Suntex sells Loggerhead marinas, invests in Bahia Mar

Rok owns the properties next door fronting Second Street TRD MIAMI /August 30, 2019 02:30 PM

By Katherine Kallergis

Bahia Mar Yachting Center

Suntex Marina Investors announced that it made a “significant investment” in Bahia Mar Yachting Center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., home of the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show.

The Bahia Mar hotel and upland property, which is immediately adjacent to the marina, will continue to be owned, managed and operated by Jimmy and Kenny Tate of Tate Capital as a portfolio investment property for the Tate and Rok families of South Florida.

In conjunction with the investment, Suntex sold its majority stake in the Loggerhead Marine portfolio to its joint venture partner, Equity Lifestyle Properties.

The Bahia Mar Yachting Center property is similar to the Miami Beach Marina and Marina Jack in that it is a large, premier asset, said Bryan Redmond, Suntex president and founding principal.

“We’re enhancing, optimizing and reinvesting for sure,” Redmond told Trade Only Today. “As technology gets better, we want to reinvest. There’s always a way to make marinas better and more up-to-date, which is our plan to continue forward with those properties.”

The key is that the amenities are already there, and Suntex can optimize them, Redmond said.

“It’s all about driving that overall experience,” he said. “People perceive the Miami Beach Marina and Bahia Mar as just being for big yachts. They also have midsize boats that are year-round. A lot of boats run from 30 to 80 feet. There are rental operations and boat clubs … so they’re really catering to anyone.”

One way to get new and potential boaters into the marina is through enhanced food and beverage operations, with more waterfront dining opportunities for residents and visitors to Fort Lauderdale, Redmond said. But getting the word out will take intentional marketing on Suntex’s part, he said.

“We don’t want to discount the megayacht owners because that’s a big part of what’s driving business,” Redmond said. “You’ll continue to see us reinvest in infrastructure for food and beverage, and market through social media. There are ways we can take away that intimidation factor. It’s all about the experience. If we can get them there and are doing our best to facilitate a great experience, hopefully we can get them to sign up to join a club or buy a boat.”

Bahia Mar Yachting Center has 250 slips, can handle vessels to 300 feet along its 3,000-foot parallel dock, and has more than 5,000 feet of floating dockage. It also offers high-speed fueling, free Wi-Fi, cable TV, in-slip pumpout, a marine store, a dive shop and a maintenance provider.

“We understand that captains and their crews need rest time, and we want them to enjoy their experience at the Bahia Mar as much as their guests,” said Ron TenEyck, senior vice president of Suntex, in a statement. “This is also one of the areas that we plan to expand upon to ensure our visitors will continue to appreciate the Bahia Mar Yachting Center as a world-class venue.”

Redmond emphasized that the “Tate family is remaining in control of the Bahia Mar and have big ideas and plans about what they want to do with the uplands and hotel. They brought in Suntex to partner with them and be the operator of the marina.”

“Kenny and I have appreciated the great working relationship with RCI Marine as a partner and manager of the Bahia Mar Yachting Center over the past five years,” said Jimmy Tate, president of Tate Capital, in the statement. “However, we are very excited to work closely with Suntex and affect a smooth, seamless and successful transition.

The investment in Bahia Mar Yachting Center coincides with Suntex’s sale of its majority stake in the Loggerhead Marina portfolio to its joint venture partner Equity Lifestyle Properties.

The divestiture and restructuring is intended to focus energies on large, amenity-based marinas and create opportunities for geographic diversification, according to Suntex.

“We transacted with [Equity Lifestyle Properties] in first week of September,” Redmond said. “They were our joint venture partner from the beginning in that deal. We’ve been proud of our team in investing in those properties and growing earnings. In talking to ELS, they were excited about continuing to be in the business. We had the opportunity to make a large investment in Bahia Mar. Looking at the portfolio and the fact that we wanted to focus on on larger, premier assets, that made a lot of sense for us.”

Suntex will prioritize expenditures on the operation and development of such facilities as Liberty Landing, Marina Jack, Miami Beach Marina, State Dock Marina and the redevelopment of Las Olas Marina.

Sergio Rok adds to downtown Miami portfolio

Rok owns the properties next door fronting Second Street TRD MIAMI /August 30, 2019 02:30 PM

By Katherine Kallergis

275 Northeast First Street and Sergio Rok (Credit: Google Maps)

UPDATED, Aug. 30, 5:26 p.m.: Sergio Rok acquired a building near his family-owned company’s home base in downtown Miami.Property records show that Camillus House Inc. sold the building at 275 Northeast First Street to Downtown Realty Investments LLP, which is tied to Rok Acquisitions, for $5 million. Camillus House, a nonprofit, received the property as a co-beneficiary of an estate gift. It will use the proceeds from the sale to support the homeless community in South Florida.

The property is a building shell that sits on a 21,000-square-foot corner lot, according to Google Street View. The nearly 26,000-square-foot retail building was built in 1954. It abuts the buildings at 144 Northeast Third Avenue and 256 Northeast Second Street, which Rok Acquisitions also owns.

Sergio Rok’s father, Natan Rok, arrived in Miami from Cuba in 1964, and started a retail business on Flagler Street. He began buying properties in the central business district, growing his firm to become one of the largest commercial landlords in downtown Miami. Natan died in 2004 and Sergio now runs the Miami company, a property management and real estate investment firm.

Rok was not immediately available for comment.

In recent years, the Flagler Street area has seen a surge of investment, most of which has come from developer Moishe Mana. Over the past several years, Mana has become downtown Miami’s biggest landlord with roughly 45 properties on and near Flagler Street. But he’s been slow to actually build anything. Recently, Mana said he’s ready to move forward with his plans for the area.

Nearby, Immocorp Capital is planning a new 168-key hotel at 139 Northeast First Avenue. OD Hotels, a Spanish hospitality group with a number of properties in Ibiza, is partnering with the developer on the project, to be called OD Miami.

After an extensive renovation and redevelopment of the historic Miami National Bank property at 121 Southeast First Street, Stambul re-opened the building as the Langford Hotel in 2015. The firm is also restoring the Old United States Post Office and Courthouse nearby and doing interior work to the historic Walgreens at 200 East Flagler Street.

Funding in hand, downtown Miami Flagler Street project moves forward

The city approved funding for the $24.5M project on Thursday

TRD MIAMI /July 26, 2019 05:30 PM

By Keith Larsen

From left: Moishe Mana, Francis Suarez and a rendering of Flagler Street redevelopment

The long-delayed downtown Flagler Street project can finally move forward after the city approved $22.5 million in funding on Thursday.

The approval was the last step needed before the project, which is expected to take three years, can break ground.

The new design was proposed by real estate developer Moishe Mana, who owns many of the buildings on and near Flagler Street, and Zyscovich Architects. The new streetscape will include widened sidewalks, additional valet parking spaces, and larger shade areas similar to the wide streetscapes in cities like Michigan Avenue in Chicago or Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles.

The project initially began in 2016 but quickly ran into trouble with its contractor, FH Paschen, and only one block was completed. The contractor requested a roughly nine-month extension for the project, blaming delays on “forgotten old utility lines underground” that didn’t match city records, the Herald reported. The city fired FH Paschen in 2017.

This time, the city hired a new contractor, Lanzo Construction, for the project. The city of Miami, Miami-Dade County and the Downtown Development Authority are funding the construction.

Mana is downtown Miami’s biggest landlord with roughly 45 properties on and near Flagler Street.

Christina Crespi, the deputy director for the Miami DDA, said Mana “really spearheaded the project.”

He recently said he’s finally ready to move forward with his plans for the area. Over the past several years, Mana has spent at least $350 million acquiring real estate in downtown Miami, in addition to the land he owns in Wynwood

“We’re losing money every day,” he previously told the Miami Herald. “Be patient. It will take some time. I made a lot of sacrifices buying these buildings.”

Mana’s plans include creating a startup hub, and creating a “gallery row” nearby on Southeast First Street. A second phase of Mana’s plans calls for converting the old Flagler Station into a food court and tech incubator similar to Station F in Paris.

Jimmy Tate, Sergio Rok sell luxury Boca apartments to GID for $92M

GID paid $327k per apartment at Park at Broken Sound's Allure by Windsor

TRD MIAMI /June 15, 2018 06:00 PM

By Am and a Rabines

275 Northeast First Street and Sergio Rok (Credit: Google Maps)

Developers Jimmy Tate and Sergio Rok just sold a new luxury rental complex in Boca Raton for $92.1 million to GID.

Property records show IMP Allure LLC closed on the purchase of Allure by Windsor, a 282-unit apartment community at 6750 Congress Avenue, for about $327,000 per unit.

Tate and Rok completed the development last year. They bought the property in 2016 for an unknown price from Danburg Management Corp., which remained an equity partner in the project.

Allure by Windsor sits on about 14 acres of land along Congress Avenue, just south of Clint Moore Road, within the 700-acre Park at Broken Sound in Boca Raton. It was one of the first rental projects to be developed in the park after it was rezoned to allow for more residential development.

Rents at Allure range from $1,800 to $2,800. Amenities include a 5,500-square-foot clubhouse, as well as a 10,500-square-foot retail component.

Tate and Rok are also part of a group of developers behind the Bahia Mar project in Fort Lauderdale Beach, where they plan to bring apartment towers, a new hotel, restaurants, stores and marine space to the waterfront site.

In South Florida, GID also owns the Windsor at Miramar, a 348-unit apartment complex and co-owns the Mirador at Doral. Last year, the Boston-based investment firm paid $133.55 million for the newly completed Amaray Las Olas luxury rental tower in downtown Fort Lauderdale.

Rok picks up industrial building in Miami Gardens

Precision Trading Corp. leased back about 60,000 sf at the buildingTRD MIAMI /October 13, 2017 04:31 PM

By Am and a Rabines

Jason Morjain and the warehouse at 15801 Northwest 49th Avenue (Credit: Jason Morjain)

Jason Morjain and the warehouse at 15801 Northwest 49th Avenue (Credit: Jason Morjain)

An affiliate of Rok Acquisitions just bought an industrial building in Miami Gardens for $8.8 million, records show.

The warehouse at 15801 Northwest 49th Avenue spans about 150,000 square feet, according to the buyer. Records show the Rok affilate, Warehomes Precision LLC, led by Marcos and Jason Morjain, scored $6.65 million in financing from City National Bank of Florida.

Precision Trading Corp. sold the property for about $59 per square foot. Records show Precision bought the property in 2007 for $8.4 million.

Precision leased back about 60,000 square feet at the building, according to Jason Morjain. The company is an OEM manufacturer and distributor of electronic products and housewares appliances in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The seller was represented by Lee Katsikos of The Katsikos Group, and the buyer was represented by Ted Konigsberg of Infinity Commercial Real Estate.

The property, formerly home to Warner Brother’s printing, falls under IU-2 zoning code, which permits a number of different industrial uses like manufacturing or technology. Konigsberg, who is also handling leasing at the property, said interested tenants include an indoor marijuana growing operation, and FEMA, which inked a 94,000-square-foot building in Doral last week.

Demand for industrial properties is climbing as rents increase across the nation. Rents for U.S. industrial spaces reached $5.35 per square foot in the second quarter of 2017, jumping from $5.25 in the first quarter, according to new data from JLL.

In Miami, booming e-commerce and a growing population is also propelling the demand for industrial properties. In August, CenterPoint Properties paid $59 million, or about $61 per square foot, for a 961,345-square-foot industrial facility in Opa-locka.

Nearby, EastGroup Properties is building an 850,000-square-foot industrial park called Gateway Commerce Park in Miami Gardens.

Home61 scores new round of funding, plans to expand nationwide

Local investors in $4M round include Rok Acquisitions and Cofe PropertiesTRD MIAMI /October 05, 2017 12:45 PM

By Ina Cordle

Olivier Grinda

Home61, a Miami-based, technology-oriented residential brokerage firm that launched in 2015, just announced it scored $4 million in funding to expand nationwide.

Among the investors are FF Angel, San Francisco-based Founders Fund’s early stage investment fund; Fabrice Grinda, co-founder of New York-based FJ Labs — who is the brother of Home61’s founder; and local real estate investors Rok Acquisitions and Cofe Properties principal Mario Fernandez. The round is the company’s second since its inception and its first with local investors’ participation, Home61 founder and CEO Olivier Grinda told The Real Deal, it brings the firm’s total funding to $5.3 million.

Home61 focuses on the buyer’s and renter’s side of sales and rentals, using an automated system to provide leads to agents. When a prospective client selects properties on its website, a Home61 consultant steps in online to find out more about the client’s budget, timing, housing and language preference. That information is fed through an algorithm that then matches an agent to the client, taking into consideration the agent’s immediate availability to take a call and do showings. Then the agent jumps on the call, all within seven minutes, Grinda said.

The firm is not the first to use technology to match buyers with properties, But unlike Compass, for example, Grinda said Home61 does not require agents to have prior experience or bring in clients, and it focuses on the mass market, rather than the upscale market, with an average sale between $400,000 and $450,000. Only 5 percent of its business is listings, he said.

Commissions are split 50/50, and agents’ earnings have so far averaged $40,000 the first year, $70,000 the second year, and are trending toward more than $100,000 for the third year, Grinda said.

Home 61 currently has 55 agents and four consultants, and hopes to reach 100 agents by the end of the year before the company expands to other cities, Grinda said.

“The plan is to keep developing Miami, reinforcing our presence and keep growing,” he said. Home61 has so far completed more than 800 transactions since its inception, and is hoping to reach 2,000 before expanding. By mid-2018 it plans to open in either Houston or Chicago, then a third city, which might include Phoenix, by the end of 2018 or early 2019.

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Fort Lauderdale commissioners approve rezoning for Bahia Mar project

Project is still pending an extension of the developer's lease on the city-owned land

TRD MIAMI /May 11, 2016 12:00 PM

By Mike Seemuth

Fort Lauderdale city commissioners advanced a planned redevelopment of the Bahia Mar hotel and marina after the developer lowered the height of two condominium buildings from 39 stories to 29 stories, during a marathon meeting Tuesday evening that extended into Wednesday.

But the project is still pending an extension of the developer’s lease on the city-owned land at Bahia Mar on Fort Lauderdale Beach. The city commission is scheduled to consider the lease extension at a June 7 meeting.

The commission voted 4-1 early Wednesday morning in favor of a site-plan revision and rezoning request by the TRR Bahia Mar LLC, the company planning to redevelop the Bahia Mar hotel and marina, the main venue of the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show.

Vice Mayor Dean Trantalis, who represents the district where Bahia Mar is located, cast the sole dissenting vote after a seven-hour public hearing on the site plan revision and rezoning request.

“I don’t want to see Manhattan on Fort Lauderdale Beach … This is a fragile ecosystem that we have on the barrier island,” Trantalis said, echoing the sentiments of most people who spoke publicly at the special meeting of the city commission.

During the public hearing portion of the meeting, which began shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday and ended at 1:11 a.m. Wednesday, 54 of the speakers opposed the revised Bahia Mar development plan, and 21 supported it.

The special meeting of the city commission, which finally ended at 2:07 a.m. Wednesday, was a continuation of debate on the planned Bahia Mar project during an earlier overnight meeting February 2 , when the commissioners delayed action on the project.

Since then, TRR Bahia Mar LLC redesigned the project to lower the height of two 39-story condominium buildings by 10 stories each.

But 29 stories is still five stories taller than current zoning rules allow, so the developer requested a rezoning of the Bahia Mar property.

The developer also plans to renovate the Bahia Mar hotel, which operates under the DoubleTree brand, and to build a 727-space parking garage that would convert to show space during the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show.

TRR Bahia Mar’s planned project also includes development of a supermarket, restaurants, retail stores and a public promenade around the perimeter of the property.

Mayor John “Jack” Seiler said keeping the annual boat show at Bahia Mar will be the city’s top priority in deciding whether to grant a land-lease extension to TRR Bahia Mar, whose principals include Miami-based developers Jimmy Tate and Sergio Rok.

Seiler said the project is contingent on an agreement extending the land lease on the 38-acre Bahia Mar property by 50 years, with an option to renew for another 50 years: “This may not make economic sense at the end of the day.”

Miami's 14 Surviving Commercial Real Estate Dynasties

Founded: 1964

The Founder: Cuban emigrant Natan Rok arrived in Miami and opened a modest retail business on Flagler Street. Wanting to make the area a hub of cultural and commercial vibrancy, Natan and his son Sergio (left)—who joined the company in 1983—created a real estate empire in the core of the city, set a trend for building modernizations that maintain a property's historical character, and pioneered the practice of subdividing commercial properties into small retail properties. Natan also purchased a controlling interest in Transatlantic Bank, spending the 1990s growing the bank's business. Sergio took Natan's place when he passed in 2004, by which time Natan was one of the largest commercial landlords in all of Downtown Miami, with over 300 tenants. 

Famous Members: As the new head of Rok Acquisitions—a property management and real estate investment firm—Sergio says he works hard to maintain the family's impeccable reputation, never missing a loan payment or asking for reductions. But he also says the transition from father to son has been smooth, since he already has his own rapport with tenants due to meeting with them many times before. Sergio served on the board and audit, loans and special assets and compensation committtess of Transatlantic Bank from 1986 to 2006, helping the bank grow, eventually selling it to Banco Sabadell, one of the largest banks in Spain, in 2006. Sergio is a longtime investor in a variety of properties throughout South Florida, helping redevelop and reposition commercial properties throughtout the downtown Miami area with his experience in all phases of ownership and development, including acquisition, financing, planning, permitting, design, construction, lease up, property management and disposition. He's also a founding board member of the Downtown Miami Partnership and is a 19-year member of the Miami Downtown Development Authority. 

Famous Properties: The family name is on The Rok Family Shul of Downtown. Located one block from the Brickell City Center, the shul was designed in coordination with Rabbi Chaim Lipskur and creates a permanent home for the Jewish community. The project was completed in 2013, with the Roks involving themselves in the deal, including the purchase of the property, the design, the construction and even the fundraising. They also worked with The Related Cos and Tate Capital to acquire the Note A position of the first mortgage secured by the OMNI Center and Hilton Downtown, a mixed-use property in Miami. Securing $75M debt compotent from an insitutional leader, the partnership acquired the 1.5M SF of office, hotel (527-room Hilton), vacant retail space, a 2,700-space garage and rights to develop 5,000 residential units. 

Where Are They Now: Sergio's two nephews, brother-in-law and son Jared (right) all work for the company, which oversees a portfolio and partnerships that are a far cry from Natan's mainly retail portfolio. Sergio recently made news when he sold the distressed properties across the Southeast that he snapped up with Jimmy Tate during the recession. 

Rok company sells downtown Miami buildings for $12M

A company controlled by veteran developer Sergio Rok sold two commercial buildings in downtown Miami for $11.5 million.

Rok’s Byron Flagler sold the 60,398-square-foot building at 41 East Flagler Street and the 32,060-square-foot building at 62 N.E. First Street to Flag 41 LLC. The buyer is managed by Mariano Saal.

Saal is the head of TIR Prime Properties, a real estate brokerage in Miami.

Both buildings have retail on the ground floors and offices up top. The larger building is three stories while the smaller building is two stories.

This is the second deal between those parties.

In late 2012, Rok’s Flagler Station Mall sold the 113,742-square-foot building at 48 East Flagler Street to Saaol’s Flag 48 LLC for $7 million. That building is listed as the headquarters for Rok Enterprises and Rok Acquisitions, his two primary companies.