Twist owner buys nightclub’s South Beach building

Joel Stedman, owner of South Beach gay nightclub Twist, purchased the venue’s building. 

Stedman, through an affiliate, bought the two-story, 9,600-square-foot building at 1057 Washington Avenue for $7.6 million from an entity led by Olga Rodriguez of Coral Gables, according to records and real estate database Vizzda. The deal marks the first time the South Beach building has traded in over four decades, as it was last sold for $190,000 in 1981. 

Stedman’s entity took out a $4.3 million loan for the purchase from Bradesco Bank, property and Vizzda records show. 

Twist has been a fixture in Miami Beach’s gay community since it was founded in 1993 by the late Richard Trainor. With three dance floors and multiple bars, Twist also is known for its drag queen shows. 

The deal marks the latest trade of small retail buildings in Miami Beach. In October, a member of the Kalimian family of New York paid $35 million for the Walgreens-leased building at 509 Collins Avenue. 

Also on Collins Avenue, Miami Beach-based ArcPe bought the three-story mixed-use building at 826 Collins Avenue for $5 million in December. The deal marked a 41 percent drop in price since the property last sold a decade ago, and a harbinger of the potential for distressed real estate sales in South Florida. 

South Beach has hosted a bitter battle over the past two years over some city commissioners’ push to roll back alcohol sale hours. Although a judge last year struck a city ban of alcohol sales after 2 a.m. in parts of the city, the Miami Beach City Commission on Wednesday night again imposed a similar ban for a different part of the city. 

Commissioners voted to roll back alcohol sales to 2 a.m. from 5 a.m. in the South of Fifth neighborhood, though they made an exception for smaller bars that allow up to 100 customers at a time. The latest ban is expected to mostly affect David Grutman’s Groot Hospitality’s Story nightclub at 136 Collins Avenue.