FBE Limited Buys Rentals Near Zoo Miami From Blue Magma
The Park at Sheffield apartment complex at 15601 Southwest 137th Avenue in southern Miami-Dade County (Google Maps, The Park at Sheffield)
The Fruchtlanders’ FBE Limited bought an apartment community near Zoo Miami for $61.5 million, marking the family’s expansion in South Florida’s multifamily market.
New York-based FBE Limited bought the 316-unit The Park at Sheffield at 15601 Southwest 137th Avenue in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, near Kendall, according to broker Tal Frydman. He worked with Hampton Beebe, both of Newmark, on the deal.
The deal breaks down to $194,620 per unit.
The sale price is 65 percent higher than the $37.3 million the property last traded for in 2017, records show.
At that time, the buyers were Tampa-based Blue Rock Partner, founded by Reuven Oded, which is now part of his Blue Magma Residential, in partnership with a Canadian-based investment firm and a New York-based institutional investor, according to media reports.
The Park at Sheffield has numerous one-story buildings sprawled across 15.5 acres, property records show. The community, built in 1987, has studios, as well as one- and two-bedroom apartments, with monthly rents ranging from $1,195 to $1,850, according to Apartments.com.
This is at least the third South Florida multifamily complex FBE Limited has purchased over the past year. The firm is led by Abraham Fruchthandler and managed by Yehoshua Leib Fruchthandler.
The other communities are Cypress Grove at 4200 Northwest 19th Street in Lauderhill, which FBE bought for $94.6 million in July of last year, and The Club at Emerald Waters at 4000 North 56th Avenue in Hollywood, which FBE purchased for $31.9 million in October.
FBE is still betting on the Northeast, as it wants to build a four-story, 120-unit condominium on 13 acres at the Cold Spring Country Club in the town of Huntington on Long Island. The company had the site under contract as of June.
Increased interest rates have put a damper on the multifamily market, which had been scorching hot since a few months following the pandemic’s onset. Some buyers with properties under contract have had to either step back from deals or renegotiate the price after their lenders tweaked acquisition loan rates, according to Frydman, the FBE broker. Still, FBE was the original winning bidder for The Park at Sheffield and didn’t need to renegotiate the price, Frydman said. He declined to disclose FBE’s mortgage amount or lender.
The skyrocketing South Florida rents also help, as they balance out deals financially for buyers, he said.
In May, the Miami area again led the nation with the highest rent increase of 45.8 percent, with the median monthly rate reaching $2,843, according to Realtor.com.
In another recent deal near Zoo Miami, Milestone Group bought the Emerald Palms at 12325 Southwest 151st Street for $107 million in August.
Also near the zoo, Palm Beach Gardens-based Ram Realty is developing a mixed-use complex with a Walmart Supercenter, additional retail and apartments. In December, Ram sold a piece of the project, the completed Mareas at Botanica rental complex at 15520 Southwest 127th Avenue, to Cortland for $174.3 million. The community has been rechristened Cortland South Kendall.
