City Of Miami Beach Agency Buys Failed South Beach Condo Conversion

MIAMI, FL--The City of Miami Beach is now competing head-to-head with bulk investors for busted condo projects in South Beach as an agency of the municipality implements plans to use the apartments as "affordable" rentals, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com.

On June 2, the nonprofit Miami Beach Community Development Corp housing agency paid $5.7 million for the failed 35-unit Neptune Beach condo (top left photo) conversion located a block south of the popular Lincoln Road pedestrian mall in the neighborhood of South Beach, according to the report based on Miami-Dade County records.

This is the first example of a South Florida agency attempting to cash in as a bulk buyer on the region's real estate crash. The City of Miami Beach agency paid $162,000 per unit in a project where prices originally started at more than $200,000 per condo.

"The competition for failed condo projects just got a little bit more fierce in South Florida with the public sector now moving into a market that had been dominated by private equity and institutional funds," said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures® LLC.

(MacArthur Causeway over Biscayne Bay, bottom right photo)

 "The public sector, much like the private sector, apparently sees value in purchasing distressed South Florida real estate in this current market. It is too early to determine what effect the emergence of the public sector will have on the bulk market."

Contact:  Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures®,  800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com