Press Releases

Witkoff and Monroe Capital Announce the Purchase of 700 North Miami Avenue

Chicago, IL, July 2, 2021

Witkoff and Monroe Capital have closed on a $94 million purchase of a transit-oriented development site in Downtown Miami. Located at 700 North Miami Avenue, the site is adjacent to MiamiCentral, an 11-acre complex home to Brightline’s MiamiCentral Station as well as Blackstone’s 2 and 3 MiamiCentral office towers. The site also is adjacent to Miami Worldcenter – one of the largest private real estate developments underway in the United States – a 27-acre project that will include world-class retail, hospitality, and residential uses in the center of Miami’s urban core. Greater Downtown Miami’s residential population now stands at approximately 115,000 – a 65 percent increase since 2010. The district is home to a daily population of more than 250,000 people and attracts nearly six million visitors annually, according to the Miami Downtown Development Authority.

“Miami is transforming as a locus for financial service, technology, and media companies,” says Alex Witkoff, Principal of Witkoff. “We have high conviction on the growth in Miami, and in particular this location given its proximity to mass transit and major cultural centers.”

“We are in the early innings of a protracted growth cycle for South Florida,” adds Kyle Asher, Managing Director of Monroe Capital. “The Brightline will connect Florida’s largest economic hubs, and we look forward to partnering with Witkoff to deliver a high-density project at its footstep.”

700 North Miami Avenue is a 4.7-acre site and among the last high-density urban development sites in Miami, with an as-of-right zoning that allows for over 60 stories, and a combination of residential, hospitality, and commercial uses.

Manny De Zárraga, co-head of JLL’s National Investment Sales Advisory Group, led the sale of the property.

Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies L.P., through affiliates, provided the floating-rate financing. Dustin Stolly and Jordan Roeschlaub, Vice Chairmen and Co-Heads of Newmark’s Debt & Structured Finance team arranged the financing for the acquisition and pre-development design work.

About Witkoff
Witkoff is a privately held, vertically-integrated global real estate development and investment firm that brings inventive thinking to every project in its portfolio. Founded by Steven Witkoff in 1996 with offices in New York City, Miami, and Los Angeles, Witkoff is a market leader in the ownership and development of premier residential, hospitality, office, retail, and mixed-use properties in the central areas of top tier cities across the United States and abroad. Combining an eye for originality, an operations-focused approach, and a 30-year track record, Witkoff creates unique experiences, thriving businesses, and solid returns; while participating in all stages of the real estate lifecycle, from deal sourcing and pre-development through financing, construction, and operations.

About Monroe Capital
Monroe Capital LLC (“Monroe”) is a premier boutique asset management firm specializing in private credit markets across various strategies, including direct lending, asset-based lending, specialty finance, opportunistic and structured credit, and equity. Since 2004, the firm has been successfully providing capital solutions to clients in the U.S. and Canada. Monroe prides itself on being a value-added and user-friendly partner to business owners, management, and both private equity and independent sponsors. Monroe’s platform offers a wide variety of investment products for both institutional and high net worth investors with a focus on generating high quality “alpha” returns irrespective of business or economic cycles. The firm is headquartered in Chicago and maintains offices in Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco.

Monroe has been recognized by both its peers and investors with various awards including Global M&A Network as the 2021 Mid-Markets Lender of the Year, U.S.A.; Private Debt Investor as the 2020 Lower Mid-Market Lender of the Year, 2020 Lender of the Year, and 2020 CLO Manager of the Year, Americas; Creditflux as the 2020 Best U.S. Direct Lending Fund; and Pension Bridge as the 2020 Private Credit Strategy of the Year. For more information, please visit www.monroecap.com.

About Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies
Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies, L.P., the Mack real estate credit business, was established to be a one-stop shop for borrowers with transitional assets, in particular to provide capital for deals that traditional banks are less likely to finance due to increased regulation, complexity and/or execution risk. MRECS focuses on properties in need of flexible capital and sponsors seeking an experienced, sophisticated real estate lending partner that is able to evaluate, design structured solutions for and manage such risks.