Michael Simkins buys land in Miami’s Overtown area

Michael and Nicole Simkins
Michael and Nicole Simkins

Miami Beach investor Michael Simkins purchased 10 properties totaling more than one acre in Miami’s Overtown neighborhood for about $3.6 million.

The land acquired by Lion Folk Life Village, a company tied to Simkins, is located just north of the future site of All Aboard Florida’s downtown Miami station. Nine of the 10 parcels are vacant, according to the Daily Business Review. A small apartment building is located on the other property.

A nonprofit, The Collins Center, sold the properties to Lion Folk.

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Lion Folk’s per square foot purchase price of $58 reflects rising property values in a blighted area with scant land investment in recent years. Three properties adjacent to Lion Folk’s site sold for about $30 per square foot in 2012.

The land acquisition could be tied to a high-rise project the Simkins family and former Miami Worldcenter partner Marc Roberts want to develop in the area. [Daily Business Review]Eric Kalis