The Soloviev Group is the latest New York-based real estate firm taking a first dip into South Florida’s commercial market.
Entities managed by Soloviev CEO Michael Hershman paid a combined $32 million for a five-property office and retail portfolio in Delray Beach, according to records and Vizzda.
Soloviev, led by Chairman Stefan Soloviev, is among Manhattan’s biggest real estate players. The firm recently teamed up with casino and resort operator Mohegan to bid for one of three gambling licenses up for grabs in the borough.
Hershman confirmed via email that the Delray Beach portfolio is Soloviev’s first commercial purchase in South Florida.
“These properties are attractive for several reasons, not the least of which is that they are in the center of Delray, a thriving and growing community,” Hershman said. “They were also attractive due to the very successful and well known tenants residing in the buildings.”
The portfolio consists of five single-story and two-story buildings along and near East Atlantic Avenue in downtown Delray Beach, records and Vizzda show. The properties are part of the city’s Old School Square Historic Arts District. The sellers are various entities managed by Steven Cohen in Delray Beach.
The Cohen entities paid a combined $2.6 million for the buildings between 1995 and 2011. Spanning more than 24,000 square feet, the structures were completed in 1913, 1948, 1960 and 1998, records show. The tenant roster includes Atlantic Avenue Yacht Club, Bull Bar, Tin Roof, Coco & Co., and Rack’s Fish & Oyster Bar.
During the pandemic, Stefan Soloviev made Delray Beach his primary residence, according to Forbes. In August 2020, he purchased a five-bedroom, five-and-a-half bathroom waterfront home in Delray Beach for $4.9 million, records show. Last year, the Soloviev chairman paid $2.8 million for a non-waterfront house in the city.
Soloviev is currently scouting for other commercial properties, Hershman added in his email. But the firm has not made any decisions about purchasing them.
Soloviev joins other New York developers and investment firms like Kushner Companies and Naftali Group, both of which are developing residential and multifamily projects in Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Stefan Soloviev is the scion of the late New York real estate mogul Sheldon Solow. In 2021, five months after his father’s death, he folded Solow Building Company and Solow Realty into the real estate division of the then-newly formed Soloviev Group, which also has investments in hospitality, transportation and railroad, and agriculture and ranching.