Miami developer partners with Israeli group on long-awaited apartments near Straz in downtown Tampa
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Apr 4, 2022

An apartment tower in downtown Tampa that's been in the works for nearly a decade appears closer than ever to beginning vertical construction.

The Miami developer behind the tower, American Land Ventures, has entered into a joint venture partnership with the North American affiliate of Tel Aviv-based Gazit Globe Ltd. to develop the tower. Jeff Mooallem, president and CEO of Gazit Horizons Inc., confirmed the partnership to the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

Gazit's portfolio includes mixed-use urban projects in North America, Brazil, Israel and throughout Europe. It has a Miami Beach office and recently proposed 500 apartments in Miami's Brickell district.

ALV and Gazit secured a construction loan for more than $113 million from BMO Harris Bank NA on March 31, according to Hillsborough County property records.

Granvil Tracy, CEO of American Land Ventures, told the Business Journal on Monday that vertical construction will commence in the coming weeks and that construction should take 26 months.

Nine-figure mortgages for singular properties are not common in the Tampa Bay region. Most nine-figure mortgages filed in local counties represent portfolio deals in which only some of the properties securing the loan are located here. In the last five years, 37 mortgages of more than $100 million have been filed in Hillsborough County, and the majority represent multi-market portfolios.

Coastal Construction, which built several towers in Water Street Tampa's first phase, is the general contractor on the AER tower, according to city building records.

The AER tower, first proposed in 2013, will stand 33 stories and include 311 units. It's near the David A. Straz Jr. Center for Performing Arts, on a parcel of land that was created by reconfiguring the intersection of Tyler and McInnes streets.

Pitched at a time when developers were still leery of downtown Tampa's multifamily market, the AER Tower was a top priority for former Mayor Bob Buckhorn's administration, which blamed repeated delays on "staff members at the Straz who have proved to be nothing but obstacles and have spent six years trying to kill this deal."

In 2019, ALV CEO Granvil Tracy told the Business Journal that the tower would be marketed to downsizing baby boomers.

"We’re trying to appeal to this emerging boomer market for rentals that seems to be coming into play," he said at the time.