Ronny Finvarb just sold a vacant lot on Fifth Street in South Beach for $5.965 million — six times the price he paid six years ago, The Real Deal has learned.
The 9,000-square-foot property at 803 Fifth Street, at the corner of Meridian Avenue, can be developed for commercial use. It sold for $667 per square foot.
SOBE 5, LLC, led by Finvarb, sold the property to The Fifth Hotel LLC, Finvarb told TRD. The buyer is linked to Urbanica Management, led by Carlos Porchetto and Roberto Colmenaro. Finvarb said the investors intend to develop a small hotel.
Finvarb’s entity provided a $2 million mortgage, he said. The sale and mortgage have not yet been recorded by Miami-Dade County.
Metro 1’s Peter Andolina brokered the sale.
Records show Finvarb purchased the lot for $1 million or $111 per square foot in June 2011. He said the land is currently leased to a construction company on a short-term basis.
“My intent was to land-bank the property and sell it since I typically develop larger properties,” said Finvarb, principal of the Finvarb Group, via email.
Among the Finvarb Group’s projects is the future Kimpton Hotel Palomar South Beach at 1750 Alton Road, which is planned to open in the fourth quarter of 2018. The property was the former site of a Boston Market, which was demolished last year. Owned and developed by the Finvarb Group and designed by Kobi Karp with Permuy Architecture as the architect of record, the hotel will span five stories and 96 rooms surrounding a central atrium. It will also feature a rooftop pool and a new signature restaurant overlooking Collins Canal. Two weeks ago Finvarb nabbed a $27.6 million construction loan for the hotel.
The site is next to the Marriott Residence Inn South Beach, which Finvarb Group also developed. It opened in March of last year.
The Finvarb Group, whose principals are Ronny and Richard Finvarb, was founded nearly 40 years ago. The company has developed real estate projects including hotels, high-rise condominiums, multifamily apartment buildings, single-family developments, office buildings and retail, according to the group’s website.