On the prowl for South Florida retail condo properties, Robert Rivani nabbed prime restaurant space at One Thousand Museum.
Black Lion Investment Group, Rivani’s Los Angeles-based firm, paid $6.4 million for the 6,500-square-foot commercial condo on the ground floor of the luxury condominium at 1000 Biscayne Boulevard.
The seller is an entity managed by Louis Birdman and Gregg Covin, who co-developed One Thousand Museum with Gilberto Bomeny, Kevin Venger and Todd Michael Glaser.
Designed by the late Zaha Hadid, One Thousand Museum is considered one of the more iconic buildings added to the city’s skyline in the 2010s. Crooner Marc Anthony is the latest celebrity to join a star-studded roster of owners at the 62-story tower that includes David and Victoria Beckham, LoanDepot billionaire Anthony Hsieh and actress Selena Ward.
Rivani said he’s been eyeing the space for a while, but the recent ramp-up in luxury condo development activity in downtown Miami convinced him to make an offer.
He noted new projects like Waldorf Astoria Hotel & Residences Miami and the E11even branded towers are breaking ground. It was an all cash, off-market deal, Rivani said.
Since last year, Black Lion has hunted down several retail condos in Miami and Miami Beach as Rivani seeks to bring in a little Hollywood flair to South Florida’s culinary scene.
“I look at it as acquiring prime properties on a Monopoly board,” he said.
Among the first commercial units Black Lion acquired is an 11,400-square-foot space at the SLS Lux Brickell in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood. The firm purchased the retail condo for $13.5 million in May of last year and then leased it to Reggaeton megastar Bad Bunny and Miami hospitality guru David Grutman. The duo recently opened Japanese steakhouse Gekko.
In July, Black Lion sold a waterfront space at the Four Ambassadors Condominiums, also in Brickell, for $13 million. Prior to the sale, Los Angeles supper club Delilah signed a long-term lease to open its third location in the 10,700-square-foot commercial unit.
In April, Black Lion paid $11.5 million for a 12,000-square-foot restaurant building adjacent to The Continuum South Beach condominium in Miami Beach’s South of Fifth neighborhood.
Rivani’s company has also shelled out a combined $46.8 million to buy the ground-floor commercial condos in Marea, a six-story boutique condominium also in South of Fifth; Wynwood Arcade, a nearly 23,000-square-foot retail and restaurant building in Wynwood; and a 12,300-square-foot restaurant space at the Amara at Paraiso condo tower in Coconut Grove. Black Lion renamed the Wynwood property as Wynwood Jungle.
Rivani also owns a waterfront penthouse at the Ritz-Carlton Residences, Miami Beach that he acquired for $7.5 million in May.