Ugo Colombo’s 830 Brickell is back on the market

In a sign of a possible market recalibration, a Brickell area property co-owned by developer Ugo Colombo is being listed for sale by CBRE, The Real Deal has learned.

The unpriced assemblage of parcels, at 830 Southeast First Avenue, will likely trade in the same range as similar properties in the area, CBRE’s Vice Chairman of Investment Sales Robert Given told TRD. That is likely between $55 million and $65 million per acre, he said, referencing the sale of 700 Brickell and the Capital Brickell site.

Colombo’s 0.8-acre property, across from the planned Brickell City Centre, includes development rights and plans, Given said. It is being marketed as 830 Brickell.

Colombo’s CMC Group acquired the land for an undisclosed amount in July 2013, according to Miami-Dade property records. The property had been purchased out of bankruptcy by Oleg Baibakov, a Russian oligarch. Previously, entities linked to developers Renzo Renzi and his brother Pasquale Renzi had planned the Beacon of Brickell Tower on the site.

Colombo and other CMC executives were not available for comment on Wednesday, according to their spokesperson.

CMC’s partner on the property for sale is Russian developer Vlad Doronin, who is also CMC’s partner on Brickell Flatiron, at 1001 South Miami Avenue. Sales for the 60-story, 552-unit condo tower launched in April 2014. A second Brickell Flatiron tower was originally planned for the site.

“The partnership just decided it was in the best interest of the partnership to sell the property,” CBRE’s Given said.

The Brickell area near Brickell City Centre is packed with proposed condo projects. In a 10-block stretch on South Miami Avenue, from Fourth Street to 14th Street, 17 towers with 5,500 units are planned, said Peter Zalewski, principal of Condo Vultures and a columnist for TRD.

Colombo’s attempt to sell the property, which is referred to as Brickell Flatiron II, is a sign the market is changing, Zalewski said.

“This is a gentleman who understands the cycles and how they work…. This is a clear and evident sign that the market is at a peak, possibly even past it, in Greater Downtown Miami,” Zalewski told TRD. “Ugo Colombo’s track record is too good to assume anything else.”

Over the past two decades, Colombo has developed such luxury South Florida projects as Bristol Tower, Santa Maria, Porto Vita, Grovenor House and the Epic Residences and Hotel. He sold the 1.25 acre Epic East site for $125 million last year.

“It is actually good news,” Zalewski said. “When a veteran developer like Ugo Colombo acknowledges that the market is changing, the rest will follow,” he said, adding that it can in effect prolong the cycle.

“We will see a recalibration,” he said. “This is a sign that the Miami market is maturing. It’s no longer an adolescent, it is starting to make some adult decisions.”