This Week's South Florida Deal Sheet

Orlando-based Holidays Network Group paid $27M for a Miami Beach apartment building that is approved for conversion into a 107-room hotel, The Real Deal reports. The 88-unit apartment complex at 2618 Collins Ave. was sold by a joint venture of investors Eli Dadon, Avi Dishi and Richard Waserstein. 

The sellers had paid a combined $10M between 2014 and 2017 to acquire condos at the property before converting it to rentals. The Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board approved a plan in 2018 to renovate the half-acre property into a boutique hotel. 

Holidays Network Group secured a $35.3M loan from Phoenix-based Western Alliance Bank as part of the acquisition, signaling that it plans to move ahead with the renovation. The property was built in 1951 as an art deco hotel designed by Roy France and has historic designations that prohibit full demolition.

SALES

The 103-key Marriott West Palm Beach Airport traded for $20.5M, the South Florida Business Journal reported. MHG Hotels, which has headquarters in Boca Raton and Indianapolis, purchased the hotel at 1800 Centrepark Drive E from an entity managed by Jay Batra, the CEO of Ohio-based Regal Hospitality. 

The 63K SF hotel, which includes a pool, restaurant and fitness center, was built on a 2.5-acre parcel in 2001. MHG Hotels is planning a $4M renovation that will include updating guest rooms, modernizing common spaces and updating the exterior. 

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An affiliate of Macklowe Properties closed on the $47.7M purchase of a 51-unit co-op called Biscayne Sea Club in North Bay Village, the SFBJ reported. The seller was Bay-Four and Biscayne Sea Club, the nonprofit that governed the co-op, located at 8000 East Drive.

The buyer, a firm led by New York developer Harry Macklowe, financed the purchase through a $32M mortgage from an affiliate of Hallandale Beach-based Kawa Capital called CRE TI LLC.

Macklowe had the property under contract since May, and Biscayne Sea Club terminated all the leases at the property and approved the sale earlier this year. Macklowe is also reportedly under contract to buy a nearby apartment building at 7941 East Drive for $10.6M, but property records indicate the sale hasn't closed.  

CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT

The company behind the South Florida-based restaurant chain Moon Thai & Japanese filed plans to build a three-story restaurant in Wynwood, Commercial Observer reported.

Moon Thai Group is planning the restaurant on a quarter-acre site at 82 Northwest 28th St. that it acquired for $6M in 2021. The proposal for a 350-seat restaurant is a pared-down version of an earlier plan in September to build a five-story restaurant on the site.  

Moon Thai, founded by chef Jack Punma, first opened 23 years ago in Coral Gables. It has since grown to include eight South Florida locations and one in Charlotte.

LEASES

More than 38K SF of leases have recently been signed at the 34-story Citigroup Center office tower in Downtown Miami, according to a release. The six new tenants and two lease renewals at the 810K SF tower at 201 South Biscayne Blvd. are:

• The Miami Downtown Development Authority, an independent agency of the city of Miami, which is relocating from another Downtown building into 9,295 SF. Blanca’s Danet Linares represented the tenant.
• Trion Properties, a California-based multifamily real estate investment sponsor, which will take a 3,700 SF spec suite for its first Miami space. CBRE broker Alina Plasencia represented the tenant.
• Marex Solutions, a London-based subsidiary of Marex that creates and distributes currency and commodity derivatives, which signed on for a 3,200 SF spec suite that will be its first Miami office. It was represented by Damla Barrett at Colliers. 
• Kili Topco Ltd. and its subsidiary K2 Human Capital Solutions, which leased a 2,500 SF spec suite. The recruiting firm is relocating from Brickell and was represented in the transaction by RE/MAX’s Alex Ferran. 
• Lithium Capital Management, a Chilean investment advisory firm, which inked a deal for a 2,400 SF spec suite. It was represented by NAI’s Jeremy Larkin. 
• Pisec Group, a steel trading company, which will relocate from Brickell into a 2K SF spec suite.  
• A Brazilian investment advisory firm called Galapago Advisory that renewed its lease and expanded its footprint to 4,600 SF. 
• An unnamed law firm that renewed its 11K SF lease. 

Citigroup Center is owned by New York-based Monarch Alternative Capital and an affiliate of CP Group, a Boca Raton-based real estate investment firm. The CP Group entity purchased the property in February 2000 for $115M, according to property records, and Monarch purchased a majority stake in the property in 2021 for an undisclosed price.  

The landlord was represented in the leases by Steven Hurwitz, Doug Okun and Madeline Fine at JLL.

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Hephaestus Pharmaceuticals signed a five-year lease at Prologis Beacon Industrial Park, located at 10913 Northwest 30th St. in Doral. The 13K SF space has a 24-foot clear height and includes nearly 3K SF of office space. 

Hephaestus plans to build a sterile compounding facility in the warehouse where it will manufacture and pack prescriptions. The tenant was represented by Michael Avendano, vice president at Lee & Associates.