“Lenders very active in construction financing or permanent financing are now working through extensions, workouts or loan sales depending on the situation and are less focused on new development and more about mitigating losses and working through their current portfolio of loans,” he added. 

Arellano’s firm, Dwntwn Realty Advisors, is working on $40 million worth of seller financing deals. 

Panelist Tony Arellano said retail experiences that defy replication on the internet hold the most promise. “What I think is exciting is something that you can’t find online,” said Arellano, managing partner of DWNTWN Realty Advisors. He cited as an example the experience of patronizing shops, restaurants and bars in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood.

The collection of low-rise retail buildings, known as The Whale & Star property, totals 27,406 square feet. The site fronts 365 feet on NW First Place, between Northwest 22nd and 23rd streets. The buyer, a Delaware-based limited liability company named Whale & Star Wynwood, plans to build a mixed-use development that will include a hotel with over 300 rooms, DWNTWN Realty Advisors’ Tony Arellano, who represented the seller alongside Devlin Marinoff, told Commercial Observer.

Spiegel, a Long Island, New York-based real estate investment and development firm, acquired the 132,000-square-foot commercial complex at 7205 Northeast Fourth Avenue, said Devlin Marinoff with Dwntwn Realty Advisors. The deal closed on Monday. It breaks down to roughly $261 a square foot. 

“Terra had asked for an extension, which is understandable in this market,” said Devlin Marinoff, co-managing partner of Dwntwn Realty Advisors. “The fact that Genting did not give them an extension I think was a huge, huge error.”

Salon Skin Spa has signed a lease for a fourth location in South Florida, taking 1,500 square feet at Fox’s Plaza in South Miami. DWNTWN Realty Advisors worked with both sides of the transaction.

The New York City-based salon brand began expanding in South Florida in the last year and now has two open locations in Brickell and Miami Beach, with a third location scheduled to open this summer in Midtown Miami.

In the first three months of this year, total sales volume hit $194 million, a whopping 80 percent drop compared to the same period of last year, when deal flow hit $977 million, according to Dwntwn Realty Advisors, led by Tony Arellano and Devlin Marinoff.

The Crunch Fitness founder and real estate investor is looking to sell the fully leased properties at 2324-2328 North Miami Avenue and 36-38 Northwest 24th Street, according to an offering.

Dwntwn Realty Advisors is handling the listing.

“The same phenomenon happens in the car industry,” Arellano said. “December is one of the busiest months for car sales, and January is one of the worst. It’s similar for commercial real estate investment.” 

“The issue with these home design and home decor tenants is that they pop up when the residential market is red hot,” said Devlin Marinoff with DWNTWN Realty Advisors. “When the market cools, they go away.”

Brick & Timber Collective has acquired Cube Wynwd, an office building in Miami’s hot Wynwood neighborhood, from Tricera Capital and Alex Karakhanian’s LNDMRK Development for $62 million. Tony Arellano and Devlin Marinoff of DWNTWN Realty Advisors represented both buyer and seller in the transaction

The Wynwood condo deals are “a turning point,” said Dwntwn Realty Advisors’ Tony Arellano, a broker who’s been active in Wynwood for 17 years. “You can compare it to the good old days of neighborhoods like [New York’s] SoHo or the Meatpacking District. Buying in culturally vibrant growing neighborhoods has historically been a pretty good idea.”

Creative neighborhoods like Little River have been the focus of a lot of attention and recent capital inflows. DWNTWN Realty Advisors and Gridline Properties worked together seamlessly on a complex transaction that will have a positive impact on Miami and the Little River neighborhood.

Wynwood commercial real estate continues to flourish as several large tech companies, financial institutions and top food and beverage concepts continue to choose this desired neighborhood as their headquarters.