North Development Obtains Record C-PACE Financing for Miami Condos
This is the largest C-PACE construction loan in the region.
North Development has secured a combined $220 million in C-PACE and mortgage construction financing for the development of Domus Brickell Center, a 579-unit luxury apartment community located at 1034 SW 2nd Ave in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood.
Bayview PACE, a specialist in C-PACE financing, structured about $180 million in such financing. Core Capital, based in Peru, provided an additional $40 million in financing. North Development was advised by investment bank Lotus Capital Partners, which arranged and structured the financing. The financing is the largest ground-up C-PACE construction loan in South Florida thus far, according to North Development.
The financing allows North to pursue energy-efficient and resilient features as integral parts of the property. Domus Brickell Center, designed to meet Florida Green Building Coalition standards, will feature UV-filtered water, purified air in common areas, and a façade and glazing system that exceeds hurricane resiliency codes.
According to reporting from South Florida Agent, the project broke ground last week and is slated for completion in 2028. The community will rise 35 stories, and will include a mix of studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments. Designed by architecture firm Studio Mc+G Architecture with interiors by Urban Robot Associates, residences in Domus Brickell Center come fully finished and furnished.
Units will feature hard flooring, private balconies and kitchens with upmarket appliances. Common-area amenities will include a rooftop pool and sky deck with cabanas and daybeds, as well as a bar, hot tub and an indoor-outdoor gym. There are co-working spaces and a conference room, and a 24-hour lobby.
C-PACE comes of age
As a housing finance tool, Commercial Property-Assessed Clean Energy is coming of age, according to Annie Hill, senior vice president of Bayview PACE wrote in Multi-Housing News guest column.
C-PACE offers an alternative that “funds a range of building improvements, at a cost well below typical mezzanine debt. Almost any new multifamily project built to modern energy codes or any major renovation will qualify for C-PACE,” Hill said.
READ ALSO: C-PACE Finds a Home in Multifamily
The funds provide a means to capitalize energy efficiency, water conservation, resiliency and other upgrades, and is being widely used for a spectrum of projects. These range from a fully-electrified, $316 million mixed-use project in Los Angeles, and well a relatively modest roofing upgrades at senior housing communities in Northern Virginia.
The financing structure now has passed over $10 billion in total transactions across virtually every real estate product type, evolving into a solid niche alternative. In September 2024, North Bridge closed on a $1 billion commitment from Carlyle dedicated to C-PACE loans.
A bank’s clients sometimes face funding gaps when a project gets underway but costs or other issues have stretched the original budget, notes Hill. C-PACE can fill those gaps, and it can help the bank maintain a healthy deposit-to-loan balance.
Such is the case for Crenshaw Lofts, a 185-unit affordable development in a Los Angeles Opportunity Zone. The project secured $12 million in C-PACE Financing from PACE Equity, which supplied 12 percent of the project’s capital stack, a missing piece not covered by other equity or construction financing.
