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Shahab Karmely sells Miami River property to Mexican group
Rosa Negra Properties paid $15.5M for the land, which includes 200 feet of river frontage
Developer Shahab Karmely sold an assemblage along the Miami River to a Mexican investment group for $15.5 million in an all-cash sale.
Records show the Karmely led-Tasal LLC sold 131, 129, and 125 Northwest South River Drive to Rosa Negra Properties, a Florida company named after the Mexican restaurant group Grupo RosaNegra. The Florida entity is managed by Ricardo Vega Serrador, Jose Antonio De Anda Turati, Luis Alberto Martinez and Daniel Madariaga Barrilado.
De Anda Turati, of Grupo RosaNegra, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Grupo RosaNegra owns Taboo, Tantra, Caprice, RosaNegra and other restaurant concepts in Mexico.
The buyer is expected to open a restaurant at the property, which is on the south side of the river. Karmely and his then-partner Alex von Furstenberg paid $5.4 million for the assemblage in 2016. The nearly half-acre site, once owned by Mary Brickell, has 200 feet of river frontage and boat slips. It includes three buildings totaling more than 6,000 square feet.
Karmely said he bought out von Furstenberg a few months after buying the assemblage and spent years getting the property rezoned to allow for restaurant use. Von Furstenberg is the son of fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg.
The buyer approached Karmely through attorneys to purchase the assemblage in an off-market deal, the developer said. He called the sale “proof of the importance of the Miami River.”
Nearby, Karmely, of KAR Properties, plans the One River Point luxury condo project on the north bank of the river, at 24 Southwest Fourth Street, along with its partner, Fortune International Group. Fortune joined the development late last year, and the joint venture later secured a $38 million line of credit from Bank OZK for the nearly 400-unit project, designed by the late architect Rafael Viñoly. Viñoly died last month.
Development has been ramping up along the river, where a handful of restaurants have seen business boom, including Kiki on the River, and Seaspice.
Also on the river, the Related Group secured a $164 million construction loan for its planned 44-story, 506-unit rental building at 77 Southeast Fifth Street, on part of the site of its planned Baccarat Residences development. The future of that project is in question after archaeologists discovered thousands of tools, artifacts, and human and animal remains dating back 7,000 years.
In December, the Chetrit Group revived plans for its $1 billion megaproject along the river, and tapped hospitality mogul David Grutman to run the food and beverage operations.