Vacant Edgewater lot sells for $64M

The site of Miami’s oldest cemetery will have a new neighbor now that investors have purchased an adjacent lot for $64 million.

The company Rebuild Miami-Edgewater purchased the vacant lot north of the City Cemetery in Edgewater from Maryland-based investor BDB Miami on Jan. 8, records show. BDB Miami also granted a $34 million mortgage to the buyer.

The 7.4-acre lot, at the corner of Northeast Second Avenue and 17th Street, was listed for sale in March of 2014. BDB Miami owned the site for nearly a decade and had previously planned a large retail development called Bayview Market. It received approvals for 550,000 square feet of big box retail but never started construction.

“BDB Miami is the perfect canvas for a visionary developer,” CBRE senior vice president Gerard Yetming said in a statement. “Population growth for the one-mile radius around the site is forecast at nearly 10 percent over the next five years. With this acquisition, the buyer has the opportunity to capitalize on all of the new energy associated with Miami’s most transformative commercial real estate developments.”

CBRE arranged the sale of the site. Richard Meruelo is listed as a manager on Rebuild Miami-Edgewater’s corporate records.