Bijoux Terner founder sells courthouse building in downtown Miami: $22M

A company tied to the founder and executives of Bijoux Terner sold the Miami-Dade County Courthouse East building in downtown Miami for $22 million.

Devlin Marinoff and Jordan Gimelstein

Courthouse East Acquisitions, an affiliate of Arkadia Property Group, bought the four-story building at 22 Northwest First Street, Devlin Marinoff, managing director and founding principal of Whitehall Realty Advisors told The Real Deal. Whitehall’s David Spitz represented the buyer, while the brokerage’s Jordan Gimelstein represented the seller, Courthouse Realty Corporation.

Courthouse East is fully leased to the county, which has its county recorder’s office and parking violations bureau there. The building is a block away from the Dade County Courthouse, in the heart of the Flagler Street area that’s seen a significant amount of investment over the last couple of years – with more than half of that coming from New York.

David Aaron and Richard Kilstock manage Arkadia, a Miami Beach-based LLC, state records show. Aaron is an investor and developer in South Florida. Kilstock, an investor and developer in Europe and the United States, is the son-in-law heir of late British billionaire Marc Rich, who was known for being indicted on federal charges of tax evasion and making oil deals with Iran during the hostage crisis. Rich was controversially pardoned by President Bill Clinton on his last day in office.

The buyers financed the off-market deal with a loan from BAC, Marinoff told TRD. The county recently signed a five-year lease with three five-year extension options.

“This is another fantastic acquisition for Arkadia, our third on the East Coast and second in South Florida, and one in which we are pleased to be partnering with a terrific local lender,” Kilstock said in an email.

Arkadia focuses on income-producing assets in compelling neighborhoods across the continental U.S., Aaron told TRD. He said the building is a great redevelopment opportunity “down the road” and is looking for other opportunities in downtown Miami.

The 56,205-square-foot building, completed in 1924, sits on a 15,000-square-foot lot. The seller, controlled by Solomon Terner, founder of the retailer Bijoux Terner, along with Rosa Terner and vice president Leonor Schuck, bought the property in 1987 for $2.6 million.

Brokers say the selling period for downtown Miami’s Flagler area is coming to an end, with redevelopment and renovation next in the pipeline. The county is also in the midst of a $13 million improvement plan for Flagler that will include expanded sidewalks, more trees, new benches and bicycle racks.

“The substantial private and public investment in the area will likely keep the area on an upward trajectory,” attorney Mark Meland said. Meland, a partner at Meland Russin and Budwick, represented the buyer.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified David Aaron as working for the Blackstone Group.