Mexican restaurateur sells Edgewater development site for $21M

Juan Carlos Cachoua sold 0.8-acre assemblage to Coral Gables investor Maria Menzel

Juan Carlos Cachoua and 2699 Biscayne Boulevard (Dwntwn Realty Advisors, Twitter)
Juan Carlos Cachoua and 2699 Biscayne Boulevard (Dwntwn Realty Advisors, Twitter)

Mexican restaurateur Juan Carlos Cachoua sold an assemblage in Miami’s Edgewater for $21 million, adding to the buyer’s adjacent portfolio.

An entity managed by Maria Menzel in Coral Gables purchased the six contiguous properties totaling 0.8 acres, according to the brokers who handled the listing. The properties include: an 11,000-square-foot retail building at 2699 Biscayne Boulevard, a two-story fourplex at 404 Northeast 27th Street and two three-bedroom houses at 401 Northeast 26th Terrace and 347 Northeast 26th Terrace, said Devlin Marinoff with Dwntwn Realty Advisors. A pair of vacant lots make up the remainder of the development site.

Dwntwn’s Tony Arellano and David Richman also worked on the deal, representing the seller, entities controlled by Cachoua, founder of the Mexico-based Italian restaurant chain, Italianni’s, Marinoff said. Cachoua is also principal of Miami-based Fine Spices Brands, a company developing four restaurants in Miami-Dade County, including an Italianni’s franchise at CityPlace Doral in Doral, according to the company’s website.

Cachoua’s entities paid a combined $7.6 million for the assemblage between 2013 and 2017, records show.

Menzel, who did not have a broker, beat out prospective developers from the Northeast, Marinoff said.

Current zoning allows for the development of a 143-unit apartment or condominium building or a hotel room with 285 rooms on the six properties, according to an offering. The site is also permitted for a building taller than 36 stories and up to 60 stories through public benefit bonuses.

Cachoua decided to sell because he wanted to take advantage of the momentum in Miami’s Edgewater, where a slate of out-of-state developers are launching mixed-use multifamily projects, Arellano said. Recently, New York-based Oak Row Equiities and Miami-based Lndmrk Development paid $22.5 million for a 1.5-acre development site at 401 Northeast 29th Terrace.

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In July, the same joint venture acquired another Edgewater development site for $35 million.

“There is a robust and vibrant development cycle underway,” Arellano said. “Despite headwinds in the capital markets and the economic challenges in other states, Miami real estate is still ridiculously strong. Investors believe it is a safe place to [park] their money.”

Menzel, who paid $500,000 below the listed price of $22 million, can now combine the 0.8-acre assemblage with two adjacent properties she already owns for the potential development of a larger project, Marinoff said.

Her entities own a two-story duplex at 337 Northeast 26th Terrace and two vacant lots at 325 Northeast 26th Terrace and 2655 Biscayne Boulevard that total about half an acre, records show. Menzel now controls the entire block that could be flipped to a developer for a heftier price.

“This was an opportunity to complete a full-block assemblage on Biscayne Boulevard in Edgewater,” Marinoff said. “We called Maria Menzel a number of times trying to buy [her properties] or to see if she wanted to buy this one. She stepped up and bought it.”

In the meantime, Menzel benefits from roughly $455,000 in annual rental income from the retail building and the residential properties in the portfolio she just acquired, Marinoff said.