Azora Exan Buys Miami Beach Retail Building Near Lincoln Road

Azora Exan expanded its Miami Beach commercial portfolio by acquiring a retail property near Lincoln Road. 

An affiliate of Azora Exan, a joint venture between Madrid-based Azora and Miami-based Exan Capital, paid $16 million for the three-story building at 1000 17th Street, according to a press release and the brokers who worked on the deal. 

Jordan Gimelstein and David Spitz with Miami Beach-based InHouse Commercial represented the seller. Mike Sullivan and Sam Singer with Vertical Real Estate represented the buyer.

The seller, an entity managed by Miami Beach commercial real estate developers Scott Robins and Philip Levine, paid $1.4 million for the property in 2007, and completed the nearly 19,000-square-foot building in 2014, records show. Levine was also Miami Beach mayor from 2013 to 2017. 

The building has one vacant space available that is being marketed by InHouse Commercial, according to a brochure. Other tenants include Circuit Academy Gym, The Spot barbershop, Eye Desire Eyewear and Suit Supply. 

The building hit the market earlier this year with an asking price of $19 million, said Jared Robins with InHouse Commercial. The seller received offers from two other bidders from New York. 

“[Azora Exan] was able to move the fastest….They were the most committed. And they were the most qualified,” Robins said. 

Azora Exan, led by managing principals Juan José Zaragoza and Ignacio Gil-Casares, plans to gradually increase rents, which in some cases, are currently 30 percent below market rates, the release states. 

The retail building is near a five-story office building at 1674 Meridian Avenue that an Exan Capital affiliate bought for $26.5 million in 2021, records show. 

Last year, Azora Exan paid $37 million for another five-story office building in Miami Beach’s South of Fifth neighborhood. The property is fully occupied by embattled co-working firm WeWork, which recently notified all of its landlords that the company intends to renegotiate most of its leases. 

Since last year, Azora Exan has been on a commercial and residential buying spree across the U.S., beefing up its real estate investments to more than $500 million, the release states. The firm has acquired office and retail properties in Chicago, Cincinnati and South Florida. 

Last year, Azora Exan paid $22.2 million for Plantation Crossing, a 70,369-square-foot shopping center anchored by an Aldi grocery store in Plantation.