NY investor completes Wynwood assemblage with $11.5M buy, plans major project

Aron Rosenberg has completed his purchase of two prime parcels along North Miami Avenue in Wynwood, where he’s planning a major mixed-use project.

The New York investor just closed on his $11.5 million purchase of 2916 North Miami Avenue, an industrial property that was formerly the home of Murphy’s Truck Rebuilding Service.

Rosenberg now owns that parcel and the property at 2994 North Miami Avenue, which he bought for $6.5 million in March. Altogether he now holds about 1.12 acres of land on that block, which sits on the border between Midtown Miami and Wynwood, both of which are rapidly redeveloping.

Scott Sandelin and Jonathan De La Rosa

Both properties were first listed in mid-year 2015 by Marcus & Millichap’s Scott Sandelin and Jonathan De La Rosa, who teamed up to market the property on behalf of the former owners with an ask of $22.5 million. They brought in Kobi Karp to envision what redevelopments could fit the site, and his work helped draw in Rosenberg.

The sellers were Joseph Batcheller, Kevin Peters and Paul Peters, who owned the two properties separately but agreed to list them together.

Sandelin and De La Rosa told The Real Deal that Rosenburg is in the planning stages to redevelop the parcels into a major mixed-use project, though the details are not yet available.

The property at 2916 North Miami Avenue is within the recently up-zoned Wynwood Business Improvement District, which allows for buildable heights up to 12 stories with a public benefits program, while the second property has T-5 zoning that allows up to six stories.

For Rosenberg’s most recent $11.5 million purchase, De La Rosa said the price breaks down to $490 per square foot of land — a record for North Miami Avenue. Besides this assemblage, Rosenberg also owns the building that houses Prohibition Restaurant & Speakeasy up the street.

“With numerous new commercial and multifamily developments in the pipeline, this part of Miami’s urban core is on track to become the most densely populated and heavily commercialized region in the area,” Sandelin said.

Right across the street from Rosenberg’s latest purchase, Walmart is building a contentious 203,000-square-foot superstore that was embroiled in controversy since its first approvals back in 2013. Its foundation permit expired this week and Walmart is unable to go vertical until its plans are approved by city staff.