A newly converted office tower in downtown Miami will begin recording closings next week as the supply of office condos increases, The Real Deal has learned.
One Flagler, a 15-story building at 14 Northeast First Avenue, is 70 percent presold, according to Fabio Faerman, of Fortune International Realty. Buyers include existing tenants, investors from Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, France, Israel, Canada and Miami, he said.
Fabio Faerman
The building has 143,000 square feet, with units priced for an average of $345 per square foot. They ranged from $200,000 to $3.15 million, Faerman told TRD. It was originally built in 1952 by iconic modernist architect Morris Lapidus, known for his hotel designs such as the Fontainebleau and Eden Roc in Miami Beach, and sits on a 12,600-square-foot lot.
Newgard Development Group and Midgard Management, the building owner, entered into a joint venture to convert the building into office condos in late 2014. The developer put $10 million in upgrades into the building, starting with the top-floor office units and working down to the lobby. Renovations include upgrades to the lobby, restrooms, elevators, HVAC and electrical systems.
One Flagler is among a handful of office condo projects in South Florida. Among them: Ofizzina in Coral Gables, Aventura ParkSquare and Forum Aventura.
“The office condo market is good for buyers who want to locate some money in a safe investment, with typical returns of 5 percent and up,” Faerman told TRD.