop a 144-unit luxury residential tower across the street from The Hamilton. 

Kushner, led by Nicole Kushner Meyer and Laurent Morali, is no stranger to Edgewater, either. This year, the New York-based developer completed 2000 Biscayne, a 36-story, 420-unit rental tower. It also owns the 1.4-acre site across the street. 

(Disclosure: Joseph Meyer, chairman of Commercial Observer owner Observer Media, is married to Nicole Kushner Meyer, president of Kushner Companies.)

Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.