Jenny Bernell’s Clearline Real Estate has secured an $89 million construction loan to develop a 310-unit apartment building in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood. The project, named 2000 Wynwood, will rise 12 stories on a 1.4-acre site at 2000 and 2010 North Miami Avenue and 2021 and 2025 Northwest Miami Court.
According to public records, Bank OZK, based in Little Rock, Arkansas, is providing the $65.3 million senior loan for the development. A source indicated that PGIM Real Estate is lending an additional $24 million as a mezzanine loan.
The building was designed by Leo Daly Architects and will feature only market-rate apartments along with 12,500 square feet of retail space. Clearline acquired the site for $19.1 million in 2022.
Bernell founded Clearline Real Estate in Miami and New York in 2021 after spending about seven years at Kushner Companies as executive vice president of development.
Her other ongoing projects include Excel Miami Apartments—a 24-story tower with 427 units under construction in the Arts & Entertainment District—where Clearline obtained a $94.5 million construction loan last November for the property at 1550 Northeast Miami Place.
Wynwood has attracted significant attention from multifamily developers recently. Oak Row Equities, L&L Holding Company, Shorenstein, and Claure Group completed Wynwood Plaza this year—a mixed-use complex featuring a 12-story building with 509 apartments.
Developers are also making use of Florida’s Live Local Act, which permits larger buildings than zoning typically allows if they include workforce or affordable housing units (https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/102/SenateBillText/er/PDF). Many proposed projects under this act would exceed Wynwood’s current maximum height limit of twelve stories. For example, LivWrk from Brooklyn has proposed three towers rising up to forty-five stories with a total of 1,363 units at North Miami Avenue and Northwest 24th Street. Former Los Angeles Dodgers player Alex Guerrero also plans to build a forty-one-story tower with two hundred thirty-four units in Wynwood Norte.
