“South Florida by the numbers” is a web feature that catalogs the most notable, quirky and surprising real estate statistics.
In the wake of the tragic 2021 collapse of the Champlain tower in Surfside, many industry observers predicted a buyout wave of older oceanfront condominiums. The conventional wisdom pointed out that safety concerns and legislation would force condo associations to make costly renovations, and unit owners would be highly incentivized to accept purchase offers from deep-pocketed developers in search of high value land. Those predictions have largely panned out, with several of the region’s biggest names doling out generous bids to residents of aging buildings, likely setting the stage for demolition and the construction of newer, safer and more expensive inventory. Are these just a few exceptional examples, or the start of a major game-changing trend? We examine notable buyouts in this edition of “South Florida by the numbers.”
$500 Million
Terra’s recent offer to buy out the 57-year-old Castle Beach Club condominium, at 5445 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach. The 570-unit building has been on the market for more than a year, with a previous $500 million offer from the Related Group and 13th Floor Investments having been withdrawn in October of last year. Unit owners will have roughly two months to accept or reject the offers once they are formally extended. [TheRealDeal]
$147 Million
Combined amount of OKO Group and Cain International’s October purchase of a pair of co-op buildings along Palm Beach’s South Ocean Boulevard. The deal gives the developers all 97 units at the Ambassador Palm Beach (built in 1963) and all 36 units at Edgewater House (constructed in 1967). [TheRealDeal]
$130 Million
Price paid by the Related Group and Two Roads Development in 2021 for a bulk purchase of all 88 units at the Carlton Terrace condominium in Bal Harbour, at 10245 Collins Avenue. (This purchase came just two months after the tragedy in Surfside, and the 2.7 acre property will make way for the new Rivage project, which launched sales in January.) [TheRealDeal]
$100 Million
Estimated price paid by an affiliate of Aventura-based Fontainebleau Development for the entire Regency Condominium at 250 Beach Road on Jupiter Island, in northern Palm Beach County. The 53-year-old beachfront condo housed 40 units, making the purchase an investment of $2.5 million per unit. It joins two other Fontainebleau-developed luxury condo projects in the works nearby on Jupiter Island. [TheRealDeal]
$15.5 Million
Price paid by New York City-based Chetrit Group to purchase 102 units (over a six-month period) at the Hollywood Beach Resort, with an average sale price of $152,400 per unit. While it’s unclear how many units Chetrit would need to own to win a vote by unit owners to dissolve the building’s condominium declaration and its association of unit owners, state records show that in the 12 months ended March 16, Jonathan Chetrit became president of the association, and Michael Chetrit took over the newly created position of secretary. The historic resort first opened its doors nearly 100 years ago in 1926. [TheRealDeal]
This column is produced by the Master Brokers Forum, a network of South Florida’s elite real estate professionals where membership is by invitation only and based on outstanding production, as well as ethical and professional behavior.