AJ Capital Partners picks up Little River warehouse portfolio for $17M

UPDATED: Feb. 24, 10:20 p.m.: In three deals totaling $17.3 million, an entity with ties to a Nashville-based real estate investment firm picked up a seven-warehouse portfolio in Miami’s Little River neighborhood.

An entity managed by Benjamin Weprin, founder and CEO of Adventurous Journeys (AJ) Capital Partners, bought the industrial properties at 7100 Northwest Second Avenue, 51 Northwest 71st Street, 255 Northwest 71st Street, 7122 Northwest Second Avenue, 7122 Northwest Second Court, 7155 Northwest Second Court and 7133 Northwest 22nd Court, according to records. The seven warehouses total 35,510 square feet and were completed between 1946 and 1961.

The seller, an entity managed by New York-based real estate investor Avi Dishi, assembled the seven sites between 2015 and 2017, paying a combined $10.7 million, according to records. Dishi, who primarily focuses on South Florida retail real estate, recently acquired a West Palm Beach shopping center anchored by a Presidente grocery store for $20.7 million.

Tony Arellano from DWNTWN Realty Advisors represented Weprin’s entity in the Little River deals.

By acquiring the seven warehouses, AJ Capital Partners expanded an already large portfolio in the neighborhood. In November, the firm bought a 24-acre assemblage in a Little River Opportunity Zone from MVW Partners for $75 million, according to records.

AJ Capital is focused on developing Opportunity Zone projects, committing more than $1.1 billion for developments in Nashville, Miami, Portland and New Orleans, according to its website. Weprin is a former co-owner of the Raleigh Hotel in Miami Beach, and his firm has more than $3.6 billion in real estate investments across 45 markets.

Little River, a neighborhood north of the Miami Design District and the MiMo Historic District, is attracting new investors looking to redevelop industrial properties for retail, office and multifamily uses.

AJ Capital and MVW are redeveloping 100,000 square feet of industrial warehouses into retail and office uses in Little River. They are also currently leasing converted spaces to Sunny’s Someday Steakhouse, Center for Subtropical Affairs and the software company YellowPepper, the firms’ principals said previously. The firms are also partnering with Ray, a New York-based real estate venture fund, to develop a 270-unit apartment building in Little River.

Correction: A previous version of this story was missing one of the warehouses.