Retail building on Washington Avenue sells at premium

Jason Weisman, 1331 Washington Avenue and Chaim Cahane
Jason Weisman, 1331 Washington Avenue and Chaim Cahane

Amid a slew of new tenants, property listings and sales, a retail building on Washington Avenue in Miami Beach has traded hands for $2.7 million, The Real Deal has learned.

Jason Weisman of JAW Commercial and Chaim Cahane of Forte Capital Management purchased the 4,500-square-foot building at 1331 Washington Avenue. 1331 Washington Avenue Property LLC sold the building to Weisman and Cahane. The LLC is tied to Burl and Henrietta Sostchin, who were part of the sale of an entire block on Washington for $36 million in June.

“I’ve always told Chaim we should buy something together and when this deal was presented to me, we both agreed that although it’s a smaller deal than were used to, it was a great acquisition opportunity,” Weisman, who owns another retail property a block away, told TRD.

Surf Style leases the property on a month-to-month basis, he said. Leasing agent Zach Winkler of CBRE is marketing the property for a long-term lessee.

“We have our broker looking for potential tenants for retail or restaurant uses,” Weisman told TRD. “It can be subdivided in half and reconfigured for restaurant use.”

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The last recorded sales price for the site was in 1998, when it sold for $750,000. The single-story building, constructed in 1925, sits on a 6,500-square-foot lot, according to Miami-Dade County property records.

Weisman and Cahane have been focusing on Miami Beach and Wynwood in recent months.

Cahane is part of a partnership that bought 1700 Lincoln Road for $21 million in May.

Last month, Weisman purchased a 6,200-square-foot retail building at 1413 Washington Avenue for $4.55 million. The building includes two spaces: a vacant restaurant along with a tattoo shop that is currently operating on a month-to-month lease.

Washington Avenue is experiencing a new wave of redevelopment, as the city considers new measures that are designed to increase hotel space and retail and dining opportunities on the street, which lags far behind Lincoln Road and Ocean Drive in attracting first tier retail, dining and hotel venues.

“I have a long-term horizon on Washingon [Avenue],” he told TRD at the time. “I have patient capital, and I’m currently looking at additional acquisition opportunities on the street. I’m 25 and I want to own this real estate for many years to come.”