A waterfront condo
building in North Bay Village is the latest target of a
possible bulk buyout.
Colliers sent a letter
to a unit owner at Island Place, a nearly 60-year-old
building near Sunbeam Properties’ assemblage, inquiring on
behalf of an unnamed “highly motivated” developer interested
in acquiring all the units, according to a copy obtained by
The Real Deal.
Island Place, an eight-story building at 1455 North Treasure
Drive in North Bay Village, was completed in 1966. It has
123 condos and nine commercial units, according to its condo
docs. The property includes a waterfront pool and large
parking lot.
Developers across South Florida are focusing their buyout
efforts on older buildings sitting on land with favorable
zoning.
A source told TRD that
a potential sale of the Island Place property has not
progressed beyond this inquiry stage, which is typically to
gauge interest among unit owners. Sunbeam Properties’
president and CEO Andy Ansin said he is not the developer
referred to in the letter. He added that he didn’t believe
the building was for sale. |
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Another source said there is a group of
owners who would like to sell, though they do not appear to
represent the majority. Members of the condo association’s
board did not respond to requests for comment.
Colliers declined to comment. The firm has been involved in
other buyouts of waterfront condo buildings in South
Florida, and has expanded its listings business following
the deadly condo collapse in Surfside nearly two years ago.
More recently, Colliers has been marketing the 57-year-old
Castle Beach Club property in Miami Beach for sale. After
Related Group and 13th Floor Investments pulled out of their
proposed $500 million buyout of the condo complex, Terra
made a similar offer.
Condo buyouts and terminations can take years to complete,
especially if the majority of unit owners aren’t on board.
But older properties are becoming costlier to maintain.
Owners, some of whom are on fixed incomes, are challenged by
the rising cost of insurance and construction, if their
properties require major upgrades.
Unit owners are also increasingly finding themselves without
a comparable place to live if they do sell, due to how
expensive South Florida has become in recent years.
Ansin and other developers are focusing on North Bay
Village, a three-island town between mainland Miami and
Miami Beach, after city officials approved a zoning code
overhaul in 2020.
Sunbeam plans a mixed-use project north and south of the
79th Street Causeway, which bisects North Bay Village. In
October, the village commission OK’d a height increase that
allows up to 650 feet on the north side of the causeway,
where heights were previously capped at 340 feet; and up to
450 feet on the south side, where heights were previously
capped at 240 feet.
Ansin said he and his team are working on drawings for the
project and will submit their plans to the village within
two years of the commission’s approval. The first phase
calls for a 500-unit apartment building with a small grocery
store, and restaurants and retail along the water.
In January, Jesta Group scored approval for its planned
30-story multifamily and hotel project on the site of
popular Shuckers Waterfront Grill in North Bay Village.
Shoma Group, led by Masoud and Stephanie Shojaee, launched
sales in September of Shoma Bay, a 327-unit, 21-story condo
tower planned for the site at 1850 79th Street Causeway.