Madrid-Miami JV buys WeWork leased office building in South Beach for $37M

Azora Exan is jumping into Miami Beach’s office market with a $37 million purchase of a five-story building fully leased to WeWork.

An affiliate of Azora Exan, a joint venture of Madrid-based Azora and Miami-based Exan Capital, bought the property at 429 Lenox Avenue in the city’s South of Fifth neighborhood, according to records. The partnership paid $461 per square foot for the building and obtained a $19 million mortgage from Abanca USA.

Jonathan Kurry, a partner with the law firm Reed Smith who represented Abanca USA, said the buying entity also includes foreign investors who hold a minority stake in the property. “Azora is a strong borrower that has a history with the lender,” Kurry said. “It was a fairly quick closing on the deal.”

In 2014, the seller, an entity managed by Atlanta-based real estate investor Robert C. Goddard III, paid $14.3 million for the 80,223-square-foot building completed in 2002, records show.

In 2020, WeWork closed a co-working space at 350 Lincoln Road and consolidated its Miami Beach operations at 429 Lenox Avenue. At the time, its Lincoln Road landlord, an entity managed by Meir and Shaul Levy of Miami, sued WeWork for allegedly owing more than $650,000 in rent. The lawsuit was dismissed in July of last year after WeWork reached a private settlement with the Levy entity, court records show.

This month, WeWork opted out of its agreement to rent 146,000 square feet on 10 floors at 830 Brickell, a 55-story office tower where asking rents have hit $125 to $150 a square foot.

WeWork plans to remain at 429 Lenox Avenue, Kurry said. “From what I understand, the building is one of their top locations in the Miami market,” he said. “Even if something happened with WeWork, there is strong demand for offices, especially in South Beach. This is a well-positioned asset.”

Led by managing partners Juan Jose Zaragoza and Fernando Perez-Hickman, Azora Exan is a real estate investment and management firm founded last year. Azora Exan’s deals have totaled more than $2.3 billion in the office market, roughly $350 million in the retail market and $460 million in the industrial market across the U.S., primarily in Southern states, the firm’s website states.