A South Florida developer has lined up financing to move forward with a mixed-use condo project in a small town between Miami and Miami Beach.
Shoma Group this week secured a $29.85 million pre-construction loan for Shoma Bay, a 24-story tower at 1850 John F. Kennedy Causeway in North Bay Village, according to private lender Forman Capital.
The 333 units are priced from the $800,000s, and the building will have a 36,000-square-foot Publix grocery store and about 15,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, Forman said.
The loan will enable the developer to continue work on the project until it secures construction financing, the lender said.
Coral Gables, Florida-based Shoma Group has more than 30% of the 333 units under contract, according to Forman. Lenders typically require about 50% of presales before issuing construction loans, industry observers say.
Shoma representatives did not immediately respond to a request to comment.
Florida's new condo safety law that took effect July 1 requires inspections and possibly expensive repairs in buildings at least 30 years old with three habitable stories or more. The law doesn't apply to new construction, and that ultimately could make those units more attractive and valuable, housing analysts say.
Region attracts international buyers
A new study from the Miami Association of Realtors found foreign buyers scooped up nearly half of the newly constructed condos for sale in South Florida over the past 18 months.
Shoma Bay amenities are expected to include a heated rooftop pool, cabanas, a golf simulator, virtual reality gaming, a co-working lounge and a Zen garden, Forman said.
"Shoma Bay aligns perfectly with the city’s vision for mixed-use, high-quality urban development," Brett Forman, the lender's managing partner, said in a statement.
In the South Florida condo landscape, North Bay Village is a tertiary market that offers units priced on the low end of the luxury scale, according to Peter Zalewski, founder of the Miami Condo Investment Club.
"It doesn't really have the services to support high-end pricing," Zalewski told Homes.com.
North Bay Village, incorporated in 1945, has a population of about 8,000 residents on three islands spanning more than 525 acres. It once was a stopping point for such celebrities as Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, according to the city website. In the late 1960s, Martin opened a nightclub, Dino's, in the town.
