Montreal investor picks up another Miami Beach Art Deco apartment building

Shortly after buying a Miami Beach Art Deco apartment building, a Canadian real estate investor purchased another similar property for $5.9 million.

An entity managed by Michael Fischer and Chaim Gurman bought the 23-unit apartment building at 1319 Avenue, according to records. Fischer, who is based in Montreal, is president of Moteli Properties, a real estate investment company in Lakewood, New Jersey, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The deal equates to $256,521 per apartment.

The building, completed in 1926, was previously a condominium that was later converted to apartments. The seller, an entity managed by Daniel Gal of Sunny Isles Beach, acquired all the units for roughly $1.2 million between 2010 and 2015, records show. The property is located across the street from Flamingo Park.

Seth A. Cohen with Brown Harris Stevens represented Gal’s entity in the off-market deal. Cohen and Techrin Hijazi, also with Brown Harris Stevens, represented the buyer.

Two months ago, another entity managed by Fischer purchased the Flamingo Apartments complex at 2456 Flamingo Drive and 320 West 25th Avenue. The partnership paid $7 million for the two Art Deco buildings, records show.

The Flamingo Apartments and the building at 1319 Meridian Avenue have a combined 49 apartments that are fully leased, according to a press release. Hijazi said the new owner intends to raise rents.

Small apartment complexes are attracting as much investor attention as large multifamily projects, as buyers try to cash in on South Florida’s hot rental market.

Among smaller deals, earlier this month, four entities with ties to investor Bogdan Georgescu and his family members paid $13 million for a 71-unit multifamily portfolio in Fort Lauderdale. Last month, Boston-based Boutique Hospitality bought the 15-unit Del Mar Estates in Wilton Manors for $7.8 million, and New York broker Moshe Majeski nabbed a 26-unit Bay Harbor Islands multifamily portfolio for $8.2 million.