Standard Residences in Midtown Miami scores $45M construction loan

Developer Carlos Rosso and his partners secured a $45 million construction loan for the Standard Residences in Midtown Miami.  

Bank OZK provided the financing to a joint venture between Rosso Development, Standard International and Alex Vadia’s Midtown Development, Rosso told The Real Deal. The 12-story, 228-unit branded condo project is under construction and is more than 85 percent presold, he said. Fewer than 35 units remain, and they range in price from about $500,000 to $1 million. Douglas Elliman is leading sales and marketing. 

The estimated sellout for the entire building is about $170 million, Rosso said. 

The building will mark the first Standard Hotels-branded residential development. Standard International, with nearly two dozen hotels and food and beverage outlets in the U.S. and around the world, operates the Standard Spa hotel on the Venetian Islands in Miami Beach, in the historic Lido property. Amar Lalvani is executive chairman of Standard International. 

A JLL team led by Brian Gaswirth and Jimmy Calvo arranged the financing for the Midtown Miami development. Rosso said it was not challenging to secure the loan because of the project’s high presales. The bank’s risk was “highly mitigated,” he said. 

The building marks one of Rosso’s first solo developments since leaving the Related Group three years ago. Rosso’s firm is also working on a condo project at SoLe Mia in North Miami alongside Jackie Soffer’s Turnberry Associates. He said he is working on securing other development sites. 

Standard Residences in Midtown Miami will include about 34,000 square feet of amenities, including a lobby cafe, outdoor terrace, rooftop with a pool and restaurant, an indoor pickleball court and more. 

Arquitectonica is designing the building. Urban Robot is the interior design firm, and Naturalficial is doing the landscaping, according to a release. 

Units will range from 432 square feet to 965 square feet, and from studios to two-bedroom condos. Owners will be able to rent their units out for terms as short as one month. 

So far, buyers are from New York, California and Latin America, with many of them planning to use the units as pieds-à-terre, Rosso said. 

“We picked the right brand. Initially we brought the Standard because we thought it would resonate with people from New York,” he said. “We’re seeing the [buyer] trends many are seeing.” 

Rosso said that site work is underway and excavation work will begin soon. The building, which is planned for the strip of land at 3100 Northeast First Avenue. It is located between a Midtown Miami garage and a new Trader Joe’s grocery store. The Standard project is expected to be completed by the end of next year. Civic Construction is the general contractor. 

This summer, Vadia, Rosso’s partner on the project, sold the nearby development site at 3501 Northeast First Avenue within Midtown to David Martin’s Terra and Michael Simkins’ Lion Development Group for $40 million. They plan a condo tower on the site. 

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