Enrique Manhard and his partners, who recently sold land in Edgewater to the Kushner Companies, have reinvested in downtown Miami.
The investors paid $46 million to buy the “Burdines” site, a 2.2-acre block at 16 Southeast Second Street, from Wharton Equity Partners and Cross Lake Partners
The development site is zoned for a 2.2-million-square-foot project. Wharton Urban, a subsidiary of the investment firm, acquired the property by purchasing the distressed note for $16.3 million from Iberia Bank through a deed in lieu of foreclosure, according to the release.
Estrella Perez of EP Realty Group represented the buyer, she said. Joel Rodriguez from Global Investments Realty was also involved in the deal. Mika Mattingly and Cecilia Estevez of Colliers International, along with Robert Given of Cushman & Wakefield, represented the sellers.
The four parcels sold for nearly $500 per square foot. They’re zoned T6-80, which means an 80-story building could be built on the property with more than 2,100 units and a mix of uses, including residential, hotel, retail and office.
It came with previously approved site plans designed by the late I.M. Pei and Miami-based Oppenheim Architecture+Design.
Manhard and his investors recently sold a piece of a larger Edgewater portfolio to Kushner for $20.5 million. Perez of EP Realty was also involved in that sale.
Mattingly said interest in the assemblage surged after Blackstone Group paid about $230 million for the office buildings at Brightline’s MiamiCentral station in March. She called it a “pivotal site” due to its central location in the business district.
Moishe Mana has outspent other investors in downtown Miami’s Flagler district, putting more than $400 million into the area. Recently, he paid $27.2 million for the buildings at 62 Northeast First Street and 41 East Flagler Street.
In South Florida, Wharton recently sold a nearly 2-acre development site in Bay Harbor Islands to Terra Group for $31.5 million, and the firm owns the Eve at the District near the Miami Design District, as well as the Sheraton Miami Airport Hotel.