Empira Group scored an $81 million construction loan for a 160-unit multifamily project, beefing up its development pipeline just as South Florida emerges from a yearslong multifamily overhang.
Zug, Switzerland-based Empira started construction of The Aurelian, a 12-story building at 114 Calabria Avenue, with plans to complete it in 2028, according to the developer’s news release. Chicago-based Pearlmark is the lender.
The debt amounts to $506,000 per unit.
Charles Crapse and Denny St. Germain of CBRE negotiated the debt deal.
Designed by Behar Font, with Ortega Construction as the general contractor, The Aurelian will consist of one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments, as well as a 248-space garage. The luxury development will include a 6,000-square-foot park.
Empira paid $18 million for the 1.2-acre site last year, records show.
Empira debuted in Miami-Dade County real estate in 2022, paying $9 million for a multifamily development site in Miami’s The Roads neighborhood, where it’s developing the eight-story, 85-unit Enso project.
The firm steadily expanded its pipeline over the past four years and established its North America headquarters in downtown Miami in early 2024.
Last year, Empira scored $111.3 million in financing to develop the 26-story, 310-unit Perrin apartment tower in Brickell. This summer, it jumped on the branded condo craze that’s taken over South Florida.
Partners Group and Empira plan the 70-story Breitling-branded B Residences with more than 300 units and a 45,000-square-foot, two-level private B Social Club for residents. The tower is planned for an undisclosed site in Brickell.
In late 2024, Partners, also based in Zug, acquired Empira, which has continued to operate under its name. Partners also is the parent company of watchmaker Breitling.
Lahcen Knapp founded Empira in 2014 and is chairman of the board, with Maximilian J. A. Haecker head of U.S. investments, while Michael Marrero and Branko Kuzmanović are managing directors based in Miami.
South Florida multifamily landlords and developers finally experienced a reprieve this year from the glut of units that defined the market over the past three years, according to CoStar Group. From late last year through the first half of this year, net leasing finally surpassed net deliveries, the data shows.
Yet, market watchdogs also warned that the region isn’t out of the woods, as demand has only slightly surpassed supply. But developers have nearly 28,000 units under construction, threatening another supply overhang late next year when most of the pipeline is expected to be delivered, experts said.
The Federal Reserve’s 25-basis-point increase of the benchmarked interest rate last month pushed up the Secured Overnight Financing Rate. That may slow the flow of construction debt, which is floating rate and usually pegged to SOFR.
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