Empira Group bought a development site in Coral Gables for $18 million, with plans for a 161-unit luxury multifamily project.
The deal marks the Swiss firm’s continued investment and growing pipeline of projects in Miami-Dade County since making its market debut three years ago.
Empira wants to build The Aurelian, a 12-story building with 5,000 square feet of public space and a park, on the 1.2-acre site at 912-921 East Ponce de Leon Boulevard, according to the firm’s news release.
Designed by Behar Font, the project will include a 248-space garage, a gym with a yoga studio, pool, outdoor lounge and a sculpture at the entrance by artist Michele Oka Doner.
Alliance Starlight II, an entity managed by Roberto Trapaga, sold the site to Empira, records show. The property now consists of three vacant lots, as well as a pair of two-story apartment buildings with 16 units, combined, completed in 1945 and 1954.
Shani Heskiel of Beachfront Realty represented the seller, and Bobby Berrido of Fausto Commercial represented the buyer.
Construction of The Aurelian is expected to start early next year, the release says.
Empira –– led by Rafael Aregger, Branko Kuzmanović and Michael Marrero –– has largely focused on private equity and debt investment in residential real estate in German-speaking parts of Europe. It invests on behalf of German pension funds, insurance firms and banks.
It’s been ramping up its Miami-Dade development pipeline since first entering the market in 2022 with the $9 million purchase of a half-acre development site in The Roads neighborhood of Miami. Empira is developing the eight-story, 85-unit Enso multifamily project on the site at 3025 and 3051 Southwest Third Avenue.
Last year, Empira, which is based in Zug, Switzerland, opened its U.S. headquarters in downtown Miami.
In May, Empira scored a $111.3 million construction loan for the 26-story, 310-unit Perrin apartment tower at 244 Southwest Ninth Street in Miami’s Brickell. The firm had paid $21.5 million for the 1-acre development site in 2023.
Records show construction of the Perrin started in June.
A few residential projects are on tap in Coral Gables.
Shoma Group, led by married couple Masoud and Stephanie Shojaee, plans the 16-story, 201-unit Ponce 8 apartment building, marking the first Live Local Act project in the city. The state law, approved in 2023 and tweaked in the subsequent two years, allows bigger projects than a site’s zoning permits as long as developers designate at least 40 percent of the units for households earning no more than 120 percent of the area median income.
In June, Edgardo Defortuna’s Fortune International Group paid $37.5 million for the 4.8-acre Coral Gables redevelopment site at 6100 Caballero Boulevard. Fortune plans a $150 million branded condominium project with 251 units.
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