Church near Flagler Village to be redeveloped into mixed-use project

A Miami developer bought the Fourth Avenue Church of God near Fort Lauderdale’s Flagler Village, with plans for a mixed-use project that will have a food hall.

Eduardo Pelaez’s Wellmeaning Investments acquired the 1.2-acre site at 1219 and 1239 Northeast Fourth Avenue for $2.4 million. The property includes a 6,721-square-foot building and a 12,508-square-foot building, according to a release. The church plans to relocate following the sale.

Pelaez is planning to build an adaptive re-use project with a food hall and additional retail and entertainment uses.

“I can see a project similar to what we were doing in Wynwood early last decade, with concepts reminiscent of Zak the Baker and Panther Coffee,” Pelaez said in the release.

Pelaez’s company is a family-owned private investment and development firm that assembled four blocks in Wynwood starting in 2009, the release said.

Native Realty’s Jaime Sturgis represented the buyer in the deal. Earlier this year, Sturgis brokered a lease with the restaurant and bar operator David Cardaci for the entire ground floor of a separate Flagler Village church building. Cardaci is planning to open a restaurant, bar and live music venue called The Sanctuary inside the building at 441 North East Third Avenue.

Investors, including multifamily developers, are targeting Flagler Village, an area designed as a trendy arts district mirroring Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood.

In January, TA Realty bought a 340-unit apartment project in Flagler Village for $112 million from a partnership between Morgan Group and JPMorgan. Mill Creek is also building a 24-story, 350-unit luxury apartment building called Modera 555 at 812 Northeast Fifth Avenue in Flagler Village.