New York-based Thor Equities has sold four properties in Miami’s Design District for $59.83 million, or a whopping $3,132 per square foot for the land.
Properties that Thor sold last week
An affiliate of RedSky Capital and JZ Partners purchased the parcels on Northeast 39th and 40th streets. Miami-Dade County records show the Brooklyn-based entity financed the deal with a $51 million mortgage. The sale closed on Jan. 8.
The Redksy-JZ joint venture acquired 55 Northeast 39th Street, 56 Northeast 40th Street, and 75-81 Northeast 39th Street in Miami. Thor paid $16 million for the first two properties in March, and about $15 million for the latter two in October 2014, which means the real estate firm doubled its investment. The parcels include about 9,000 square feet of buildings, as well as a 4,700-square-foot parking lot at 55 Northeast 39th Street.
At the time of the March sale, broker Lyle Chariff called the properties the “missing link” for Thor, and said the company was working on a redevelopment plan that included High Street retail tenants. The real estate development and investment firm, led by Joseph Sitt, has honed in on the Design District, as well as Lincoln Road and Collins Avenue in Miami Beach in recent years.
77-81 Northeast 39th Street
On its website, Thor advertised plans to develop 75-81 Northeast 39th Street into a two-story, 16,600-square-foot retail flagship with 100 feet of frontage.
This most recent deal comes about two months after Thor bought the site of a United States Post Office down the street for $43 million, or about $1,400 per square foot for the land. RedSky and JZ, which have also been active in Wynwood, paid about $24 million for the property at 45 Northeast 39th Street in September.
This year, the Design District is expected to have more than 120 luxury-brand stores, a boutique hotel, 15 to 20 restaurants, luxury residential condos and lofts, galleries, furniture showrooms, as well as large-scale public art, design and graphic art installations. Dacra President and CEO Craig Robins has led the area’s transformation. In 2015, blockbuster transactions in the Design District included the $65 million sale of Atlas Plaza, home to Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink, Rolex and Longchamp, among other tenants. Russell Atlas sold those properties, on 39th and 40th streets, to David Edelstein’s TriStar Capital in September.