Verzasca Group just sold a development site in Edgewater where it planned to build a residential tower.
Verzasca’s 2000 Biscayne Boulevard LLC sold the nearly 33,000-square-foot property at 2000 Biscayne Boulevard to Biscayne and 20th Street LLC for $13.1 million. Estrella Perez of EP Realty Group represented the buyer, which is led by investor Enrique Manhard.
Hellos Real Estate Investment Services, Fortune International Realty and Global Investments represented the seller in the off-market deal.
The property was previously home to City Hall restaurant. Verzasca likely lost money on the deal: the firm paid $13 million for the site in March 2016 and later knocked down the building. Originally, it planned to build condos on the property but later changed its plans to rentals when the condo market slowed down.
Manhard’s company also paid $5.1 million for the properties at 222, 230 and 231 Northeast 20th Street – a combined 16,000 square feet – giving the investor control of 1900 and 2000 Biscayne Boulevard. MC20 Holdings LLC sold the properties on 20th Street.
Perez said the buyer is a long-term holder and doesn’t plan to immediately develop the properties. She said Edgewater is “the future of Miami because there is no more land left.”
Verzasca took out a $6.4 million pre-development loan for the 2000 Biscayne site about a year ago. The developer planned a 36-story, 393-unit apartment tower with 25 studios, 175 one-bedrooms, 181 two-bedrooms, 12 three-bedrooms and an eight-story parking garage.
Verzasca, a Bay Harbor Islands-based development firm led by president Darius Kasparaitis and managing director Tim Lobanov, has two projects in Bay Harbor Islands — Pearl House and Le Jardin Residences — and is building Aurora in Sunny Isles Beach.
Lobanov could not immediately be reached for comment.