CLIENT NEWS: Akara Partners Bought Acre of Miami Worldcenter for $18.85M
July 27, 2020A piece of the last vacant parcel at Miami Worldcenter sold on Friday.
The Chicago-based development firm Akara Partners bought an acre from Miami Worldcenter Associates for $18.85 million, according to a press release.
The land, beside the Metromover Station, is located at Northeast Second Ave., from Northeast 10th St. to Northeast 11th St. Only 36,273 square feet can be developed because the remainder of the property, or 8,227 square feet, is located underneath the Metromover Station. Akara is planning two towers, according to an Akara spokesperson. It will build a 450,000-square-foot apartment tower in its first phase; the firm is still finalizing the second project to be built in another phase.
The 38-story tower, Kenect Miami, will house 450 units, 10,000 square feet of retail and 20,000 square feet of co-working space. Unit layouts are expected to range from a studio with one bathroom to a three bedroom unit with three bathrooms. Amenities include a garden and gym. Construction is expected to start during the first quarter of 2021 and end sometime in 2023.
“The Kenect brand is designed with the busy professional in mind — adapting to the way people live and work to create a lifestyle, not just a residential building. Miami Worldcenter fits that vision of a lifestyle as the new epicenter of downtown Miami,” said Rajen Shastri in the press release, the CEO of Akara Partners.
The firm has five other apartment towers under the Kenect brand, including in Nashville, Phoenix, Chicago, Cleveland and Denver. Rents vary by market, but a studio in the Nashville project runs for $1,490 per month.
Brokers Robert Given, Troy Ballard and James Quinn with Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller.
The land is a slice of the last remaining block that Miami Worldcenter Associates placed on the market in October 2019. A 1.18 acre parcel is still on the market.
“Akara Partners is known for building projects that overdeliver for tenants, providing flexible work environments and residential options, including microunits and co-living residences. The firm’s track record and the success of the Kenect concept in other cities made them an ideal fit for Miami Worldcenter,” said Nitin Motwani by email, the managing partner for Miami Worldcenter.
The approximately $4 billion Miami Worldcenter comprises 27 acres. The master plan thus far includes a citizenM hotel, Legacy Hotel & Residences with a medical center, the condo Paramount MiamiWorldcenter, apartment Caoba, ZOM’s Luma rental tower, and the Marriott Marquis Miami Worldcenter Hotel & Expo. – Rebecca San Juan
Published July 17, 2020 in The Miami Herald
The rendering of the Miami Worldcenter development shows the location of Block A, the last remaining parcel of vacant land in the massive city-within-a-city project.
