Industrial laundromats in Opa-locka that were once besieged by issues of raw sewage from the city’s crumbling infrastructure sold for $5.45 million.
A company tied to Gwen Meckler sold three buildings at 2320 Northwest 147th Street to Triarch Capital Group, records show. The buildings total 73,601-square-feet, equating to a price of $74 per square foot. The buildings are occupied by Phoenix Linen and Spotmaster Linen.
The property last traded for $3.3 million in 2016, records show.
In 2018, county inspectors were called to 147th Street, where raw sewage was coming up through the floor of Meckler’s industrial laundromat, according to the Miami Herald. The mostly industrial area was plagued by sewage problems as the nearby city pump had been in need of repairs since 2009, according to the Herald.
A report last year from the state auditor found 99 issues of fraud and mismanagement in the city of Opa-locka.
Despite these issues, institutional investors are betting on Opa-locka’s industrial market.
In October, a joint venture between BentallGreenOak and Bridge Development Partners bought most of a mixed-use business park next to the Opa-locka Executive Airport for $126 million, in one of the biggest industrial deals of the year.
The industrial market remains South Florida’s best performing asset class. The vacancy rate for warehouses in the northeast Miami-Dade County submarket was 4.6 percent, according to a third quarter report by Colliers International South Florida.