Downtown Macy’s building sells for $15.55M

New York-based Aetna Realty Group has purchased a commercial building anchored by Macy’s in downtown Miami for  $15.55 million – or $322.26 per square foot, according to the South Florida Business Journal. The deal was handled by attorney Lewis Cohen on behalf of 22 descendants of Miami business pioneer Richard Ashby. The 48,000-square-foot building located at Miami Avenue and Flagler Street.

“Now that the lease was expiring, it was necessary to track down all the descendants,” Cohen said. “Some had larger portions of ownership than others, depending on how far down the family tree they were. Fortunately we didn’t have to litigate anything because we were able to engineer a sale that keeps Macy’s there and satisfied everyone.”

Ashby had originally leased the property to Burdines in 1917 for about $30,000 a year, the same lease rate Macy’s was paying on that portion of the property under its old 99-year lease agreement, set to expire in a few years. [SFBJ]