Chicken Soup for the Soul publisher sells Deerfield Beach properties, pollutants discovered at new Miami Civil Courthouse: Daily digest

A daily round up of South Florida real estate news, deals and more for August 13, 2019

Every day, The Real Deal rounds up South Florida’s biggest real estate news, from breaking news and scoops to announcements and deals. We update this page at 9 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 4 p.m. ET. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com

This page was last updated at 4:00 p.m.

 

3201 Southwest 15th Street (Credit: Google Maps)

3201 Southwest 15th Street (Credit: Google Maps)

Chicken Soup for the Soul publisher sold two Deerfield Beach properties. Health Communications, a company managed by publisher Peter Vegso, sold two buildings at 3201 Southwest 15th Street and 3131 Southwest 15 Street to Nashville-based HCA Healthcare. [TRD]

 

From left: Jacob Serure, Elliot Shainberg, Deme Mekras, and Aaron Kurlansky with California Club Apartments

From left: Jacob Serure, Elliot Shainberg, Deme Mekras, and Aaron Kurlansky with California Club Apartments

Coral Springs investor bought an apartment complex near North Miami Beach. A company tied to Coral Springs broker and investor Deepak Khosa paid $7 million for an apartment complex in northeast Miami-Dade.The property traded hands for about $110,000 per unit. [TRD]

 

Pollutants discovered at site of new Miami Civil Courthouse. The new courthouse in downtown Miami has arsenic, lead and other pollutants, according to a memo by Miami-Dade County, the Daily Business Review reported. The pollutants will not prevent the courthouse from going up, but it could delay construction and increase costs. [DBR]

 

Plantation gas explosion (Credit: Getty Images)

Plantation gas explosion (Credit: Getty Images)

Open gas valve at closed pizzeria caused Plantation gas explosion, according to a report. Edens is working with Plantation building officials and engineers to secure the shopping center site where a massive gas explosion occurred in July. A state report released on Friday found that a gas valve was turned on before 7 a.m. the morning of the explosion at a building formerly occupied by Pizzafire, which left the property in December, according to the Sun Sentinel. [TRD]

 

A new bill could legalize hostels in New York City. Affordable lodgings in New York took a hit in 2010 as a result of a state law targeting illegal hotels and Airbnb rentals. The new bill, sponsored by Councilmembers Mark Gjonaj and Margaret Chin, would create a separate classification for hostels and an office within the Department of Consumer Affairs to regulate their licensing and safety. Proponents say the bill will provide more affordable options for tourists and help the city in its fight against Airbnb. A similar bill was introduced in 2015 but did not make it to a vote. [WSJ]

 

The FBI swarmed Jeffrey Epstein’s private island. The agency, along with local police from the Virgin Islands and New York Police Department officers, drove around Little St. James Island in golf carts and gathered evidence following Epstein’s apparent suicide in Manhattan jail on Saturday. Epstein allegedly trafficked girls through his island home. [Miami Herald]

 

Rendering of Pura Vida Hialeah with Michael Wohl, Stephen A. Blumenthal, Victor Brown, and David Brown

Rendering of Pura Vida Hialeah with Michael Wohl, Stephen A. Blumenthal, Victor Brown, and David Brown

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A partnership of developers closed on construction financing for a mixed-use project in Hialeah. Coral Rock Development Group and Arena Capital Holdings secured a $12.75 million loan from BB&T Bank for Pura Vida Hialeah, a 9-acre development with 260 apartment units and 51,000 square feet of retail space at 2901 to 3099 West 16th Avenue and 1571 West 29th Street. [TRD]

 

A venture capital firm led by a scion of one of the world’s largest construction companies has launched a $100 million fund to invest in construction tech. The fund, launched by San Francisco-based Brick & Mortar Ventures, is the largest to focus exclusively on construction-technology startups, and will target seed and Series A funding rounds, the firm said Tuesday. [TRD]

 

Della Heiman and North Beach Yard

Della Heiman and North Beach Yard

The North Beach Yard is called off amid a partnership split. The entertainment and food venue that was supposed to replicate Wynwood Yard will not open, after Miami Beach City Manager Jimmy Morales informed commissioners he is terminating the lease agreement, according to RE Miami Beach. On June 6, Morales told commissioners that founders Della Heiman and Ken Lyon had not complied with several terms of the lease, including providing a security deposit. [TRD]

 

Miami’s weekly condo sales dropped for the first full week of August. A total of 97 condos sold for $36 million in Miami-Dade County last week, a steep decline from 162 closings for $62 million the previous week. Condos last week sold for an average price of about $374,000 or $304 per square foot. [TRD]

Mark and Jeffrey Epstein (Credit: Getty Images)

Jeffrey Epstein had real estate ties to his brother Mark. As prosecutors work to determine the full scope of Jeffrey Epstein’s fortune in the wake of his apparent suicide, more details are emerging about the ties to his brother, Mark. Like Jeffrey Epstein, his brother’s wealth is also shrouded in mystery. But records link Mark in a business relationship with his brother through a Manhattan building, according to the Wall Street Journal. The two brothers are linked financially by a 200-unit condo on East 66th Street on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Records show that the entity that owned Jeffrey Epstein’s Upper East Side mansion used a unit at the 66th Street building for its mailing address. [TRD]

 

David Associates sells Palm Beach Gardens shopping center. David Associates sold a shopping center in Palm Beach Gardens for $8.7 million to a New York-based investment group. West Palm Beach-based David Associates sold the 32,985-square-foot property known as the Shoppes in the Gardens for $263 per square foot, records show. A company tied to New York-based Blake Road Realty bought the shopping center. [TRD]

 

Anbang Insurance Group appears to have found a buyer for its multibillion-dollar U.S. luxury hotel portfolio. It includes JW Marriott Essex House in New York and Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel in Los Angeles. An affiliate of South Korea’s Mirae Asset Financial Group is working to arrange financing and reach terms for the purchase of the Chinese insurer’s 15 luxury hotels, according to Bloomberg. An acquisition by the South Korean asset manager could value the 15 properties at more than $5.5 billion, Bloomberg reported. [TRD]

 

Brandon Weber (Credit: Twitter and iStock)

Brandon Weber is getting back into real estate. Weber had founded Hightower, which merged with its chief rival VTS in November 2016 to create what Weber and VTS boss Nick Romito billed as a $300 million company. But Weber was unsatisfied playing second fiddle to Romito, the CEO of the combined firm. He told The Real Deal at the time that, “long-term, I think I’m probably not going to be a chief product officer.” Now, after a 12-month sabbatical traveling the world, and with just an extended road trip across California left on the bucket list, Weber is about to return to the New York real estate tech scene. [TRD]

 

Compiled by Keith Larsen