Crescent Heights sells mixed-use garage in South Beach

Nursing home owner in Brooklyn bought the property, which is leased to Upland

Upland building and Russell Galbut
Upland building and Russell Galbut

Crescent Heights sold a commercial building in South Beach, home to the popular Upland restaurant, to a nursing home owner for $15 million.

Leopold Friedman, who owns the Bronx nursing home Citadel Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Kingsbridge, acquired the four-story, 32,000-square-foot building at 49 Collins Avenue. It hit the market in 2017.

Property records show Friedman financed the purchase with a $12 million loan from Valley National Bank New York. Friedman could not immediately be reached for comment.

The deal, which breaks down to under $500 per square foot, includes the 7,500-square-foot upscale restaurant and a 180-space parking garage. The property sits on a 13,000-square-foot lot next to the Related Group’s One Ocean and about a block away from Joe’s Stone Crab.

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Upland, led by restaurateur Stephen Starr and chef Justine Smillie, opened in 2016 shortly after the building was completed. The restaurant signed a 10-year lease with options for two five-year extensions.

In May, a separate Brooklyn buyer, paid nearly $31 million for the nursing home and rehabilitation center across the street from the mixed-use garage.

Crescent Heights, led by Russell Galbut and Sonny Kahn, recently secured approval to build a luxury residential tower at 500 Alton Road.

It also recently requested that the city combine the properties at 3000 and 3050 Biscayne Boulevard in Miami with plans to build a major mixed-use project on more than 5 acres of land. There, Crescent Heights is requesting to build up to 754 residential units, nearly 269,000 square feet of office space, about 17,000 square feet of retail space, a 38,450-square-foot grocery store, parking and fitness space.