Terra Group pays 60 cents in property sales tax on 97-unit building

Terra Group's David Martin
Terra Group's David Martin

A developer saved more than $140,000 in property sales tax in an off-the-record purchase of a Coconut Grove apartment complex, according to a published report.

The sale price was undisclosed but an affiliate of the development company Terra Group, which bought the Summer Hill Apartments, immediately took out a $23 million mortgage on the seven-story, 97-unit building at 2678 Tigertail Avenue.

Instead of buying the building in an open sale, the buyer, CG Summer Investments, became a managing member of the previous owner, Sugar Hill Apartments, which was incorporated in 1968, the South Florida Business Journal reported.

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Florida law permits related entities to transfer deeds between them, thus allowing Terra to pay just 60 cents, rather than more than the $140,000 it would have likely been liable for based on the size of the mortgage, the publication

reported.[South Florida Business Journal]William J. Gorta