The billionaire Ansin family’s Sunbeam Television continues its buying spree in North Bay Village, where it plans a mixed-use development along Kennedy Causeway.
Sunbeam Television paid $14 million for the Presidente Supermarket and next-door retail building, at 1600 and 1624 79th Street Causeway, respectively, said Andrew Ansin, the broadcasting company’s CEO.
The seller is Baymar Hotels & Properties, led by Sofik and Iris Martayan, records show.
Samuel Heskiel and Marilina Apfelbaum of Beachfront Realty Commercial Division represented the buyer in the off-market deal.
The tenant at the commercial building at 1624 79th Street Causeway is Risse Brothers school uniforms store. A Mexican food restaurant previously closed.
The purchase brings Sunbeam’s North Bay Village acquisitions this year to roughly 7.7 acres. The company’s WSVN-Channel 7 also has been based in North Bay Village for more than 60 years.
All of the properties purchased this year are on Treasure Island, one of the three islands that comprise North Bay Village, and all except the most recently purchased sites are on the north side of Kennedy Causeway, also referred to as the 79th Street Causeway.
Sunbeam wants to build a mix of uses that would create a “first class live-work-play” community where residents can walk to work, restaurants and retail, Ansin said.
The company is in talks with North Bay Village officials about its vision, but has not yet submitted an application.
Sunbeam also has not yet determined if the residential portion will be condominiums or apartments, but if it builds rentals, they would be for mixed-income tenants, Ansin said. The retail and restaurants likely would be on the north side of the causeway where Sunbeam’s holdings front Biscayne Bay, giving patrons a waterfront view. A baywalk is being developed in phases.
The vision is in line with North Bay Village’s NBV100 master plan that includes an overhaul of part of Kennedy Causeway to turn it from a high-speed road to a more walkable thoroughfare that serves as a village center. Plans call for wider sidewalks, fewer car lanes and developments along the causeway that make it more pedestrian friendly.
Up to 150 units per acre and a maximum of 340-foot tall buildings, which is roughly 30 stories, are allowed on the north side of the causeway, while development density is less on the south side of the causeway, according to Ansin.
In February, Sunbeam bought 2 acres at 1555 North Bay Causeway for $14 million. This was followed by the $29 million purchase of property at 1415 Northeast 79th Street in March, and the $13.5 million purchase of the former Trip on the Bay restaurant site at 1601 79th Street in April.
The late Edmund Ansin co-founded Sunbeam Television with his father, Sidney Ansin, in 1962. Edmund Ansin’s sons, Andrew and James Ansin, took over Sunbeam.
The company’s Sunbeam Development Corporation subsidiary developed the 2,500-acre Miramar Park of Commerce on the county line between Miami-Dade and Broward counties, as well as industrial real estate in Indiana, according to Sunbeam Development’s website.
Sunbeam is not the only firm with development plans in North Bay Village. Shoma Group paid $15.8 million for a site on Treasure Island in May, with plans for a Publix-anchored retail center and a 19-story, 333-unit apartment building.