Cornerstone affiliate buys Little Havana dev site for $15M

Brookstone Partners, an affiliate of The Cornerstone Group, paid $15 million for a Little Havana development site approved for a mixed-use project. 

Brookstone, led by Cornerstone principals Leon Wolfe and Jorge Lopez, acquired the 2.4-acre assemblage at 805 to 861 West Flagler Street and 826 to 860 Northwest First Street, according to records and Vizzda. The deal includes two signed leases with Aldi and Ross Dress For Less to anchor the retail component of the proposed development, which was previously called Riverwest Miami. 

In a separate $825,000 deal to take control of the entire block, the affiliate also purchased a 5,000-square-foot lot at 26 Northwest Eighth Avenue that was not part of the assemblage.

The seller of the assemblage is a partnership involving New York-based Posner Group and Miami Beach builders Todd Michael Glaser and i3 Development, led by Alan I. Amdur. Lourdes Maria Romero in Miami sold the 5,000-square-foot lot. 

In 2021, Posner, Glaser and i3 scored a $26.5 million loan for acquisition, pre-development and construction costs of the development. The partnership received city of Miami approval in 2018 to increase the density from 65 units to 150 units an acre. For the first phase of the project, the partnership planned to build a three-story, 52,500-square-foot retail building and a two-level garage with 217 parking spaces. The second phase entailed a 20-story apartment building with some retail. 

Brookstone and Cornerstone, both based in Hollywood, primarily build multifamily projects. Cornerstone, which focuses on developing affordable housing communities, last year sold the Cross Keys Apartments in North Lauderdale for $14 million. New York-based investment giant Blackstone acquired the 322-unit garden-style rental community. 

In 2020, Cornerstone sold a 246-unit apartment complex In Lauderdale Lakes for $16.9 million.

The assemblage Brookstone recently acquired is near other proposed projects. In 2021, Austrian-based Premium Development paid $15 million for a 2.3-acre site that was previously home to a Presidente Supermarkets store. The property is approved for 386 apartments, but the unit count can be raised to 771 through density bonuses for providing affordable housing. 

Premium is also developing First-Little Havana, a proposed building with 194 apartments, 7,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and a 231-space parking garage. The development site is at 736-760 Southwest First Street.