By: Brian Bandell, Real Estate Editor, South Florida Business Journal
The family of billionaire Mike Fernandez, who is a major investor in the health care sector through Coral Gables-based MBF Healthcare Partners, has launched a real estate investment firm.
The first major project for Hermitage by MBF is a massive mixed-use project near Miami International Airport.
Alex Fernandez, the son of Mike Fernandez, is the managing principal of the real estate firm. He worked outside his family’s business for eight years, doing turnaround and consulting work and leading business development for a health care startup in Seattle. In the family office since 2018, Fernandez has led the diversification of his family’s investments into real estate.
“I want to be the person in the organization that drives values for my siblings,” he said. “Health care is always going to be something we do as a family, but we were looking to diversify outside of health care.”
The Fernandez family started making real estate investments in 2015, but through third-party investment managers and not as a main partner. Its previous investments included student housing in Lexington, Kentucky; Toledo, Ohio, and Pensacola.
The minority investor role has changed, as MBF is a big partner with Neology Life Development Group for its Palmer Lake project just east of the airport.
The developer filed plans earlier this year to develop the 7.3-acre site at 2301 N.W. 33rd Ave. with 1,250 apartments, 48,280 square feet of commercial space and 879 parking spaces in three towers. It acquired the former rental car center for $32.19 million in September 2022.
Fernandez said a main reason MBF selected Palmer Lake for its first project as a co-developer was his family’s relationship with Neology President and CEO Lissette Calderon.
“Lissette and her team are primed for success,” he said. “She’s an entrepreneur in this market. What she brings to the table complements what we bring to the table.”
Fernandez said Calderon identified the former rental car site as a large tract of land that could meet the need for more rental housing in Miami. He aims to secure approval for the Palmer Lake project by the end of this year, and then site work could begin in late 2024, with construction following in early 2025.
“This will change the fabric of the community from an industrial area to what could really be a thriving residential community,” Fernandez said.
Going forward, Hermitage by MBF expects to invest $100 million in real estate over the next three to five years in partnership with developers, Fernandez said. It plans to focus on multifamily in South Florida. It’s open to considering deals in other markets, but it would have to be in partnership with a developer who has experience in that market, he said. The firm would also consider buying existing apartment buildings if it could determine a plan to increase the value of the property, such as with capital improvements, he added.
“I don’t expect to revisit the 2007 financial crisis, but there will be opportunities that come up in the real estate market,” Fernandez said.
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