Trending
Royal Castle plans to turn brownfield site in Opa-locka into mixed-use project
Vacant lot was formerly the dumping grounds for demolition contractor Cuyahoga
One man’s trash…
A company tied to real estate investment firm Royal Castle Companies just purchased a contaminated brownfield site in Opa-locka, with plans to develop a mixed-use project.
The 7.6-acre property once served as the dumping grounds for demolition contractor Cuyahoga Company.
The sale of the parcel at 1700 Service Road, along State Road 9, required clearing multiple code enforcement liens on the property and promising the city to decontaminate the site, according to broker Reese Stigliano, president of Stigliano Commercial Real Estate. Overall, the closing process took nearly two years to complete, he added.
Royal Castle is planning to build a project that may include a hotel, about 250 rental units and retail space. The North Miami-based company owns, manages, and develops commercial and multifamily properties throughout the United States and specializes in affordable multifamily development.
The property is part of a mixed-use overlay district that allows for commercial development. Stigliano said the developer is in talks with the city to also build several workforce housing units.
The lot still needs to be extensively rehabbed, due to contaminants that include asbestos. Stigliano said the cleanup process will start within the next 30 days and will take about six to eight months to complete.
The site closed for $475,000. The company had to pay the city an additional $195,000 to release about nine code enforcement liens on the property. With the cost of cleaning up the site, the total investment will approach $2 million, according to Stigliano.
Records show the sellers, Miller Legg Capital Holdings, bought the property in 2010 for $199,000. Stigliano represented the sellers. CBRE’s Pete Messina co-brokered the deal.
Over the summer, Gramercy Property Trust paid $80 million for the Opa Locka Hialeah Flea Market. Nearby, Amazon is set to move into its new 800,000-square-foot distribution center, close to the Miami Opa Locka Executive Airport.