Jorge Pérez’s Related Group bought a multifamily development site at the closed Johnson & Wales University campus in North Miami.
The Coconut Grove-based firm plans Manor Biscayne, an eight-story building with 382 apartments and 9,000 square feet of retail on a parking lot at 1650 Northeast 124th Street. Yoram Izhak’s IMC Equity Group sold the 3-acre site for $13.6 million, according to a deed.
Related had put the site under contract in March. It is a block west of Biscayne Boulevard.
The deal comes as developers have zeroed in on shuttered South Florida college campuses as redevelopment opportunities. Expansive and centrally located universities offer a boon to builders during the pandemic-fueled development site buying spree that has led prices to reach new heights.
JWU, a nonprofit hospitality and tourism school, closed its North Miami and Denver campuses after completing the 2020-21 academic year.
Kevin Maloney’s Property Markets Group beat competitors for the 25-acre campus, putting it under contract last year for roughly $60 million. And then, it started to flip parcels.
IMC Equity, based in North Miami, bought multiple dormitories, school offices and the parking lot that it just sold to Related in three deals for a combined $29.2 million last year. Its plans include a multifamily project at 12350 Biscayne Boulevard, which is immediately east of Manor Biscayne, and a roughly $4 million dorms-to-apartments conversion expected to yield 177 units.
Others that scooped up a chunk of JWU include Tate Capital, which paid $10.7 million in January for the former Wildcat Center recreation building and then leased it to the city of North Miami. The deal represented a major gain for PMG, which had paid $4.5 million for the property six months prior.
Others that have capitalized on closed schools include Hines and Frisbie Group. The pair seized on the closure of a pair of dorms in downtown West Palm Beach, paying $41.5 million for the buildings in July. They plan two 28-story South Flagler House condominiums.
The rest of Palm Beach Atlantic University’s campus remains open.