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While Miami experienced a boom cycle at the onset of the pandemic, it has become a more mature and stabilized market in recent years.
The Magic City boasts strong fundamentals, with retail vacancy reaching historic lows of 3.2% and office vacancy falling to 12.5%, ranking as the tightest major office market nationally while outpacing the 17.8% national average.
The Rinaldi Group, or TRG, a full-service general contracting and construction group based in New Jersey, has seen Miami’s business landscape evolve while expanding its own footprint in the city.
“We’ve built markets in New Jersey, New York City and Washington, D.C., but Miami continues to thrive because it’s more conducive to business, has great tax benefits, and many people continue to migrate to South Florida,” TRG CEO Anthony Rinaldi said.
Rinaldi will speak at Bisnow’s Miami State of the Market on Sept. 23. He’ll be joined by CRE players on a panel titled The New Development Math: What Gets Built and Where.
Rinaldi spoke with Bisnow about the state of commercial real estate in Miami, some of its latest projects and how the company is adapting to project risk.
Bisnow: How would you describe the state of the CRE market in Miami?
Rinaldi: Miami is one of the strongest global CRE markets. With individuals and corporations saving on taxes and corporate migration from hubs like NYC and New Jersey, I think Miami will stay strong.
What I’ve seen recently is some market correction when it comes to the multifamily side of things relative to demand. Multifamily lending is getting a little bit more conservative because the cost of building a new apartment home is high. While the rental market remains strong, lending is becoming more responsible in the last 18 to 24 months.
TRG is in residential, hospitality and office development. Even with office construction, we're seeing Miami hitting price points and lease numbers comparable — if not more — than in NYC.
Bisnow: Can you tell us about some of TRG’s latest developments?
Rinaldi: We're coming off of a project right now for the Terra Group in Miami called The Well Harbor Islands. A lot of developers right now are trying to look at what would distinguish their developments from others, draw attention and bring in people. A lot of what we're seeing is this wellness application to condos.
The Well has a caldarium, which is a Roman-style bathhouse — the first of its kind in all of Miami. It also features saunas, cold plunges and other wellness and fitness amenities, because people are more conscious of their health than ever before.
We’re spearheading preconstruction for a wellness-focused multifamily Life Time Fitness Residences project in North Miami, which we’re anticipating will break ground in Q1 2027. The 1.4M SF project will feature two 15-story rental towers sitting on a two-story Life Time Fitness pedestal. We’re building 520 luxury-style apartment units with health clubs, recovery spaces and coworking areas furnished with state-of-the-art wellness and fitness equipment rivaled by few in the industry.
Bisnow: How is TRG adapting to project risk and changing market conditions?
Rinaldi: There are several things that I thought were originally unique to NYC, particularly the cost of insurance, but Miami is quickly picking up on that. One major insurance cost driver on the condo side of the equation is Chapter 558, or the Notice and Opportunity to Repair Act, requiring property owners to submit a notice to developers and contractors of alleged construction defects before filing a lawsuit. This allows condo associations to sue developers for up to seven years.
My son, Frank, who deals on the preconstruction side and works closely with the subcontractors, is seeing some uptick with the tariffs. While tariffs haven't directly affected us, we had one of the largest window manufacturers recently put us on notice that their cost is going to rise by about 10%.
Labor shortages continue to be one of the major challenges to navigate in Florida. But I'm glad that since we’ve become a legacy company that’s family-oriented, we’ve been able to pass down construction knowledge to the second generation to keep projects moving. In addition, we have a prequalified subcontractor list and require annual renewals to stay in good standing and prove financial stability.
Bisnow: What do you think will be the hottest topics of conversation at the event?
Rinaldi: We’re going to really tap into what the state of Miami looks like now.
Before and shortly after the pandemic, the market was still hot, and it wasn't letting up. There has been a bit of correction going on. I've seen situations where we actually mobilized on-site, but then the developer lost one of their general partners or co-sponsors in the deal, causing the financing to go sideways.
In other cases, the GP tries to secure lending, but the interest rates make the numbers not conducive compared to what they projected 18 months prior.
Bisnow: What is the main takeaway you hope attendees will have from this event?
Rinaldi: Bisnow events are terrific. Not only is it a great networking environment, but one of the best things Bisnow does is tap into some of the most successful developers. They not only come to talk about their project but also understand the value of working with the community and private enterprise while collaborating with government to foster sustainable growth. It’s great to talk to and network with a profound group of developers, contractors, financiers and banks who can help feed projects and make them become a reality.
This article was produced in collaboration between The Rinaldi Group and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.
Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com.
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