A company linked to WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann scored a construction loan for a new apartment tower at Miami Worldcenter, which will rise next to another building he recently acquired.
Neumann has been investing in commercial real estate, with a focus on multifamily, since his exit from the New York-based coworking giant. A week ago, he paid $17 million for the retail component on the ground floor of a new apartment project in Fort Lauderdale, which he also owns.
Neumann’s acquisitions have primarily occurred through the purchase of the companies that own the real estate, records indicate.
Property records show Block G Phase 2 LLC, managed by Mark Lapidus, WeWork’s former head of global real estate and Neumann’s wife’s cousin, secured a $108 million construction loan from CIM Group for the site at 697 North Miami Avenue in Miami, which was initially approved for a 40-story, 429-unit tower.
A similar entity, called Block G Phase 1 LLC, developed the first phase of the Seventh Street Apartments, called Caoba, at 698 Northeast First Avenue. CIM and the Falcone Group built Caoba, which will connect to the second phase.
Neumann purchased stakes in or took over ownership of the two companies that own the development site and adjacent apartments. The now-Lapidus-led Block G Phase 1 also secured a $155 million loan for Caoba and the adjacent site at the end of December from a subsidiary of CIM.
As part of his exit package from WeWork, Neumann received a $245 million stock award in early 2021, $200 million in cash and the refinancing of a $432 million loan.
Companies tied to Neumann have acquired majority interests in more than 4,000 apartments across the U.S., valued at over $1 billion, clustered mostly in the Sun Belt region, the Wall Street Journal previously reported. The former WeWork CEO, who rented a home in Miami Beach last year, paid $44 million for residential land in Bal Harbour last summer.
Miami Worldcenter, a 27-acre, master-planned community in downtown Miami, includes condo, hotel, retail, office and other apartment rentals. Nitin Motwani and Art Falcone are the master developers of Miami Worldcenter, and have sold pieces of the land to other developers over the years.
More recently, Witkoff and Monroe Capital proposed a 3.4 million-square-foot, mixed-use three-tower project on the 4.7-acre site at 700 North Miami Avenue.
Last month, Related Group and the Motwani-led Merrimac Ventures launched a short-term rental-friendly condo tower at 601 North Miami Avenue called The Crosby.
