The discount retailer expects to submit site plans for approval to the city before the end of the year. This is the same location where city officials scuttled a proposed Walmart in 2005.
By ELAINE WALKER
ewalker@MiamiHerald.com
Six years after Walmart first tried to open a store at The Shops at Midtown Miami, the discount retailer is back again and planning to move forward on what would be its first store in the city of Miami.
Walmart Florida spokeswoman Michelle Belaire said the company has a contract with Developers Diversified Realty to buy five acres of land and is working on a site plan to be submitted to the city in the next couple of months. Walmart doesn’t need any zoning change or land use variances for the site, she said.
“We are working with a world-renowned architect to produce a one-of-a-kind Walmart that would be consistent with the design of the area,” Belaire said. “We’re fleshing out the plan to ensure that we meet all the necessary requirements before submission.”
Preliminary plans call for a 155,000-square-foot store with a full-service grocery store, which would be just slightly larger than the center’s existing Target; it would be located on undeveloped property at the south end of Midtown Miami on North Miami Avenue. The store would likely open in late 2013 or early 2014.
This is the same location where Walmart in 2005 had proposed a nontraditional, design with a multilevel parking garage that was shot down by then Miami City Commissioner Johnny Winton and other city officials. At that time, Midtown Miami was still under construction. While the Walmart deal was never officially voted down by city officials, Winton made it clear he didn’t believe Walmart’s “image” was suitable for the project.
“That site is not one we want to be known as a Walmart site,” Winton told the Herald in 2005.
The location was later designated for a JCPenney, but that store never materialized.
This time around Walmart hopes to build a store with a two-level parking garage above, Belaire said. The garage would have at least 600 spaces for free use by shoppers. The design also is expected to include some small retail shops lining the front of the store and opening out to the street, to coincide with Midtown’s pedestrian-friendly orientation, she said. The store would employ up to 350 people.
For years Walmart has been looking at locations throughout Miami’s urban core.
“Miami is a tremendously underserved community for us,” Belaire said. “We know the City of Miami residents shop our stores. Right now they’re leaving the city and coming into our stores elsewhere in Miami-Dade County.”
Walmart would join the lineup at Midtown Miami that includes Target, Marshalls, HomeGoods, PetSmart, Ross Dress for Less and The Sports Authority.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/25/2471835/walmart-coming-to-midtown-miami.html#ixzz1bzlhhDxB
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
South Florida Rents Rise as International Buyers Continue to Invest in Local Housing - October 21, 2011
As more homeowners turn into renters because of the foreclosure crisis, investors are buying distressed properties and converting them to rentals to meet the demand.
By TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA
tolorunnipa@MiamiHerald.com
By choice or by force, more and more people in South Florida’s foreclosure-ridden housing market are renting, rather than owning, their homes.
In an ironic twist on economics, that dynamic is actually helping the resale market. According to sales reports released Thursday, South Florida is on track to set a new sales record this year.
The reason: investors.
The majority of today’s homebuyers are not first-time owners or growing families, but opportunistic investors. International buyers and locals with cash are making money in the region’s distressed market by buying up foreclosed homes and turning them into rentals.
Homeowners who have been foreclosed upon, and those who either can’t or won’t buy in this economy, are flooding the rental market with unprecedented demand.
“I talk to a couple investors all over South America and they tell me they buy these condos and it takes them about a week to rent them,” said Craig Studnicky, principal of Miami real estate firm RelatedISG. “Each and every month, the rents are going up.”
Spurred by investor activity, South Florida homes sales rose again in September, according to new data by the Miami Association of Realtors. Sales were down, however, compared to last month.
There were 848 single-family home sales in Miami-Dade County in September, up 46 percent from the same month in 2010, but down 10.8 percent from August. Existing Miami-Dade condo sales reached 1,319, up 58 percent on a year-over-year basis, and flat compared to the previous month.
In Broward County, single-family home sales reached 1,079, up 11 percent year-over-year but down 8.9 percent from the month before. Condo sales totaled 1,281, up 6 percent from the previous year and down 8.4 percent from August.
All-cash buyers, mostly investors, accounted for 63 percent of all sales. Those investors are gravitating towards distressed properties, which make up about 60 percent of home sales and trade at deep discounts.
In September, median prices for condos rose 17 percent in Miami-Dade to $116,000 and rose 3 percent in Broward to $71,900. Single-family home prices fell 6 percent in Miami-Dade to $176,600 and fell 7 percent in Broward to $188,800.
When the housing market began its historic descent four years ago, Miami-based real estate firm The Solution Group shifted its traditional sales model to a three-step investment model: buy cheap, fix up, rent out.
The company buys condos, townhomes and single-family homes that are bank-owned or headed for foreclosure, paying an average of $60,000, said Camilo Lopez, CEO. After fixing up a home and securing a tenant, the company usually sells the property to an international investor looking to diversify portfolios with South Florida real estate.
“Before, [rentals] were zero percent of our business,” said RJ de Varona, chief operating officer of The Solution Group. “Now, they’re absolutely 150 percent. The biggest rental market is homeowners who have lost their homes in foreclosure.”
More than 100,000 South Florida homeowners have lost their properties to foreclosure since 2007, and many of them ended up as renters. Additionally, a cultural shift towards renting and the difficulty of obtaining financing in this economy have pushed occupancy rates up at apartment complexes and rental homes.
Occupancy rates in South Florida are now above 95 percent, and rent prices have risen between 3 and 7 percent this year, according to research by Texas-based MPF Research.
With at least 160,000 homeowners either in foreclosure or so far behind on payments that an eventual foreclosure appears inevitable, the region’s rental market is likely to see growing ranks of new renters for the foreseeable future. As a result, more so-called “vulture investors” will seek hefty profits by buying up distressed property and converting them to rentals.
“We bought a two-bedroom in Kendall in May for $50,000. We invested $10,000 in repairs, and then rented the unit for $1,200 [a month],” said de Varona. “We just closed the sale of the unit for $95,000.”
The international investor who purchased the home is making a 7.5 percent return on his investment, de Varona said.
In addition to the rising rental market, international investors are to drawn to South Florida real estate because the U.S. offers greater legal protection for foreign land owners than many other countries, and because some homeownership can make it easier to obtain a U.S. visa.
Growing investor appetite is driving sales for condos and single-family homes back to the boom time levels of 2005 and 2006. In Miami-Dade County, for example, total sales are expected to reach 29,000 this year, more than 2005’s total.
Still, some warn that the housing market is undergoing a dangerous shift. In effect, international landlords are taking the place of would-be first-time homeowners and move-up families, said Jack McCabe, CEO of McCabe Research and Consulting in Deerfield Beach. “Many Americans that previously had the opportunity to build wealth through the forced savings involved in buying a home are not going to have that opportunity,” he said. “Prices have come down to where [homes] are affordable again, but many American buyers are not able to take advantage of current prices. They aren’t able to qualify for a mortgage, and it’s a cash-buyer market.”
Despite the recent value declines homeowners have experienced during the recession, homeownership has proved a smart investment over the last several decades, with home values rising about 5.4 percent annually on average. The growing crop of renters is not able to benefit from that investment.
Additionally, the idea of saving money as a renter so that you can put together a down payment in the future is not viable for many cash-strapped South Floridians trapped between high rental rates and low wages.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/21/v-fullstory/2464773/south-florida-rents-rise-as-international.html#ixzz1bR9CBNoG
By TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA
tolorunnipa@MiamiHerald.com
By choice or by force, more and more people in South Florida’s foreclosure-ridden housing market are renting, rather than owning, their homes.
In an ironic twist on economics, that dynamic is actually helping the resale market. According to sales reports released Thursday, South Florida is on track to set a new sales record this year.
The reason: investors.
The majority of today’s homebuyers are not first-time owners or growing families, but opportunistic investors. International buyers and locals with cash are making money in the region’s distressed market by buying up foreclosed homes and turning them into rentals.
Homeowners who have been foreclosed upon, and those who either can’t or won’t buy in this economy, are flooding the rental market with unprecedented demand.
“I talk to a couple investors all over South America and they tell me they buy these condos and it takes them about a week to rent them,” said Craig Studnicky, principal of Miami real estate firm RelatedISG. “Each and every month, the rents are going up.”
Spurred by investor activity, South Florida homes sales rose again in September, according to new data by the Miami Association of Realtors. Sales were down, however, compared to last month.
There were 848 single-family home sales in Miami-Dade County in September, up 46 percent from the same month in 2010, but down 10.8 percent from August. Existing Miami-Dade condo sales reached 1,319, up 58 percent on a year-over-year basis, and flat compared to the previous month.
In Broward County, single-family home sales reached 1,079, up 11 percent year-over-year but down 8.9 percent from the month before. Condo sales totaled 1,281, up 6 percent from the previous year and down 8.4 percent from August.
All-cash buyers, mostly investors, accounted for 63 percent of all sales. Those investors are gravitating towards distressed properties, which make up about 60 percent of home sales and trade at deep discounts.
In September, median prices for condos rose 17 percent in Miami-Dade to $116,000 and rose 3 percent in Broward to $71,900. Single-family home prices fell 6 percent in Miami-Dade to $176,600 and fell 7 percent in Broward to $188,800.
When the housing market began its historic descent four years ago, Miami-based real estate firm The Solution Group shifted its traditional sales model to a three-step investment model: buy cheap, fix up, rent out.
The company buys condos, townhomes and single-family homes that are bank-owned or headed for foreclosure, paying an average of $60,000, said Camilo Lopez, CEO. After fixing up a home and securing a tenant, the company usually sells the property to an international investor looking to diversify portfolios with South Florida real estate.
“Before, [rentals] were zero percent of our business,” said RJ de Varona, chief operating officer of The Solution Group. “Now, they’re absolutely 150 percent. The biggest rental market is homeowners who have lost their homes in foreclosure.”
More than 100,000 South Florida homeowners have lost their properties to foreclosure since 2007, and many of them ended up as renters. Additionally, a cultural shift towards renting and the difficulty of obtaining financing in this economy have pushed occupancy rates up at apartment complexes and rental homes.
Occupancy rates in South Florida are now above 95 percent, and rent prices have risen between 3 and 7 percent this year, according to research by Texas-based MPF Research.
With at least 160,000 homeowners either in foreclosure or so far behind on payments that an eventual foreclosure appears inevitable, the region’s rental market is likely to see growing ranks of new renters for the foreseeable future. As a result, more so-called “vulture investors” will seek hefty profits by buying up distressed property and converting them to rentals.
“We bought a two-bedroom in Kendall in May for $50,000. We invested $10,000 in repairs, and then rented the unit for $1,200 [a month],” said de Varona. “We just closed the sale of the unit for $95,000.”
The international investor who purchased the home is making a 7.5 percent return on his investment, de Varona said.
In addition to the rising rental market, international investors are to drawn to South Florida real estate because the U.S. offers greater legal protection for foreign land owners than many other countries, and because some homeownership can make it easier to obtain a U.S. visa.
Growing investor appetite is driving sales for condos and single-family homes back to the boom time levels of 2005 and 2006. In Miami-Dade County, for example, total sales are expected to reach 29,000 this year, more than 2005’s total.
Still, some warn that the housing market is undergoing a dangerous shift. In effect, international landlords are taking the place of would-be first-time homeowners and move-up families, said Jack McCabe, CEO of McCabe Research and Consulting in Deerfield Beach. “Many Americans that previously had the opportunity to build wealth through the forced savings involved in buying a home are not going to have that opportunity,” he said. “Prices have come down to where [homes] are affordable again, but many American buyers are not able to take advantage of current prices. They aren’t able to qualify for a mortgage, and it’s a cash-buyer market.”
Despite the recent value declines homeowners have experienced during the recession, homeownership has proved a smart investment over the last several decades, with home values rising about 5.4 percent annually on average. The growing crop of renters is not able to benefit from that investment.
Additionally, the idea of saving money as a renter so that you can put together a down payment in the future is not viable for many cash-strapped South Floridians trapped between high rental rates and low wages.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/21/v-fullstory/2464773/south-florida-rents-rise-as-international.html#ixzz1bR9CBNoG
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