Paramount Miami Worldcenter Secures $285 Million Construction Loan

Despite the fact that the preconstruction market is cooling off and construction loans are notoriously difficult to obtain, the developers of Paramount Miami Worldcenter have secured a massive $285 million construction loan to fund their luxury project.

“Construction financing is definitely deteriorating,” said Aaron Kurlansky, a principal at FM Capital, a commercial real-estate investment firm told the Wall Street Journal. Mr. Kurlansky said that while at the peak, developers could finance up to 75% of the cost to build a project, now that is down to about 50%.

The construction cost of Paramount Miami Worldcenter is said to cost upwards of half a billion dollars, and the developers have contributed a lot of equity plus raised funds through the popular EB-5 Visa program, which offers an investor visa that transfers to a green card for those foreign investors who contribute $500,000 to a project that creates jobs.

According to the developer's representatives, the residential tower is 60% sold and is continually selling at a rate of around 10 units per month. While this number is not as impressive as the 20 sales per month that they had become accustomed to during previous years, it is far better than many other developers are faring. In some less-popular projects, we have seen months pass with only a handful of sales. Paramount Miami Worldcenter will have 562 units priced at an average of $750/foot.

This construction loan is the second largest in the last two years, according to The Real Deal. The only loan secured that was larger was The Residences at Armani Casa, which was $305 million.