UPDATED, July 3, 12:20 p.m.
13th Floor Investments joined with Opera Acquisitions to buy a Miami Beach timeshare resort for a combined $73 million.
A 13th Floor affiliate purchased Westgate South Beach Oceanfront Resort, a 46-unit oceanfront building at 3611 Collins Avenue, Opera President Valerio Spinaci told The Real Deal.
The sellers are an affiliate of Orlando-based Westgate Resorts, and the building’s condo association. The building was completed in 1938, records show.
Opera REI brokered the deal, which completes a 1.3-acre assemblage, said 13th Floor Managing Principal Arnaud Karsenti in an emailed statement. Opera and 13th Floor also own the neighboring property, the former All Seasons Condo Hotel at 3621 Collins Avenue.
“This was an exciting opportunity to acquire prime beachfront property in Miami Beach,” Karsenti said. “Opera Acquisitions was a fundamental partner, and was responsible for assembling both properties.”
Through an affiliate, Miami-based 13th Floor and Miami Beach-based Opera obtained a $51.9 million mortgage from Bank OZK that is also collateralized by the adjacent condo-hotel, records show.
13th Floor and Opera have not yet determined its redevelopment play for the Westgate and All Seasons properties. “We are evaluating several options, but haven’t filed plans yet,” Spinaci said. “Arnaud is taking the lead on the possible redevelopment.”
Last year, 13th Floor and Opera bought out all the owners of the 109-unit All Seasons for about $30 million, Spinaci said. Samuel Heskiel and Marilina Apfelbaum with Beachfront Realty negotiated with the unit owners and brokered the deal on behalf of the buyers. The condo was terminated in November, records show.
“This [most recent] deal marks the culmination of the most complex deal we have ever assembled,” Spinaci said. “It required the negotiation and assemblage of more than a hundred individual condo units, as well as a property with thousands of timeshare [owners.]”
Negotiations with unit and timeshare owners took about two and a half years to complete, Spinaci said.
13th Floor is among South Florida’s most active real estate development firms. Last month, the firm submitted an updated plan to Miami-Dade County for 13th Floor’s Link at Douglas mixed-use project at 3100 Douglas Road in Miami. 13th Floor wants to reduce the project’s office space to 25,000 square feet from 75,000 square feet, as well as scale down the height and number of units of two proposed apartment towers.
In February, 13th Floor launched a $300 million real estate fund targeting growing markets nationwide, as well as distressed opportunities in South Florida and elsewhere.
In addition to Spinaci, Opera is led by Chris Salamone, Sergio Salani and Federico Maria Ionta.