New Apartments to Rise in Miami Where Condos Were Planned

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor

Miami—Lynd Development and LNR Property have acquired the development (air) rights for a residential development in Miami from Skyline Equities Realty. Equity funding for the deal was provided by Blackrock Realty Advisors, though the precise figures are unspecified, and Wells Fargo is providing the construction loan.

The buyers will break ground shortly on EnV Brickell, a 390-unit, 35-story tower slated for completion in 2014. The new development will include 150 one-bedroom and 210 two-bedroom rental units, and a one-acre recreation deck featuring a swimming pool, spa, gazebos and cabanas.

The property will rise above an existing Publix grocery store and a parking garage used by the Shops at Mary Brickell Village, a lifestyle center. According to San Antonio-based Lynd and Miami Beach-based LNR, sorting out the details of the new deal took about a year.

Previously, Skyline had been planning to develop condos called SkyPalace within Mary Brickell Village, before the sharp downtown in the housing market in Miami that came with the onset of the recession. Even though the Miami residential market has recovered more than in most cities, Skyline decided not to continue with the project.

The company will refund the existing condo deposits fully, and focus its attention elsewhere in the market. “We will concentrate our efforts into thriving sectors throughout South Florida,” Skyline vice president-business development Stylianos G. Vayanos tells MHN.