A developer turned an 1,100 percent gain on a nearly 2-acre Wynwood assemblage after entitling it for one of the tallest Live Local Act projects in the neighborhood.
Ultimate Equity, led by David Sedaghati, sold the assemblage for $54 million to an affiliate of South Florida investor Gary Krat, according to records and real estate database Vizzda.
The property, on the southeast corner of Northwest 26th Street and Northwest Sixth Avenue, was approved in November 2024 for a 36-story, 1,300-unit apartment project, records show.
The sale breaks down to $28.1 million per acre.
Ultimate Equity assembled the property for $4.5 million in several deals from 2002 to 2010, records show. The site includes the lots at 520, 524, 530, 540, 550, 570, 580 and 590 Northwest 26th Street, as well as 2401 Northwest Sixth Avenue. It now has warehouses built in the 1950s.
Many South Florida real estate players have listed their multifamily projects’ sites on the for-sale market due to development headwinds and slower apartment demand.
At the same time, developers have filed a flurry of Live Local Act proposals, with market analysts arguing that some investors may be entitling sites under the state law and then seeking to sell the properties for a gain.
Ultimate Equity originally proposed a 25-story, 996-unit apartment complex on the site in 2024, tweaking plans later that year for a pair of 36-story buildings with 1,300 units, according to records and media reports. Under the proposal, 40 percent of apartments would be at below-market rates, aligning with the Live Local Act’s mandate that at least 40 percent of a project’s units are for households earning up to 120 percent of the area median income.
Project plans also called for nearly 1,100 parking spaces and apartments consisting of 524 micro-units, 456 studios, 308 one-bedroom units, eight two-bedroom units and four three-bedroom units, Vizzda records show.
The proposal is among several Live Local Act projects floated in recent years for Wynwood, where zoning caps heights at 12 floors. Live Local Act allows developers to circumvent local zoning regulations and build bigger projects as long as they meet the affordable and workforce unit threshold.
Across the tri-county region, developers have been listing sites planned for multifamily projects, both Live Local and market rate. RK Centers’ Raanan Katz listed an 8-acre property in Miami for more than $100 million last year after scoring approval for a 1,050-unit Live Local complex.
The multifamily market turned from hot to oversupplied in recent years, leading to slower lease-ups, more concessions and a drop in rents. According to Realtor.com’s February report, South Florida’s average asking rent hit $2,235 a month, a 3.3 percent decrease year-over-year. Higher interest rates and materials costs also contribute to the dev site selloff trend.
Last year, Clara Homes listed its Wynwood Live Local Act project site for $10.9 million, and Evolve Companies listed its 141-unit multifamily site in Wynwood Norte for $14 million.
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