Greg Newman.
Greg Newman
Managing director at Bank OZK
The South Florida region became a target for Bank OZK (OZK)’s Greg Newman well ahead of its recent rapid population surge.
“We have been focused on that market since I got here eight years ago,” Newman said of his arrival at Bank OZK. “Nothing has really changed in terms of our approach.”
Newman, whose commercial real estate career spans more than three decades, closed his first ever loan for a condominium deal in Miami. Condos and multifamily transactions in the Miami area remain a big focus today, along with providing financing for mixed-use projects in the midst of the migration to South Florida that’s been unfolding since the pandemic’s onset.
Among Bank OZK’s noteworthy deals in 2022 was a $117 million construction loan for Related Group’s mixed-use project in Miami’s Wynwood Arts District; $215 million for the Wynwood Plaza, another mixed-use development in the neighborhood; a $169 million loan for Fort Partners’ latest oceanfront condo in Surfside; and the largest of them all: $277 million for OKO Group’s Aman hotel and condo development in Miami Beach.
On the acquisition side, the Little Rock, Ark.-based bank supplied a $105 million senior mortgage loan as part of a $150 million acquisition financing package for Two Roads Development’s purchase of a condominium property, Biscayne 21, at 2121 N Bayshore Drive in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood. Two Roads is planning to demolish the existing 191-unit building to make way for a new luxury residential tower. Lionheart Strategic Management provided a $45 million mezzanine loan in the transaction.
In late 2022, Bank OZK capped off its active year in South Florida with an $80.9 million construction loan for a joint venture between Aria Development Group and Kuwait Real Estate Company to build a luxury condo high-rise featuring 448 units in Downtown Miami.
“We’re focused on finding deals that meet our underwriting standards with top-quality sponsors,” Newman said. —A.C.
