Ocean Drive redevelopment property hits the auction block

An existing co-op at 1446 Ocean Drive in South Beach is up for auction as a prime redevelopment site — marking the latest bulk offering as owners seek to cash out amid heightened demand for waterfront property.

Cushman & Wakefield and Fisher Auction Company announced Tuesday that they are representing the existing cooperative association. Cushman & Wakefield Senior Director Rosendo Caveiro and Fisher’s Francis D. Santos are offering the site for sale with sealed auction bids, at a minimum bid of $26 million. They are marketing the property as ideal for a luxury condominium project or boutique hotel.

The .321-acre site currently houses a 45-unit, 22,000-square-foot residential co-op and commercial space built in 1960. The property features 96 feet of frontage on Ocean Drive.

The property is zoned mixed-use entertainment and located in the Ocean Drive/Collins Avenue Historic District. Future development could include luxury condominiums, a hotel or commercial developments up to 50 feet or five stories in height, Cushman & Wakefield said.

Sealed bids for the site are due Jan. 15, 2016. The top bidders will then participate in a live auction to be held on Jan. 20, 2016.

“Two-thirds of the co-op owners have already approved the sale, as required by their bylaws,” Caveiro said in a statement. “The reserve price of $26 million has been agreed upon and the highest bid above that will constitute a sale.”

The sale is at least the third building put up as a bulk sale in recent months, amid a scarcity of development sites near the water. In October, a unit of OKO Group paid nearly $48 million to buy out all the condominium unit owners at 25 Bay Tower Condo, an 11-story building at the south end of Brickell. The group is planning to build a 48-story luxury condominium on the property, which has 150 feet of waterfront.

And two weeks ago, Lincoln West Gardens, a low-rise condo building at 1250 Lincoln Road in Miami Beach, hit the market for an undisclosed price. Avison Young was tapped to list the 40-unit, bulk condo.