Apartment giant Aimco buys waterfront Hamilton on the Bay tower in Edgewater

Bayfront 4.4-acre property sold for $90M

Hamilton on the Bay and listing broker Rani Hussami
Hamilton on the Bay and listing broker Rani Hussami

UPDATED, Sept. 1, 9:20 a.m.: A company affiliated with the Arison family sold Hamilton on the Bay, a large waterfront apartment building in Edgewater, to investor Aimco, The Real Deal has learned.

The property, which includes three parcels and a total of 275 units, sold for $89.6 million, property records show.

Carnival Cruise Line founder Ted Arison built the 28-story apartment building in 1984, and it hit the market last year unpriced. It was marketed for redevelopment or renovation.

Marcus & Millichap’s Hussami Rockson Group, led by Rani Hussami, represented the seller. Hussami declined to comment on the buyer, seller or price. The 4.4-acre property had a whisper price of $120 million.

Aimco, a Denver-based real estate investment trust whose name stands for Apartment Investment and Management Company, will also manage the building, said Melody Carley of Aimco. The company is among the largest owners and operators of apartments in the country.

The deal included the building at 555 Northeast 34th Street, the vacant lot across the street at 640 Northeast 34th Street and the adjacent four-unit apartment building at 630 Northeast 34th Street. The Edgewater properties are zoned T6-36A, which means the new owner could build 89 additional units on the land.

Hamilton on the Bay, which was designed to look like a ship, has units ranging from 1,036-square-foot one-bedrooms to 2,022-square-foot three-bedrooms, plus seven penthouses, and 416 parking spaces, Hussami said.

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The seller, Properties of Hamilton, received multiple offers, he said. The pandemic delayed the deal, but Hussami said that both parties were “committed from day one to make this deal happen.”

Hussami also declined to comment on occupancy, but said the building “needs to be stabilized.”

“It’s an amazing add-on value,” he added.

In its second quarter earnings report, Aimco said it invested $62 million in redevelopment and new developments, including the full redevelopment of the North Tower at Flamingo Point in Miami Beach. The REIT also resumed redeveloping Bay Parc in Miami and the Center Tower at Flamingo Point, at an expected cost of $13.4 million. It also owns other South Florida properties, including the Yacht Club at Brickell.

A number of new condo and apartment towers have risen in Edgewater this real estate cycle. Condo developers such as the Related Group, Melo Group, OKO Group and Two Roads Development all have bayfront projects in the Miami neighborhood, which is near Midtown Miami, Wynwood and the Miami Design District. It is north of downtown Miami.

The Hamilton was initially developed as a condo building and later converted to rentals. Properties of Hamilton owned the Hamilton, and POH LLC and 630 QUOD LLC owned the other two lots. All three companies list a Coral Gables address tied to Arison family foundations.

Write to Katherine Kallergis at kk@therealdeal.com