An Aria Development Group joint venture landed an $80.9 million construction loan for a downtown Miami condominium project.
Bank OZK provided the financing for 501 Residences, a planned 40-story tower with 448 condos that potential owners can lease as short-term rentals, according to a press release. A Berkadia team led by Scott Wadler and Mitch Sinberg arranged the loan for the project at 501 Northeast First Avenue.
Aria, led by principal David Arditi, teamed with Kuwaiti firm AQARAT to develop 501 Residences. The partnership recently completed YotelPad Miami, a condo-hotel project that allows short-term rentals, which faced years of delay.
501 Residences will offer a mix of studios and one- to two-bedroom units ranging from 603 square feet to 1,000 square feet, the release states. Along with typical amenities, the condominium will have a private rooftop movie theater and co-working boardrooms with smart technology. Prices range from $350,000 to $800,000.
In 2015, an Aria affiliate paid $8.2 million for the development site, records show. In December, the affiliate paid off a $2.9 million Professional Bank mortgage. The joint venture demolished a two-story commercial building completed in 1924, and expects to break ground at the end of the month, said Aria Vice President Marco Ziff.
The project is fully sold out, but Aria has not finalized the construction schedule, Ziff added.
501 Residences joins more than a half-dozen other residential projects under development in downtown Miami. About a block south, at 601 North Miami Avenue, Related Group and Merrimac Ventures are planning The Crosby, a 450-unit condo tower that will not have any rental restrictions.
Also nearby, Witkoff and Monroe Capital have proposed three towers on a nearly 5-acre site at 601 North Miami Avenue. The development will have 540,000 square feet of office, 2,500 parking spaces and nearly 2,200 residential units. The joint venture has not specified if those units will be condos or apartments.
501 Residences is also near a recently completed condo tower that was originally planned as a multifamily project. Developed by Property Markets Group, The Elser Hotel & Residences is a 49-story building with 646 units, 32,000 square feet of office space and roughly 5,000 square feet of retail space.