Macklowe Buying Waterfront Site in Miami’s North Bay Village

New York developer Harry Macklowe is assembling a large waterfront development site in North Bay Village, where his firm could build hundreds of condos, The Real Deal has learned.

The purchases could total more than $58 million.

An affiliate of Macklowe Properties is expected to pay $47.7 million for the 3-acre Biscayne Sea Club co-op at 8000, 8010 and 8020 East Drive in North Bay Village, a small three-island town that’s sandwiched between mainland Miami and Miami Beach, court records show. Macklowe previously was also set to pay $10.6 million for the nearby property at 7941 East Drive.

The Biscayne Sea Club sale will close June 1, according to a lawsuit filed last year, involving co-op owners, the board and the Macklowe entity. The three-story, 51-unit co-op, developed in 1955, is on the market for $55 million with Isaac Acevedo of BrokerNation Real Estate. BrokerNation sued over the commission on the deal in a separate lawsuit filed earlier this month.

The property covers the north end of Harbor Island.

The second deal was originally expected to close last year, according to another lawsuit filed in 2022 by the seller of the two-story, four-unit apartment building. The seller, RobMar, sued to enforce the sale of the property. That lawsuit was dismissed.

Macklowe Properties, which did not respond to requests for comment, likely plans luxury condos on the Biscayne Sea Club site.

Macklowe may not be done assembling. It’s unclear if the firm plans to acquire more land, including the Bays Water condominium in between both sites, and if it will close on the apartment building at 7941 East Drive. Also nearby is the Majestic Isle condo building that was deemed unsafe by the city earlier this year.

Macklowe, considered a real estate titan in New York, entered the Miami market last year with his purchase of a development site near Dadeland Mall. His company plans a pair of apartment towers with several hundred units.

Macklowe was originally in contract to buy the Biscayne Sea Club co-op for $40 million, but a group of 18 owners alleged that the board failed to comply with the association’s bylaws and sued to block the sale. They claimed that the board’s alleged “misconduct and inept management” led to the lower sale price, $15 million less than the price approved by the co-op’s shareholders, according to court filings.

“In the interim, we negotiated the increased sales price” by nearly 20 percent, said attorney Mark Raymond of Nelson Mullins, who represented the 18 owners. They settled the lawsuit.

Developers are increasingly targeting older condo and co-op communities, especially those on large waterfront sites with favorable zoning. In the wake of the deadly Surfside condo collapse almost two years ago, some condo and co-op boards are hiring brokers to market their properties for sale, while in other cases developers are making unsolicited offers. In the largest deal, David Martin’s Terra offered $500 million for the waterfront Castle Beach Club in Miami Beach.

North Bay Village has also seen its fair share of interest from developers in recent years.

Sunbeam Properties, led by the billionaire Ansin family, plans a mixed-use project north and south of the 79th Street Causeway, which bisects North Bay Village. In October, the village commission OK’d a height increase that allows up to 650 feet on the north side of the causeway, where heights were previously capped at 340 feet; and up to 450 feet on the south side, where heights were previously capped at 240 feet.

Earlier this year, Jesta Group scored approval for its planned 30-story multifamily and hotel project on the site of popular Shuckers Waterfront Grill in North Bay Village.

Shoma Group, led by Masoud and Stephanie Shojaee, launched sales in September of Shoma Bay, a 327-unit, 21-story condo tower planned for the site at 1850 79th Street Causeway.