Jenny Bernell’s Clearline Real Estate has secured an $89 million construction loan to build a 310-unit apartment complex in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood. The project, named 2000 Wynwood, will rise 12 stories on a 1.4-acre site at 2000 and 2010 North Miami Avenue and 2021 and 2025 Northwest Miami Court.
Bank OZK, based in Little Rock, Arkansas, provided the senior loan of $65.3 million. PGIM Real Estate is the lender for the $24 million mezzanine loan, according to a source familiar with the transaction.
The building, designed by Leo Daly Architects, will feature only market-rate apartments along with 12,500 square feet of retail space. Clearline acquired the development site for $19.1 million in 2022.
Bernell founded Clearline Real Estate in 2021 after nearly seven years at Kushner Companies in New York, where she served as executive vice president of development. Clearline is headquartered in both Miami and New York.
Clearline is also developing other projects in Miami. One example is Excel Miami Apartments—a 24-story building with 427 units under construction in the Arts & Entertainment District. In November last year, Clearline obtained a $94.5 million construction loan for that project at 1550 Northeast Miami Place.
Wynwood has attracted many multifamily developers recently. Earlier this year, Oak Row Equities, L&L Holding Company, Shorenstein and Claure Group completed Wynwood Plaza—a mixed-use property featuring a 12-story apartment building with 509 units.
Developers are taking advantage of Florida’s Live Local Act, which allows taller buildings than zoning typically permits if they include workforce or affordable housing units (https://www.floridarealtors.org/news-media/news-articles/2023/03/live-local-act-senate-votes-affordable-housing-bill). Many proposed Live Local projects in Wynwood would exceed the area’s current maximum height limit of twelve stories. For instance, LivWrk from Brooklyn plans to develop three towers—each rising up to forty-five stories—with a total of 1,363 apartments at North Miami Avenue and Northwest 24th Street (https://therealdeal.com/miami/2024/04/09/livwrk-plans-1363-live-local-apartments-in-wynwood/). Additionally, former Los Angeles Dodgers player Alex Guerrero aims to build a forty-one-story tower containing two hundred thirty-four units in Wynwood Norte (https://therealdeal.com/miami/2024/05/21/former-dodger-alex-guerrero-plans-live-local-tower-in-wynwood-norte/).
