Miami-Dade - Big deals: commercial real estate

South Florida CEO, July, 2003

Easton Deal

Commercial developer Ed Easton's Easton Group is partnering with Miami-based Courtelis Group to develop a 100,000-square-foot shopping center at Easton's International Corporate Park in Airport West. About 70 percent of the center is already leased. Completion of the shopping center, called International Corporate Plaza, is set for this November.

Grand Bay Deal

Greenwich, Connecticut-based Alecta Investment Management has sold Continental Plaza and the Grand Bay, for $11.63 million and $32.65 million, respectively. The two Coconut Grove office buildings were sold to Guardian Insurance Group (Continental Plaza) and Cardinal Holdings (Grand Bay). Alecta purchased the buildings in 1997.

Downtown Parcels

Local developers Chad Oppenheim (also an architect) and Gregg Covin paid $6 million for a parking lot at Northeast 11th Street and Biscayne Boulevard, and are planning to build a 40-story loft tower on the three-acre site, which is adjacent to the AmericanAirlines Arena. The 200-unit development, called Core, would boast prices starting in the $200,000s. Parking mogul Hank Sopher sold Oppenheim and Covin the parcel. Other downtown news: Downtown River Village, LLC has purchased two pieces of land in downtown Miami for a total of $12.23 million--3.9 acres at 340 S. Miami Ave. from Toronto-based Miami Trade Center Associates for $9 million, and a 1.34-acre parcel at 300 S. Miami Ave. from Stephen Muss for $3.23 million.

Lido Purchased

Hotelier Andre Balazs--owner of the Raleigh Hotel on South Beach and the Chateau Marmont in Beverly Hills--has purchased the famed Lido Spa on Miami Beach. Terms of the sale of the 106-room hotel were not disclosed. Designed by legendary Miami Beach architect Morris Lapidus, the original building will be left intact, says Balazs, who plans to reopen it in early 2004.

Cheeca Sale

The Cheeca Lodge and Spa in Islamorada sold for $34.5 million to Cheeca Holdings, a partnership of RockResorts, The Falor Companies and Johnson Resort Properties. The seller was Olympus Real Estate Partners, and the deal was brokered by Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels. The 27-acre Cheeca Lodge will continue to be managed by RockResorts, which signed a 20-year agreement when the deal closed.