Dezer sells North Miami Beach properties to Ari Pearl and partners for $31M

Partnership plans apartment project on former Nova Southeastern campus

(L-R) Ari Pearl, Matt Press, and Gil Dezer with the property at 1750 Northeast 167th Street in North Miami Beach (Google Maps, LinkedIn, Dezer Development, PPG Development)
(L-R) Ari Pearl, Matt Press, and Gil Dezer with the property at 1750 Northeast 167th Street in North Miami Beach (Google Maps, LinkedIn, Dezer Development, PPG Development)

Dezer Development sold an assemblage in North Miami Beach for $31.1 million to a partnership led by Ari Pearl.

Dezer sold properties anchored by Nova Southeastern University’s former North Miami Beach campus at 1750 Northeast 167th Street to Pearl, Matt Press of EquiShares and Isaac Khabie of ARK Ventures, according to sources.

The buyers plan to build an apartment project on the 8.3-acre assemblage, as multifamily developers continue to bet on South Florida’s rising rents and demand for new apartments.

Gil Dezer, president of Dezer Development, confirmed the deal and said it was “a good opportunity to take a small profit.” The university sold the properties to Dezer in 2018 for $20 million. Nova University still occupies a portion of the site.

The buyers financed their purchase with a $24 million loan from Sheridan Capital, led by Aaron Kurlansky. The developers are working with Miami architect Kobi Karp to design an as-of-right multifamily development with amenities, a source said.

The properties currently include a four-story, 52,800-square-foot building, a three-story, 28,000 square-foot building, a five-story, 153,000 square-foot building, a three-story parking garage, two parking lots and a vacant lot.

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Pearl said the project is “right up the block” from his first real estate development in North Miami Beach.

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Pearl, who leads PPG Development, has been busy in northeast Miami-Dade/southeast Broward counties. He recently completed the first phase of his mixed-use golf course development in Hallandale Beach, and he and his partner Michael Herman of Premium Capital secured a $150 million refinancing for the high-end apartment building.

In October, Pearl and Jonathan Leifer sold more than half of the units at their converted Bay Harbor Islands condo-hotel for about $21.4 million, or roughly $389,000 per key. They acquired the waterfront property out of foreclosure for $30 million the previous year.

Sunny Isles-based Dezer plans to build a major mixed-use development on a 30-acre site in North Miami Beach. Last year the developer scored approval from the city for his plan for the Intracoastal Mall property on 163rd Street, which would bring luxury condo towers, a harbor and public promenade.

Last month, the North Miami Beach commission approved Carpe Real Estate Partners’ Venus apartment development, a 26-story, 440-unit project planned for the former AT&T parking lot at 2060 Northeast 164th Street. Construction is expected to begin this fall, a spokesperson told TRD.