South Florida report

Snapshots of real estate news from the Sunshine State

Elan 33 West apartments
Elan 33 West apartments

NY firm’s SoFla splash

A New York investor recently made one of South Florida’s most expensive apartment complex purchases of 2014.

AVR Realty Company of Yonkers paid $79 million for the Elan 33 West apartments in Davie, in southwestern Broward County, about 30 minutes north of Miami. The deal marks AVR’s first foray into South Florida’s multi-family market. The company got a $51.2 million loan from CBRE Capital Markets to acquire the 376-unit community, built in 2013.

The $79 million sale price is a shade below the region’s priciest multi-family trade of the year. In June, the San Marco at Broken Sound complex in Boca Raton sold for $80.5 million.

AVR owns one other South Florida property: a Courtyard by Marriott in downtown Miami.

Grocer turns developer

Miami’s condo-development market is so hot, even a major grocer wants a piece of the action.

Publix, one of the nation’s largest supermarket chains, is proposing two Miami-area condo projects. The company filed plans with the City of Coral Gables to replace an existing store with a 282-unit residential tower. Publix is partnering with construction firm Stiles on the project, which would also include a new 57,000-square-foot grocery.

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In Sunny Isles Beach, which is flush with luxury condo high-rises, Publix is seeking permission to construct a 26-story condo tower with 357 units on a waterfront property. A 32-year-old Publix store occupies the site. That development would include a new grocery as well.

In Sunny Isles, Publix would be competing with more than 1,800 condo units proposed, planned or under construction.

Sports star deals

Several current and former athletes are generating headlines for their South Florida real estate activities.

Golf legend Greg “The Shark” Norman should be able to finish building a massive mansion in Boca Raton after obtaining a $15 million credit line from Deutsche Bank. Norman reportedly hopes to sell the 28,000-square-foot home for $25 million once it’s complete. He paid $7 million for the land in 2006 to be closer to Chris Evert, who was married to Norman between 2008 and 2009.

In Coral Gables, basketball star Ray Allen dropped $11 million on a waterfront mansion he was previously renting. Billionaire medical entrepreneur Miguel Fernandez sold the 2013 NBA Finals hero the 10-bedroom, nearly 12,000-square-foot home. The property includes a private beach.

New York Yankees outfielder Carlos Beltran already wants to unload his southwestern Broward County estate, just one year after buying it for $3.8 million. Beltran listed the 13,316-square-foot Weston home for $4.5 million. The eight-bedroom house includes a billiard room, library, catering kitchen, basketball court, greenhouse and swimming pool.