Coral Gables investor adds another dev site to Edgewater portfolio

Maria Menzel continued her land banking spree in Miami’s Edgewater by acquiring another development site, three months after her last assemblage purchase.

A Delaware entity with the same address as a Coral Gables condominium owned by Menzel paid $12.5 million for six vacant parcels at 410, 420 and 432 Northeast 27th Street and 415, 425 and 435 Northeast 26th Terrace, records show.

Benjamin Silver and Leslie Maister with CBRE represented the seller, an entity managed by Toronto-based developer and investor William Weiner. His entity paid $6.1 million for the 0.7-acre assemblage in 2015, records show.

The property’s current zoning allows for a 36-story project with 110 residential units per acre or 219 hotel rooms. The assemblage could be developed into a condominium, an apartment building, a hotel or a mixed-use project, Maister said.

“Unless there is an assemblage opportunity [to add more land], that is what the site is limited to,” Maister said. “There was a lot of developer interest. But given this property doesn’t sit within an Opportunity Zone, and is in an area that doesn’t allow increased density, the developers were not able to get to a price that was equal to what the seller wanted.”

Currently, five Edgewater multifamily projects are in the pipeline in an Opportunity Zone, areas deemed as lagging economically and in need of an investment jolt. Investors can defer capital gain taxes in exchange for putting their capital gains toward an OZ project.

The six parcels Menzel bought were listed in May with no asking price, Maister said. “Back in May, we would have wanted a higher price, but given where the market moved during the listing, we are very happy with the ultimate result,” he said. “With rates moving up and construction pricing having moved up, land prices have moved down for sure.”

Menzel offered a purchase price the seller was willing to accept, along with agreeing to acquire the assemblage as is, Maister said. She is an investor looking for a long-term hold “in one of the hottest markets in Miami,” he added.

In October, Menzel paid $21 million for a 0.8-acre assemblage near her most recent acquisition. She acquired six properties, including a 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.

Menzel also owns two vacant lots and a two-story duplex totaling about half-an-acre in Edgewater.