California investment firm pays $25M for City National’s North Beach branch, development site

A company tied to Pacific Star Capital of Santa Monica, California, paid $24.6 million for City National Bank’s North Beach branch building and surrounding land, property records show.

The deal, which breaks down to about $283 per square foot, is another sign of activity in the once-sleepy Miami Beach neighborhood. City National Bank sold the 12 parcels to Oliveira Plaza Associates, which is controlled by Pacific Star Capital CEO Aria Mehrabi. No financing was recorded.

The 2-acre assemblage at 300 71st Street and 6988 Abbott Avenue spans two blocks and includes 300 feet of frontage on 71st Street. HFF’s Jaret Turkell was the listing broker. He declined to comment on the deal.

Pacific Star Capital, an investment, management and leasing firm, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The properties include a nearly 82,000-square-foot office building with a two-story bank branch that’s about 75 percent leased, a drive-thru and parking lots, according to marketing materials. They can be developed into a 165,084-square-foot project with 236 residential units. But the listing also says it could become a retail or hotel project and that because it would be part of a “town center district,” the land could be upzoned. The maximum development height was already increased in September from 75 feet to 125 feet along 71st Street.

Developers and investors have been banking on North Beach’s revival for years. In October, the Miami Beach commission approved a master plan for the neighborhood, which stretches from 63rd Street to 87th Street. Part of the plan includes creating a town center along 71st Street, creating historic and conservation districts, adding parks and upgrading construction to withstand the challenges of sea-level rise.

Developer Silvia Coltrane is moving forward with plans for her 10-story hotel nearby at 7118-7140 Collins Avenue.

Commissioners also created a new overlay district for the Ocean Terrace Historic District between 73rd Street and 75th Street, where developer Sandor Scher could build a new 235-foot high condominium or a hotel along Ocean Terrace.