UPDATED, Feb. 28, 1:15 p.m.: Constellation Group picked up a pair of small Coral Gables office properties for $10 million, where the seller previously planned a mixed-use project.
An entity managed by Miami-based Constellation’s managing principal, Eduardo Otaola, bought adjacent office buildings at 4225 Ponce De Leon Boulevard and 4311 Ponce De Leon Boulevard, according to records. Across the street from the Shops at Merrick Park, the single-story buildings total 3,665 square feet and were completed in 1947 and 1956.
The buildings are also about a mile west of a city of Coral Gables-owned commercial space that is being leased to celebrity chef Michelle Bernstein, where she plans to re-open her Sra. Martinez restaurant.
The seller of the Ponce de Leon properties is an entity managed by Jose R. Boschetti and Rene Brillembourg, partners in Coral Gables-based real estate developer BF Group. The entity paid $7 million for the two sites in 2017, records show.
At the time, BF Group said the company planned to redevelop the properties into a 10-story mixed-use project with a $40 million construction price tag. The developer had proposed a building with about 30,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, and up to 50,000 square feet of office space. Boschetti did not return a phone message seeking comment.
After publication, Otaola responded to a request for comment, saying he is planning to develop a 75,000-square-foot office building with ground-floor retail, designed by Miami-based Arquitectonica. The building would entail four stories on top of a two-level parking garage, and possibly include a rooftop amenity space and terraces on each floor, he said. Initial plans will be submitted to the city of Coral Gables this week.
Constellation specializes in multifamily, office and retail investments throughout the southern U.S. according to its website. In South Florida, the firm currently owns Town Center One at Dadeland, a class A office building in Kendall; and Bahama House, a garden-style multifamily project in Key Biscayne.
In December, Constellation and its partner Integra Investments sold a five-story office building near Miami Beach’s Lincoln Road for $26.5 million.