Hotel Astor listed for sale, AIDS Healthcare Foundation sells Miami Gardens site: Daily digest

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Hotel Astor (Credit: Groupon)

Financially troubled Hotel Astor in Miami Beach is listed for sale. The financially troubled and now-closed Hotel Astor is on the market for $12 million. The 42-room, three-story hotel at 956 Washington Avenue was renovated in 2014 using $9 million raised from EB-5 investors. It closed nearly a year ago after the ground lessor, 1651 Astor LLC, filed a lawsuit to evict the hotel from the property. [TRD]

AIDS Healthcare Foundation sells vacant lots in Miami Gardens. AIDS Healthcare Foundation sold three vacant lots in Miami Gardens to ahs Residential for $9.5 million after buying the site a year ago. The nonprofit sold the 13.1-acre site near 2255 Northwest 167th Street for $725,190 per acre, records show. AIDS Healthcare Foundation is a Los Angeles-based global nonprofit provider of HIV prevention services, testing, and healthcare for HIV patients. [TRD]

Aroosa Rauf, owner of RE/MAX Presidential

A RE/MAX Pembroke Pines franchisee sent unwanted text messages to a Broward woman, according to a lawsuit. A Pembroke Pines franchisee of RE/MAX, one of the nation’s largest real estate brokerages, is being accused of spamming Broward County resident Josie Williams with offers to save money on the sale of a home by paying a reduced commission. It’s the latest complaint lodged at a brokerage for allegedly abusing mass texting practices in violation of federal law. [TRD]

After selling the family’s Wynwood property for $41.5 million in 2015, plumbing mogul Dennis Lehman bought a luxury condo. The pipe and plumbing millionaire paid $10.4 million, or $2,120 per foot, for a four-bedroom, 4,904-square-foot unit at Palazzo Della Luna, a 50-unit condo building on Fisher Island, property records show. [TRD]

Lower mortgage rates probably aren’t enough to speed up the slow housing market. The low rates might provide the market with a modest increase, but the main problem is still expensive home prices and the lack of options for starter homes in several markets, according to the Wall Street Journal. Average 30-year mortgage rates fell to 3.6 percent last week, their lowest level since November 2016, and they have been dropping throughout most of the year. [WSJ]

Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport could be new stops for Virgin Trains. The high-speed train service’s next priority station stops are Boca Raton, Aventura and PortMiami, according to the Sun Sentinel. But Virgin Trains is hearing proposals from several other cities and Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport are among the proposals, according to city and economic development officials. [Sun Sentinel]

The Bristol in West Palm Beach

Garment magnate buys condo at The Bristol in West Palm Beach. Richard Kringstein and his wife Andrea paid $7 million for a unit at The Bristol in West Palm Beach. Kringstein bought unit 1402 at 1100 South Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach from the development group. Kringstein is the co-owner of the Herman Kay Company, which makes women’s and men’s outerwear and apparel. Its clients include Michael Kors, London Fog and Anne Klein, according to its website. [TRD]

Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide complicates home seizure. Federal prosecutors previously were set to confiscate Epstein’s properties that were allegedly used to facilitate the sexual abuse of minor victims, according to the Miami Herald. His death complicates using asset forfeiture to provide restitution to the multimillionaire’s alleged victims. One former federal prosecutor told the Herald if someone passes away during the middle of a case there is no final judgment until after the appeal process. [Miami Herald]