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courthouse tower

CourthouseTower2Mika Miami of Sterling Equity Realty announces the sale of Downtown Miami’s landmark Courthouse Tower to New York real estate private equity firm Brickman for $27.5 million.

Mika Mattingly of the Mika Miami team represented the seller, Courthouse Towers LLC, which is owned and operated by The Donovan Family. RFK Senior Directors Benjamin Mandell and John Ellis represented the buyer. The sale closed yesterday.

Mika Mattingly

Mika Mattingly

Located at 44 West Flagler Street in the heart of Downtown Miami, Courthouse Towers was not listed or on the market prior to the sale. The Mika Miami team, which specializes in properties within Miami’s urban core, arranged the off-market deal.

Standing at 26 stories, the 176,292 square-foot mixed-used office and commercial retail space was constructed in 1974. The building is located across the street from the Miami-Dade County Courthouse and other government buildings and is situated between South Miami and SW 1st Avenues on the south side of Flagler Street.

This marks the second property purchased by Brickman in Downtown Miami, having also acquired a 141,687 square-foot building at 200 S.E. 1st Street just two weeks ago for $33,850,000. Israeli-born New Yorker Moishe Mana has also been an active investor in Downtown Miami, having acquired $198 million in properties.

“The West Flagler area, which has underperformed for some time, is a diamond in the rough and has become one of the few remaining add-value sectors left in Miami,” says Mattingly of Mika Miami. “Downtown’s urban core has been evolving under the radar and Brickman’s purchase only validates its progression.”

“Brickman’s acquisition of the Courthouse Tower in Miami marks an important milestone and makes a big statement for the future of Downtown, as it highlights the market’s future potential and Brickman’s desire to play an important role in revitalizing the area,” said Mandell. “There are plans to renovate the existing office unit and upgrade the building’s common areas, including the lobby, to better suit their new vision for Downtown Miami.”

The 90-year-old Dade-Commonwealth Building in downtown Miami sold for $9.2 million to a group that promises to revitalize it.

The seven-story office building at 139 N.E. 1st Street was originally constructed in 1925 to serve as a branch of Meyer-Miser Bank, but it was heavily damaged by the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926. It was reconstructed the following year.

Dade Commonwealth Building2

The building still has a 32-ton magisterial stainless steel vault and its original columns.

A joint venture between Immocorp Capital, led by Gilbert Benhamou, and Wynwood Fund, led by Matthieu Merchadou-Melki, bought the 43,265-square-foot building on a 7,500-square-foot lot from Titan Development Partners, managed by Jesus V. Suarez. It last traded for $1.3 million in 2003.

“We intend to revitalize this corner in the heart of Downtown Miami,” said Benhamou. “This is an iconic building that, once upon a time, was the tallest building in Downtown Miami. We were seduced with the historical aspect and story of the Dade-Commonwealth Building.”

The buyers were represented by Urbanize PropertiesJanet Crucet and Kristine Flook plus Sterling Commercial’s Mika Mattingly. Ana Ventura of RE2000 Group represented the seller.

 

Source: SFBJ