Michigan doctor takes loss for $7M sale of Boca offices

One Michigan doctor took a shot in the arm for this real estate deal — after seven years of ownership, he sold his Boca Raton corporate center at a $1 million loss.

The $7.45 million sale includes a low-rise office building at 7800 Congress Avenue, also known as the URS Corporate Center. It was built in 2000 with 42,455 square feet of space and was fully leased at the time of its sale, according to a news release. The property is one piece of the Boca Commerce Center, a massive business park that covers 327 acres along Congress Avenue.

Dr. Robert Ernst

RJE Investments #1, a Michigan company that’s managed by Dr. Robert J. Ernst, was the seller. The physician first purchased 7800 Congress Avenue for nearly $8.5 million in 2008, according to Palm Beach County property records. That deal broke down to roughly $200 per square foot.

The new buyer is Naya USA Investment & Management, a Hollywood company owned by Yoav Merary — the same investor who snapped up a Surfside apartment building in 2014 before flipping it to the Château Group for more than $2 million.

Merary’s purchase of 7800 Congress Avenue equates to $175 per square foot, a heavy discount from what Ernst paid during the real estate crash.

Douglas Mandel of Marcus & Millichap

Douglas Mandel of brokerage Marus & Millichap represented the seller.

“This was a rare opportunity to acquire a stabilized, multi-tenant office building with tremendous visibility and immediate access to I-95,” Mandel said in the release. — Sean Stewart-Muniz