South Florida roundup

Snapshots of real estate news from the Sunshine State

Lincoln Road heats up

As Miami Beach’s prime retail corridor, which includes brands like Apple and H&M, continues to draw investor interest, a three-year legal fight blocking the sale of 940 and 947 Lincoln Road  may be nearing the end. The sale of the two properties would pave the way for yet another big deal on South Florida’s hottest retail strip.

A judge has ruled in favor of the properties’ owner, Leon Zwick, in litigation brought by Michael Comras and the New York-based Cayre family, who had contracted to buy 947 and 940 Lincoln, with 8,625 square feet and 36,377 square feet, for $25 million and $61 million, respectively, in 2012. Comras and Cayre’s attorney said they will appeal the ruling.

The litigation has held up the sale of 947 Lincoln to New York-based Richard Chera, who had initially contracted to buy the property before Comras and Cayre’s deal and now has a new contract for the property.

In September, Comras and his partner Jonathan Fryd sold the entire retail block from 1001 to 1035 Lincoln Road to Spanish
billionaire Amancio Ortega for $370 million. The transaction marked one of the largest real estate deals in Miami-Dade history.

And in December, Boston- based private equity firm Rockpoint Group purchased 312 Lincoln Road for $30 million in a deal that includes a 99-year ground lease.

Billionaires eye Faena

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Billionaire hedge fund manager James Dinan is among the most recent buyers at Faena House in Miami Beach, joining other deep-pocketed investors like Kenneth Griffin, the CEO of investment company Citadel, and Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs. Dinan paid $20 million for unit 14A and financed the deal with a $10 million mortgage from Bank of America.

Dinan, the founder of York Capital Management and a partial owner of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, is worth an estimated $2.4 billion, according to Forbes.

The 18-story, 42-unit Faena House, completed in September and part of Alan Faena and Len Blavatnik’s Faena District, has become a magnet for billionaires. Griffin bought the $60 million penthouse and Blankfein spent $9.5 million for unit 8A.

David Beckham scores

After several failed attempts, Miami Beckham United, an ownership group led by David Beckham, might get the break it needs to build a Major League Soccer stadium in Miami.

Miami-Dade County has a tentative deal to sell a 2.79-acre parcel in Overtown to Beckham United. MLS, which has said Beckham must secure a stadium site before being granted a team, has approved the site, but the county has yet to approve the sale. Private owners are also under contract to sell land to the group. In total, Beckham will assemble roughly 9 acres. No prices have been disclosed.