Empira Group has purchased a development site in Coral Gables for $18 million, with plans to build a 161-unit luxury multifamily building. The Swiss investment firm continues to expand its presence in Miami-Dade County, following its entry into the market three years ago.
The planned project, named The Aurelian, will be located at 912-921 East Ponce de Leon Boulevard. According to Empira’s news release, it will be a 12-story structure that includes 5,000 square feet of public space and a park. Designed by Behar Font, the development will also feature a 248-space parking garage, gym with yoga studio, pool, outdoor lounge area, and an entrance sculpture by artist Michele Oka Doner.
The seller of the property was Alliance Starlight II, managed by Roberto Trapaga. The site currently consists of three vacant lots and two apartment buildings built in 1945 and 1954 with a total of 16 units. Shani Heskiel of Beachfront Realty represented the seller in the transaction; Bobby Berrido of Fausto Commercial represented Empira.
Construction on The Aurelian is expected to begin early next year.
Empira is led by Rafael Aregger, Branko Kuzmanović and Michael Marrero. Historically focused on private equity and debt investments in residential real estate across German-speaking Europe for clients such as pension funds and insurance firms, Empira has increased its activity in South Florida since entering the region in 2022. That year it bought a half-acre site in Miami’s The Roads neighborhood for $9 million and began developing Enso, an eight-story building with 85 units at 3025 and 3051 Southwest Third Avenue.
In addition to these projects, Empira opened its U.S. headquarters in downtown Miami last year. In May this year, the company secured a $111.3 million construction loan for another Miami project: Perrin, a planned 26-story tower with 310 apartments at 244 Southwest Ninth Street in Brickell. Construction began in June after Empira acquired the one-acre site for $21.5 million last year.
Coral Gables is seeing additional residential development activity from other firms as well. Shoma Group is planning Ponce 8—a proposed 16-story apartment building with 201 units—which would be the city’s first project under Florida’s Live Local Act. This law allows larger developments than zoning typically permits if at least forty percent of units are set aside for residents earning no more than one hundred twenty percent of area median income.
Also this summer, Fortune International Group paid $37.5 million for a nearly five-acre redevelopment site at 6100 Caballero Boulevard where it plans to build a branded condominium project valued at $150 million with 251 units.
