Clara Homes scored an $80 million construction loan for its third luxury apartment building in Bay Harbor Islands.
New York-based Madison Realty Capital provided the financing for a 77-unit building at 10200-10290 East Bay Harbor Drive, CEO and Founder James Curnin said. Construction is slated to start by next month and completion is expected in the first quarter of 2028, he said.
The building is expected to cost $180 million, or $2.3 million per unit. The financing amounts $1.04 million per unit.
It is the third of three buildings Clara Homes is developing with a total of 150 units in the waterfront town.
Already completed is a 28-unit building at 10281 West Bay Harbor Drive. A 45-unit building is expected for completion in August at 1155 100 Street.
All three buildings are six stories with a rooftop, with large units averaging at 1,850 square feet. They primarily consist of two-bedroom apartments to four-bedroom apartments, with units including dens.
“This is primarily a young family area,” Curnin said.
Demand is mainly fueled by out-of-staters and Bay Harbor Islands residents who are looking for a refuge from renovation work at their aging condo buildings, he said. In the wake of the deadly Surfside condo collapse in 2021, Florida and Miami-Dade County have imposed stricter structural integrity and recertification requirements from buildings older than 30 years, with regulations especially stringent on condos near the coast.
Curnin isn’t sure if the Bay Harbor Islands residents leasing at his apartment buildings are selling their condos or only looking for a refuge during the construction renovations.
Miami-based Clara Homes paid $17.6 million in 2022 for the development sites.
Bay Harbor Islands has attracted mostly condo developers. The Eichner family’s Continuum Company is developing the eight-story, 57-unit La Baia North, and completed the eight-story, 68-unit La Baia South.
Also in Bay Harbor Islands, Brooklyn-based Horizon Group is developing a seven-story, 23-unit condo project on the Indian Creek waterway.
Multifamily financing is flowing for South Florida projects, despite a supply overhang of market-rate units due to hefty completions in recent years.
South Florida developers seized on the pandemic-era influx of out-of-staters, which prompted unprecedented demand and record rents, by delivering a record 18,600 units in 2024. This led to slower lease-ups, more concessions and a drop in rents. According to Realtor.com, South Florida’s average asking rent hit $2,236 last month, a 3.7 percent decrease, year-over-year.
Developers starting projects now say demand would be restored by the time they complete their buildings. In June, Craig Robins’ Dacra and partners Hunter Pasteur and The Forbes Company secured a $125 million construction loan for the 107-unit Cassi apartment project in the Miami Design District.
Also, Oak Row Equities landed $210.5 million in June for a 324-unit tower in Miami’s Edgewater, and Empira Group landed $111.3 million in May to build a 310-unit rental tower in Brickell.
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