Developers rush in: Vivian Dimond-led group offers $150M for older bayfront Miami condo building

The bidding to buy out an older bayfront condo complex in Miami’s Edgewater is up to $150 million, according to offers obtained by The Real Deal.

Condo owners at the roughly 254-unit Bay Park, 3301 Northeast Fifth Avenue, have received three written offers since May. The latest is $150 million from Aman Group, led by Miami-based broker, investor and developer Vivian Dimond. (Aman is not affiliated with the ultra luxury hotel group called Aman Resorts.) Dimond declined to comment.

The $150 million offer would break down to close to $600,000 per unit, though the actual price would vary depending on the unit size.

The proposal follows offers from Bomel Companies – for $145 million – and from Miami-based Beach Hill Capital Partners for $130 million. Beach Hill, which declined to comment, increased the buyout offer to $135 million in early August.

The condo association, attorney and property manager for Bay Park did not respond to requests for comment.

Developers have long targeted older condo buildings along South Florida’s waterfront to buy out owners — and then knock the buildings down — and build new luxury condo towers.

But even more buyout activity is appearing in the wake of the Surfside collapse that killed nearly 100 people.

Champlain Towers South in Surfside was up for its 40-year recertification and had just begun repairs when it came down in late June. Unit owners will often have to finance major repairs via special assessments or loans. In Miami-Dade County, the first recertification is at 40 years, and then every decade after that. Many buildings are behind in the process, which is now under the microscope following the Champlain collapse.

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Bay Park was developed in 1961. The property includes a 13-story building, with more than 211,000 square feet combined, as well as parking, a tennis court and a pool. It’s zoned T6-36A-L, which allows for at least a 36-story building.

Dimond, an investor, is also managing broker of Brown Harris Stevens in greater Miami-Dade. BHS would broker the deal, if it is accepted by more than 95 percent of the unit owners. Dimond’s entity initially offered $140 million, but raised it to $150 million Sept. 1.

Bomel Companies has been in talks with the building’s homeowners association since June, according to a letter dated Aug. 23 from Douglas Elliman Florida CEO Jay Parker. Parker, who declined to comment, wrote that Bomel formed a special purpose LLC for the proposed acquisition.

“We have been working diligently, studying this property since it was brought to our attention in June, and would have made our offer sooner but were delayed by 3rd party consultants’ availability due to the delays created by the Champlain Towers tragic disaster,” according to the letter.

Bomel would pay 30 percent in cash and finance the rest with a mortgage. The company has built projects in California, Hawaii, New York, Miami and Israel, according to the letter.

Bay Park is just south of the Hamilton on the Bay apartment complex, owned by apartment real estate investment trust Aimco. The company recently canceled the leases of all of its tenants as it continues to gut-renovate the building. At the same time, it has been assembling land surrounding the property.

OKO Group, The Trump Group, and Dezer Development have all been successful at buyouts and condo terminations in South Florida, replacing those older buildings with waterfront luxury condo towers. A joint venture between Related Group and Two Roads Development recently closed on the majority of units at the oceanfront Carlton Terrace in Bal Harbour, and Mast Capital did the same at an older oceanfront building in Miami Beach.

In Edgewater, about 10 blocks south of Bay Park, Melo Group recently launched sales of the first of two towers at its planned Aria Reserve project at 711 Northeast 23rd Terrace. The developer spent a decade buying more than 80 parcels, including condo units, to complete the 5-acre assemblage.