Boston developer adds to Bay Harbor Islands holdings

After closing on a 12-unit condo in Bay Harbor Islands in December, Boston-based Congress Group has purchased the waterfront property down the street for $9 million. 

Miami-Dade County records show that a Congress Group affiliate, Congress Driftwood LLC, on Monday bought the 16-unit, two-story apartment building at 9955 East Bay Harbor Drive. It’s near two Art and Tec Development projects currently under construction: Harbour Park, a waterfront condo building, and 9900 Bay Harbor Townhomes.

Bay Harbor Islands is in the midst of substantial redevelopment, with at least 26 projects underway in the community of nearly 5,900 residents, located in the barrier island area of Northeast Miami-Dade County. Projects include Bay Harbor One and Verzasca Group’s Pearl House and Le Jardin.

The apartment building that sold was built in 1957 and sits on a 22,500-square-foot site. Bruder Enterprises Inc. was the seller. According to county records, Bruder paid $960,000 for the apartments in 1995. Genia Bruder, president, signed the deed.

If sold for the land, the property traded for $400 per square foot. Congress financed the sale with an $8.86 million mortgage. Revere High Yield Fund is the lender, records show.

A Congress affiliate paid $5.52 million for a boutique condo on the northern end of the island at 10301 East Bay Harbor Drive in December. A broker involved in the sale told The Real Deal at the time that Congress plans to redevelop that property. The developer declined to comment on plans for the land. That site is next to the Bay Harbor Continental, where the Miami-Dade County Commission ruled in favor of a developer to rescind historic designation status of the 35-unit co-op.

Congress Group, has acquired, developed, repositioned or managed more than 7 million square feet of real estate valued at more than $1.5 billion, according to its website.