Condo Bulk Deal Era Nears End In Greater Downtown Miami

Institutional investors searching for at least 100 condo units or more to purchase in a single project in the distressed Greater Downtown Miami market are faced with the new reality that the era of the large transaction is nearing an end, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com.

The large-scale bulk buying phase in Greater Downtown Miami - the epicenter of Florida's condo crash - all but ended at about 5.30 pm Wednesday, Oct. 27, in a federal courthouse on Flagler Street.

That is when a U.S. Bankruptcy Court refused to stop a consortium of lenders led by Bank of America from selling its outstanding construction loan on nearly 750,000 square feet of new condo space in the Everglades on the Bay (top left photo) complex to a New York institutional investor. 

The Bank of America note sale for $142 million, or $191 per square foot, set in motion the process for the buyer, Rockwood Capital led by chairman and chief executive Edmond A. Kavounas (middle right photo), to obtain title from the developer, Cabi Downtown LLC, to the remaining unsold residential and commercial condos in the two-tower complex.

As of Oct. 28, the Everglades on the Bay had only sold 177 units out of 849 units, leaving 672 units unsold in the pair of 49-story skyscrapers, according to the Condo Vultures® Official Condo Buyers Guide To Miami™.

"Bulk deals in Greater Downtown Miami are just about as extinct as the residential construction crane," said Peter Zalewski (middle left photo), a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures® LLC.

"With nearly 700 unsold units, the Everglades on the Bay was the last of the mega-condo projects standing vacant in Greater Downtown Miami with no clear future.

 In the last two years, lenders and bulk buyers have successfully infused a significant amount of capital into nearly all of the other large-scale distressed condo projects, resulting in a backstop of the price declines."

Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures® can be reached at 800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com

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