David Edelstein and partner pay $13M for retail site in Wynwood

UPDATED Nov. 2, 11 a.m. David Edelstein just partnered to buy a retail site in Wynwood for $13.125 million, as developers and investors continue to target the artsy Miami neighborhood.

Miami-Dade County records show New York-based Edelstein and Boca Raton attorney William S. Weisman, through entities called Quick Star LLC and WSW Quick STP LLC, purchased the properties at 261 Northwest 26th Street and 260 Northwest 27th Street from sellers Yung Tzu Kuo and his wife Li-Hua Chou.

The 3,919-square-foot building at 261 Northwest 26th Street carries the name of Topwin Shoes, a wholesale, import and export shoe business. Built in 1950, the warehouse sits on a 10,000 square foot lot, property records show.

The second property, a 9,918-square-foot building at 260 Northwest 27th Street, sits on a 17,500-square-foot lot. It was built in 2010.

RKF Managing Director Benjamin Mandell and Senior Director John Ellis represented both the buyers and sellers in the off-market transaction, he told The Real Deal.

Edelstein’s plan is to “renovate the existing building, do an adaptive reuse and bring in quality, hip, cool operators to go along with the Wynwood vibe,” Mandell said.

The purchase was financed through an $11.4 million loan from Comerica Bank.

Edelstein, the owner of New York-based TriStar Capital, has been active recently both buying and selling in Wynwood. In June 2015 he sold two properties on North Miami Avenue for $13 million to a partnership between Vitality Holding and Cabi Developers. Mandell represented both the buyer and seller in the deals.

Edelstein also bought a Wynwood retail site next to Miami’s Midtown for $10.2 million in May 2015 and flipped it in November 2015 for $13 million. And in April 2015, an entity he controlled sold nearly a square city block, at 2801 Northwest Third Avenue, to Thor Equities for $29 million. Jason Weisman, a member of the Weisman family and principal of Miami-based JAW Interests, represented the buyer and seller in the off-market deal.

Wynwood is booming with new development, as it transforms from a warehouse and discount retail district into a flourishing commercial and residential neighborhood. A slew of high-density mixed-use projects have been proposed that could altogether add about 1,000 residential units and 3.9 million square feet of retail space.

A flurry of high-end shops have opened including Warby Parker, Marine Layer, Illesteva and Shinola, and Scotch & Soda is opening soon, while new dining spots include Wynwood Diner, KYU, Salty Donut and Federal Donuts. Other nearby businesses include Ducati, Panther Coffee, Wynwood Kitchen & Bar, R House, Gravity Brewery and Boxelder Craft Beer Market.

According to a Commercial Industrial Association of South Florida market report released in April, Wynwood ranked among the area’s hottest retail markets in 2015, with $165 million in retail property sales volume and a vacancy rate of 6 percent.

An earlier version of this story left out the property at 260 Northwest 27th Street, which was included in the deal.