Naftali Group Tops South Florida's Largest C-PACE Loan For Miami Worldcenter Residential Project
Naftali Group landed $465M in financing for the construction of a 67-story, 700-foot condo and apartment tower in Miami Worldcenter, $235M of which was Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy financing.
The New York-based company, led by Miki Naftali, partnered with Nuveen affiliate Nuveen Green Capital — which provided the C-PACE financing. Bank Hapoalim supplied the additional $230M in traditional construction loans for the Jem Private Residences, according to a release.
"By leveraging C-PACE's low-cost, long-term financing and structuring flexibility, in combination with BHI’s senior construction loan, Naftali was able to finance their project cost-effectively,” Nuveen Green Capital CEO and Chief Investment Officer Alexandra Cooley said in a statement.
C-PACE financing was established as a pathway for developers in 2010, providing building owners and developers with alternative funding for energy efficiency and renewable energy-related new construction costs and maintenance upgrades.
It was rarely used by commercial developers, let alone at such a scale. But the deal is among a handful that have trickled in over the past few months.
Nuveen Green Capital landed a $290M C-PACE loan, the largest C-PACE financing in Florida, for the Pendry Hotel and Residences in Tampa, and North Development’s $180M loan for the Domus Brickell Center came back to back in September.
Naftali's recent deal follows a much smaller deal with Nuveen Green Capital, which provided a $40M C-PACE loan in January to fund the building's energy and resiliency measures, according to a release.
The financing's planned use was for the exterior, lighting, structural materials, water-efficiency measures, energy-efficiency consulting and elevator systems.
Construction began on the residences at 175 NE 10th St. in April last year and is set to deliver 527 multifamily apartments on floors 14 to 42 and 278 condos beginning on the 43rd floor by the end of 2027.
Condo units will range from studios to four bedrooms, between 469 SF and 2,052 SF, according to a listing on Condo Blackbook.
The apartments will have a separate entrance on the lower floors. Condo residents will also have access to an amenity suite on the 50th floor with a Sky Lounge that has an enclosed dining room and an outdoor pool.
Other amenities include indoor and outdoor gyms, a private yoga deck, a cold-plunge pool, a boxing arena, a mist garden and a spa suite.
The Arquitectonica-designed building will also include a parking garage between the second and 10th floors.
“Today, we closed the second phase of our construction loan while hundreds of construction workers are working hard on building our remarkable project in the heart of Miami Worldcenter,” Naftali said in a statement.
