20-Acre Miami Site Heading Auction With Likely Starting Bid at $102M
By Julia Echikson December 22, 2022 6:36 pm
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A 19.4-acre site in Miami’s Upper East Side neighborhood that’s tied up in litigation is headed to auction with bids likely starting at $102 million.
The first site, spanning 15.9 acres at 8500 Biscayne Boulevard, is zoned for a mixed-use development, offering 3.45 million square feet of buildable space and 2,380 residential units, according to Avison Young, the brokerage marketing the land for sale.
The second parcel, located at 7880 Biscayne Boulevard, stretches 3.5 acres and includes a building that once housed the Immigration and Naturalization Service agency. The site, zoned under T6-8, can accommodate up to 500 residential units and two commercial towers up to 12 stories high, totaling 889,000 square feet.
An entity called Florida Fullview Immigration Building, led by Leo Wu, had bought both parcels for $12.5 million in 2013, according to property records. Two years later, it announced plans to convert the 12-story building into a mixed-use development with 139 hotel rooms, 324 apartments, 585 parking spaces, and 25,000 square feet of commercial space.
Florida Fullview had raised $50 million through EB-5, a federal program that grants foreign investors and their immediate family members permanent U.S. residency if they invest in real estate projects or in businesses that create at least 10 full-time jobs.
One foreign investor, Chinese national Chun Liu, sued Florida Fullview in 2020, alleging fraud, according to The Real Deal.
To secure the investors’ funds, an affiliate of Florida Fullview was supposed to issue a loan, but Liu allegedly couldn’t find a record of the mortgage in property records. The investor also claims that Florida Fullview failed to hand over records, including financial statements.
Another blow to the property came last year when a Miami city official declared the building structurally unsafe.
The parcel is now under the control of court-appointed receiver Michael Goldberg. The land will be auctioned off in court in mid March. An investor, who remains anonymous, has already offered $102 million as a stalking horse bid, which remains in the due diligence process.
Avison Young’s Michael Fay, Jay Ziv, John K. Crotty, David Duckworth, and Brian C. de la Fé are marketing the property for sale.
The selling procedure mirrors that of Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Fla. which collapsed in 2021, killing 98. Dubai-based developer Damac Properties bought the ill-fated site after putting down a $120 million stalking horse bid. Fay and attorney Goldberg also spearheaded the Champlain sale.
Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.
