Keystone Development + Investment scored a $62 million loan for its office-to-residential conversions at two buildings near Dadeland Mall, a rare retrofit in South Florida.
Office-to-residential conversions took hold in the Northeast, especially in New York, in recent years, marking new chapters for the towers struggling with higher vacancy due to the growth of hybrid work. The adaptation is less common in South Florida, where the office market boomed during a pandemic-era influx of companies.
In the only known South Florida project, Keystone plans to create 212 apartments, combined, at the seven-story building at 9400 South Dadeland Boulevard and the eight-story building at 9500 South Dadeland Boulevard in unincorporated Miami-Dade County. The properties are in the Dadeland area of Kendall.
Uniondale, New York-based Arbor Realty Trust, through an affiliate, provided the $62 million loan, records show. Keystone recorded a notice of construction commencement five days after the financing closed.
The 145,400-square-foot building at 9400 South Dadeland Boulevard will be converted into 121 apartments, and the 113,100-square-foot building at 9500 South Dadeland Boulevard into 91 apartments, according to Keystone’s project filings to Miami-Dade and a company representative who spoke with The Real Deal in May. They are expected to be completed next year.
Both buildings were built in the early 1980s, according to LoopNet.
The conversions are part of Keystone’s larger Hyve project on its 8.3-acre site now home to an office complex with a pair of garages. After the conversions, the firm plans a 25-story, 219-unit apartment tower in place of one of the existing garages.
Despite South Florida’s office market fortunes, fueled by unprecedented leasing by new-to-market firms and record rents, some landlords have felt the sting from higher interest rates and hybrid work. Instead of retrofitting the buildings, they’re bulldozing them to make way for new projects.
After logistics company Ryder System left its former headquarters campus at 11690 Northwest 105th Street in unincorporated Miami-Dade, Bridge Industrial bought the site and plans a 330,000-square-foot industrial redevelopment with two warehouses. Ryder moved its headquarters to a smaller space at 2333 Ponce de Leon Boulevard in Coral Gables, citing the hybrid work shift.
In Boca Raton, BH Group, Pebb Enterprises and the Pérez family’s Related Group plan to replace an existing office building at the Office Depot headquarters campus with an eight-story, 500-unit apartment building. Two other office buildings at the campus at 6600 North Military Trail that are primarily leased to Office Depot will remain.
