Investor buys historic Biscayne Boulevard home in MiMo

5631 Biscayne Boulevard in Miami
5631 Biscayne Boulevard in Miami

A 77-year-old, 2,000-square-foot house in the MiMo Biscayne Boulevard Historic District was purchased for $775,000, The Real Deal has learned.

The 7,340 square foot property at 5631 Biscayne Boulevard is located across the street from the site of Unitas Development Group’s future 107-unit condominium, Boulevard 57.

The broker who represented both the buyer and seller in the transaction: Tony Ulloa of Keyes Commercial Realty.

The buyer was Joel Rodriguez, president of Global Investments Realty. The sellers were Orlando and Gladys Valdes, a hotelier couple who bought the Cavalier South Beach at 1320 Ocean Drive for $12.5 million and Motel Blu at 7700 Biscayne Boulevard for $4.2 million in February 2014. That was soon after they sold the Delores and Eva hotels on South Beach for $17.5 million. The couple also sold The Orchid House at 1350 Collins Avenue for $7.5 million in February.

The Valdeses owned 5631 Biscayne Boulevard for 11 years before selling it to Rodriguez at $105.59 per square foot. The Valdeses, who operated their office in the circa 1938 home, bought the house and land for $625,000 in October 2004.

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“It shows you how aggressive the market is right now,” Ulloa told TRD. “A lot of people wanted to buy it after I had it under contract.”

The historic home has not been significantly altered, Ulloa added. “It has everything original. All the fixtures, the doorways, it even has an ironing board built into the kitchen. It’s a very cool house inside,” he said.

Rodriguez was going to move his office into the property but has since decided to stay at his Edgewater location. Instead, Rodriguez told TRD that he wants to lease it out as either a residential or commercial property. Both are allowed under the property’s city of Miami zoning designation, T4-O, which permits residential single-family, multifamily, and home office as well as bed & breakfast, hotel, restaurant, and entertainment.

Rodriguez said he bought the house and the land because he liked the deal and the area. “We’re investing in the market there. We have for a lot of years,” he told TRD. “It was a natural thing for us to do.”