North Carolina Car Dealer Replacing Edgewater Staples With Kia Showroom
By Julia Echikson March 5, 2024 11:18 am
reprints
A North Carolina car dealer is driving full speed to Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood and plans to replace a Staples store with a Kia showroom.
Johnson Automotive Dealership Group paid $25 million for a 1-acre site at 2121 Biscayne Boulevard, adjacent to 21st Street, a block north of a Braman BMW dealership.
The auto dealer plans to transform the parcel — now home to a 21,501-square-foot Staples store — into a Kia dealership, according to Apex Capital Realty, whose Rani Hussami brokered the transaction.
Johnson Automotive Dealership Group has 11 locations in North Carolina, one in Stuart, Fla., and another in Annapolis, Md., selling 10 car brands, including Volvo, Porsche, Honda, Maserati and Subaru. A representative for the dealership did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The seller of the Edgewater lot, Plano, Texas-based Sikka Investments, led by Shirin and Barkat Daredia, had purchased the property for $20 million in 2021, according to property records. The Daredias could not be reached for comment.
Edgewater has become a hot market for developers and investors, thanks to the migration of Northerners to Miami during the pandemic, and because a portion of the neighborhood was designated as an opportunity zone.
Last month, Peruvian developer Grupo T&C paid $19.2 million for a 0.8-acre parcel at 511 NE 27th Street, between the Blu27 at Edgewater and Icon Bay Condo buildings.
In just one of many planned developments, Oak Row Equities and Lndmrk Development are planning to build a luxury rental property at 401 NE 29th Terrace, just east of Biscayne Bay, after paying $22.5 million for a 1.5-acre site in 2022. In November, the Urban Development Review Board approved the joint venture’s 324-unit multifamily development.
Update: The article was amended to include a note about the approval of the Oak Row project.
Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.
