China Communications Construction will join a frenzy of new projects in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood

China’s real estate investors finally discovered the southern US as an affiliate of a major Chinese construction company bought a development site in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood for $74.7 million late last month.

The unit of China Communications Construction Company, a Beijing-based state-owned company closed on the full block site located between 14th Street and 14th Terrace and South Miami Avenue and Southwest First Avenue on December 26th, becoming the first major Chinese investor to enter the Miami market.

While the majority of Chinese real estate acquisitions in the US to date have been in major gateway cities such as New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, many analysts have predicted that the deal wave would spread as asset values rise in the country’s largest cities.

Communications Construction Closes Nearly $1.8B in Deals During December

The Miami acquisition was the third major deal for China Communications Construction last month after the group kicked off the final three weeks of the year by acquiring Australian infrastructure construction firm John Holland for A$1.15 billion ($950m) on December 12th.

Cheese! American Da Tang Group’s Dr Shan-jie Li with Elias Cababie Daniel earlier last year.

The construction giant was also active domestically, picking up a 24.29 percent stake in developer Greentown on December 24th, after the Hangzhou-based company’s planned merger with rival Sunac dissolved in messy squabble.

A report in the Miami Herald said that Communications Construction was represented in its Florida acquisition by American Da Tang Group, a privately-held real estate company run by Dr. Shan-Jie Li. In an interview with the Herald, Dr Li said that Communications Construction had still not decided what to do with its new site, but was considering a mixed-use project including condominium, hotel and office elements.

The Communications Construction purchased the undeveloped site from Teca Group Investments GP LLC, a partnership managed by Mexican national Elias Cababie Daniel.

Chinese Join Miami Boom

While Miami may be new to Chinese investors it has long been an international real estate draw, enjoying huge popularity with Latin American buyers and builders. And while there are parts of the US that have yet to fully rebound from the 2008 real estate crash, Miami is no longer among them.

According to Herald real estate columnist Peter Zalewski, “There are 17 towers and 5,300 units going up just in the 12-block stretch,” where China Construction’s site is located.

Hong Kong’s Swire Group, which is heavily involved in mainland real estate is developing a $1 billion mixed-use project just a few blocks north of China Construction’s new acquisition.

Chinese Developers Discover Miami with Purchase of $74.7M Site