Former Miami Beach Mayor Sells Wynwood Assemblage for $24M
By Julia Echikson September 26, 2023 6:33 pm
reprints
Former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine sold off half a block in Wynwood for $24 million.
The collection of low-rise retail buildings, known as The Whale & Star property, totals 27,406 square feet. The site fronts 365 feet on NW First Place, between Northwest 22nd and 23rd streets.
The property has no tenants. The buyer, a Delaware-based limited liability company named Whale & Star Wynwood, plans to build a mixed-use development that will include a hotel with over 300 rooms, Dwntwn Realty Advisors’ Tony Arellano, who represented the seller alongside Devlin Marinoff, told Commercial Observer.
Laura Valente of Global Luxury Realty and Alyssa Morgan of The Inside Network represented the buyer and did not respond to requests for comment. Attorney Charles Ratner provided legal counsel.
The parcel is zoned for a hotel with 265 to 388 rooms or a multifamily building with 132 to 194 units. Levine, who served as Miami’s mayor from 2013 to 2017, assembled the property in 2012, paying $5.9 million in total, according to property records.
Since Levine’s purchase, Wynwood, a historically working-class neighborhood filled with warehouses, has become one of the most sought-after areas in Miami. Tech companies, including Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, have opened offices, and residential developments, such as the Diesel-branded condo building, are under construction.
Quadrum Global opened an Arlo Hotel last year, making it the first hospitality property in Wynwood.
Another hotel development is in the pipeline. Last year, Jackie Soffer’s Turnberry Associates paid $13 million for a 0.7-acre parcel, where it’s planning to develop a mixed-use property with a hotel, The Real Deal reported.
Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.
