The Caltagirone brothers’ Calta Group scored a $53.7 million construction loan for a pair of Hollywood apartment projects with a total of 251 units.
The deal comes as South Florida is dealing with a multifamily supply overhang following a yearslong construction flurry.
Coral Gables-based Calta plans the 151-unit Caltopia Hollywood on a nearly 2-acre site at 2750 Van Buren Street, as well as the 100-unit Caltopia Hollywood II on a 1.3-acre site at 2217-2239 Jackson Street, according to the developer’s news release. Each project will consist of one four-story building. The projects will be near downtown Hollywood.
Palm Beach-based Forman Capital is the lender. Scott Mehlman and Ty Regnier of Forman represented the lender. George and Mathew Gnad, and Helmut Fischer of Lenders Capital Realty Services represented Calta.
The Caltopia projects will consist of studios, one- and two-bedroom units, according to Forman’s news release. Caltopia II’s apartments will average 751 square feet, with monthly rents averaging $2,465. Caltopia’s units will average at 740 square feet, with monthly rents averaging $2,590.
South Florida’s multifamily market boomed from late 2020 through 2022, fueled by unprecedented demand and record rent hikes. Developers seized on the bonanza with new projects. The flood of supply came as the influx of out-of-staters slowed, leading to slower lease-ups and concessions at new buildings. Last year, 15,000 net new leases were signed, falling short of record completions of 18,600 units, according to CoStar Group.
Experts say the market is likely to balance over the next couple of years, in time for Caltopia projects to be completed.
Construction of Caltopia II is expected to start in May, with completion slated for November of next year, according to the release and a Calta spokesperson. Construction of Caltopia is expected to start in August, with completion slated for March 2027.
Some multifamily developers have paused projects, with expected deliveries dropping to 14,000 units this year and 9,400 units next year, CoStar data shows. Demand will continue from tenants priced out of homebuying and potential California transplants following the Los Angeles fires last month, experts said.
To withstand a possible longer-term market slowdown, Calta will focus on retaining tenants and reducing turnover through “engaging living environments,” amenities and “proactive management,” Gaetano Caltagirone, Calta’s president, said in a statement.
Brothers Gaetano and Ignazio Caltagirone, who founded Calta in 2010, grew up in a real estate dynasty in Italy. After leaving the family business, they renovated and flipped houses in South Florida during the Great Recession.
Now, they have several projects in the tri-county region. Also in Hollywood, Calta is developing the eight-story, 180-unit Revv Hollywood building at 2233 Hollywood Boulevard.
In January, Calta scored a $30 million construction loan for the 10-unit luxury for-sale townhouse project Via Veneto at 915 and 920 Palermo Avenue in Coral Gables.
Others planning Hollywood projects include Raimundo Onetto’s Alta Developers, which will launch sales in March for the 18-story, two-building, 466-unit Gaia Residences at 401 North Federal Highway, near the Hollywood Beach Golf Club. Prices will start at $400,000.
Last year, the Pérez family’s Related Group and the Toledano family’s BH Group launched sales for their 37-story, 350-unit Icon Beach Residences at 3210-3690 South Ocean Drive, across the street from the Diplomat Beach Resort. At the time, the developers’ news release cited prices from $825,000 to $2.8 million.