Related Group, Alex Karakhanian and partners drop $32M on Wynwood site

UPDATED, Sept 26, 5:35 p.m.: The Related Group, developer Alex Karakhanian and their partners purchased a large property in Wynwood for $32 million, with plans to redevelop the site, The Real Deal has learned.

A joint venture between Related, Karakhanian and Tricera Capital’s Scott Sherman and Ben Mandell closed Thursday on the 2.1-are site at 2801 Northwest Third Avenue. Tony Arellano and Devlin Marinoff of Dwntwn Realty Advisors brokered the deal.

Rockwood Capital sold the property, which runs along a planned woonerf, a Dutch-inspired pedestrian-friendly street. The site hit the market about two years ago for $45 million.

Rendering of the Third Avenue woonerf

The Related joint venture hasn’t decided what they’ll build on the site, but the land can be developed into 650,000 square feet of buildable space, up to 12 stories in height and 310 units of multifamily units, Arellano and Marinoff said. The property currently houses several warehouses.

Property records show Thor Weck Owner LLC paid $26.9 million for the site in 2015. The company received site plan approval in 2016 for the Wynwood Plant, a 12-story, mixed-use residential building with roughly 300 units, retail space and parking.

The brokers said the property is the largest contiguous site to trade in the period following the neighborhood’s rezoning in 2015. The first major projects are now being completed, following the creation of the Neighborhood Revitalization District roughly three years ago. The new district replaced most industrial uses with denser mixed-use, residential projects.

Development is booming in Wynwood, where major players include the Related Group, Sterling Bay, East End Capital, RedSky Capital, and others. Related and East End recently completed the Wynwood 25 apartment building and the Wynwood Annex office building on Northwest 25th Street, near the landmark Panther Coffee.

Kushner Companies, Block Capital Group, Property Markets Group, David Edelstein’s TriStar Capital and others also have projects in the pipeline.

Block Capital Group, owned by the Miculitzki family, is looking to sell a retail building near Related and Karakhanian’s project site, at 2729 Northwest Third Avenue, for $18 million.

Karakhanian, owner of Lndmrk Development, is also working on plans for a hotel on Northwest 29th Street in Wynwood, with a partner. The Miami developer has built projects in the Miami Design District, South Miami and Miami’s MiMo District.