A retail building on a less-traded stretch of Mid-Miami Beach has sold for nearly $4 million, the first time the property has changed hands in 42 years.
The 5,380 square-foot building, at 456 West 41st Street, is the site of four stores: Dogz, Snips, Miami Beach Chocolate and Jewelers Choice. The 5,500-square-foot lot includes a small courtyard.
The price equates to $730 a square foot for the building.
Fred Botwinik, a broker associate with Douglas Elliman Commercial, handled the sale.
It was purchased for $3.925 million by Rajamim LLC. Records show the entity has an attorney as the authorized representative. Botwinik told TRD that the actual buyer is an Argentine investor. He said the stores all have leases until at least 2020, so he expects the new owner to maintain the status quo.
According to Miami-Dade property records, the Mediterranean-style building was built in 1930, with upper floor offices added in 1985. The sellers, Milton and Susan Schermer, had paid $145,000 for the property in 1974.
Mid-Beach‘s 41st Street, also known as Arthur Godfrey Road, is a commercial street that connects Miami Beach’s main north-south arteries, Alton Road and Collins Avenue.
Yet, the street, with two-story buildings largely dating to the 1930s, has not undergone much redevelopment. The first Starbucks on the street just opened recently. Forty-first Street is also home to more than a dozen banks, Terranova Corp.‘s headquarters, and several restaurants, including the well-known Forge and various kosher eateries that serve the Orthodox community in the neighborhood.
The building’s sale is the second Botwinik has brokered on the street: the first was 540 West 41st Street, sold about a year-and-a-half ago for $3.15 million.
Botwinik said there haven’t been many trades on 41st Street because owners have not wanted to let go of their properties.
“There are a lot of people that would like to buy, but there hasn’t been a lot for sale,” he said. “Maybe when they see the price of this one… a decent price, maybe they will get interested.”