Hollywood Beach double play: Brooklyn investor picks up two motels for $13M

Brooklyn-based Condra Property Group, which has an office in Miami Beach, picked up a pair of Hollywood Beach motels for a combined $12.9 million, with plans for eventual redevelopment.

The recently formed real estate investment firm, led by managing principals Mark Drachman, Ira Chaimovitz and  Allen Konstam, bought the 34-key Neptune Hollywood Beach at 2012 North Surf Road and the nine-room Sun Beach Inn at 309 Oklahoma Street, according to the buyer’s broker, Jonathan Chames with Beachfront Realty.

Danny Kennedy with Hollywood Beach Realty represented the sellers, which were two entities managed by Viktor Goldenberg of Key Biscayne. Goldenberg bought the Neptune for $8.9 million in 2019 from former Russian politician Vadim Gataullin, records show. The beachfront motel was built in 1983.

In July, Goldenberg paid $1.9 million for the Sun Beach Inn, which was completed in 1952 and is steps away from Neptune, according to records.

In an email, Chames told The Real Deal that the latest deal was off-market.

Condra was formed in May, according to Florida corporate records. A Miami Beach native, Drachman moved to New York in 2001, where he’s been working in commercial real estate ever since, according to his LinkedIn profile. He founded his own brokerage, Delmark Realty, as well as Kings Highway Development, a company focused on purchasing and renovating New York area distressed homes for resale, Drachman’s LinkedIn states.

In a statement, Drachman said Condra sees unrealized value in Hollywood Beach, and that the area is mostly underdeveloped.

In December, Condra bought a development site near the two motels for $10 million, from the former Russian politician Gataullin’s company VVG Real Estate Investments, according to published reports. In 2018, the 1.44-acre property was approved for a seven-story, 36-unit condo project called Oceanside Residences.

Condra Managing Partner Allen Konstam told TRD that the company intends to move forward with the condo project, but will change the name. He said Condra plans to redevelop the two motels and another property the firm purchased at 2007 North Ocean Drive into a larger hotel. The firm owns 25 properties in Hollywood Beach.

“We practically own that entire square block between North Ocean Drive and North Surf Road,” Konstam said. “We will purchase a couple more properties to complete our assemblage.”

Hotel deals in South Florida are gaining steam as the hospitality market continues its rebound from the impact of closures during the initial months of the pandemic in 2020. Recently, Toronto-based Palm Holdings paid $20 million for the 209-key Element Miami International Airport, and Peachtree Hotel Group bought an AC Hotel in Aventura for $49.5 million.