Spec home developer Felix Cohen sells North Bay Road lot for $17M

Cohen and his son Julian had planned to build a 15K sf mansion on the site

Julian Cohen and the lot at 5840 North Bay Road (Jahmar Amani, Google Maps)
Julian Cohen and the lot at 5840 North Bay Road (Jahmar Amani, Google Maps)

 

Spec home developer Felix Cohen sold a waterfront lot on North Bay Road for $16.5 million, The Real Deal has learned.

5830NBR LLC, a company managed by Cohen, sold the lot at 5840 North Bay Road in Miami to an unknown buyer. Cohen and his son, real estate agent Julian Cohen, had planned to co-develop a mansion on the site. Felix Cohen paid $13.5 million for the land in September 2019.

The father and son duo had planned to break ground this year, but decided to sell the property while it was in the permit approval process.

“We noticed what was happening in Miami Beach. It was becoming on fire,” Julian Cohen said. “We tested it, and our test passed.”

They put the 0.8-acre lot on the market with a listing price of $17.9 million, and it sold within 30 days, he said. The lot has 150 feet of water frontage. It previously had 200 feet, but 50 feet were sold to a neighbor, according to a spokesperson.

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Julian Cohen with The Jills Zeder Group of Coldwell Banker, along with his brothers Jacques and Marlon Cohen of Compass, represented their father. Oren Alexander with Douglas Elliman represented the buyer. Julian Cohen and Alexander declined to reveal the buyer’s identity.

Felix and Julian originally planned to develop an eight-bedroom, 15,000-square-foot mansion on the property with a $40 million price tag. Julian said the development plans were sold along with the lot.

Julian also added that he and his father are looking for other high-end development projects in Miami. “We’re a powerful combination,” he said. “I have a very strong pulse on the market, and when I feel there is an opportunity for us to capitalize on, he listens to me on it.”

New waterfront construction on North Bay Road is rampant this year. In November, Steve Witkoff bought a waterfront lot on North Bay Road for $8 million, and the CEO of AmeriSave Mortgage Corp. spent $8.2 million on a waterfront teardown next door to his mansion on North Bay Road.

In 2012, Felix Cohen co-developed a spec mansion on Indian Creek Island that sold for $47 million, marking a record price in Miami-Dade County at the time.