Forte sells 1600 Alton in Miami Beach, retail development planned

1600 Alton Road
1600 Alton Road

Forte Properties just sold its retail building on Alton Road for $12.25 million, and the new owner is already eyeing redevelopment plans.

The deal was announced by listing brokerage Marcus & Millichap, which was hired to represent the seller of 1600 Alton Road in April 2015. Tenants at the building include Lyon Frères Petit Marché, Dunkin’ Donuts and Pizza Hut.

Measuring 6,090 square feet, the two-story retail strip sold for a whopping $2,011 per square foot — a record price for the area, according to Marcus & Millichap’s Scott Sandelin. County records show an affiliate of Forte originally bought the property for a mere $330,000, or $54 per foot, in 1988.

Sandelin, along with his colleague Alejandro D’Alba, brokered the sale on behalf of both the seller and the buyer.

Sandelin told The Real Deal that the buyer, whom he declined to name, is pursuing plans to redevelop the property into a two-story retail project. The plans would combine properties the investor already owns on the block.

County property records show the property immediately north of 1600 Alton is owned by an affiliate of Crescent Heights, which is heavily involved in developing pieces of Miami Beach.

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It’s possible Crescent Heights was the purchaser of 1600 Alton, as the closest buildings to the west are existing condominiums, and the east and southern blocks are separated by major roads. A call to a Crescent Heights executive was not immediately returned.

“Proximity [to Lincoln Road] is alluring because tenants want to be there but they can’t necessarily pay these hefty prices of up to $300 per foot,” Sandelin told TRD

Yet on certain sections of Alton Road, he said, rents are considerably lower at an average of $80 to $120 per square foot. “What you’ll see over time is the area between 16th and 17th Street on Alton Road will really make a transformation,” Sandelin said.

That theory already holds water today: Up the block at 1698 Alton Road, members of the Soffer family and principals of Elion Partners scored approvals for a new mixed-use project with retail space and residences. And to the South on the 700 block of Alton Road, Russell Galbut’s development firm Crescent Heights is moving forward with plans to build a new facility for Baptist Health South Florida.