Tricera Capital, RRE Investments buy Flagler Uptown and the Hive in Flagler Village

UPDATED, Jan. 16, 12:05 p.m.: Tricera Capital and RRE Investments paid $13.25 million for two properties in Fort Lauderdale’s Flagler Village, setting land records on a per-square-foot basis, according to the broker.

Tricera, an investment firm led by Scott Sherman and Ben Mandell, and RRE paid about $6.63 million each for Flagler Uptown and the Hive mixed-use buildings, said Jaime Sturgis, CEO of Native Realty. Sturgis brokered both deals, which closed on Tuesday. The buyers financed the deals with a $10.2 million loan from Bancorp, according to Aztec Group. Aztec’s Charles Penan, Howard Taft and Brell Tarich arranged the five-year, interest-only loan.

Flagler Uptown, a repurposed 18,000-square-foot warehouse at 750 North Flagler Drive, sold for $362 per buildable square foot and $267 per square foot for the land. It’s leased to Invasive Species Brewing, Wells Coffee and Montce Swim, a bikini shop.

The Hive, a 15,000-square-foot property at 900 North Flagler Drive, traded hands for $428 per buildable square foot and $228 per square foot for the land. It’s leased to the Glitch Bar, Red Pearl Yoga, JB & C Juice Bar and Café and the Bean to Brew coffee shop. Sturgis, who handled leasing of the property, previously had his office at the Hive.

Over the past three-and-a-half years, effective rents at both properties have ranged from $25 a square foot, triple net, to $47 a square foot. More recently, rents have increased up to $35 a square foot to $45 a square foot.

“A few years ago, I couldn’t get anyone to take this neighborhood seriously. Nobody thought the rents could be achieved,” Sturgis said. The sales “speak to the fact that it’s not such an emerging market anymore.”

Previous records in Flagler Village hovered around $100 to $150 per square foot for land and $200 to $250 per foot for buildable square footage, he added.

Apartment development is also booming in Flagler Village, where nearly 2,000 units are scheduled to be completed this year and next.

Property records show 750 Flagler LLC, managed by attorney Alan Grunspan, sold Flagler Uptown. Grunspan is also tied to the seller of the Hive, 900 Flagler LLC, which lists an Aventura address.

The properties are the second deal in Fort Lauderdale for Tricera Capital, which launched in 2017 to focus on acquiring retail, office and mixed-use properties in emerging areas of the Southeast.

An earlier version of this story excluded RRE Investments and incorrectly stated that the properties were the first in Fort Lauderdale for Tricera.