New York developer pays $1,598 per square foot for Design District land

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Dmitriy Shironosov

Brian Bandell

Senior Reporter- South Florida Business Journal

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Thor Equities paid an eye-popping $1,598 per square foot for a relatively small site in Miami's Design District, which is undergoing redevelopment as an upscale retail destination.

Boca Raton residents Ronald A. Alter and Margie Alter sold the 9,400-square-foot property at 75 and 81 N.E. 39th Street for $15.02 million to Thor ASB 75 N.E. 39th LLC, an affiliate of the New York-based developer. The property has office buildings of 1,760 and 3,103 square feet, including Ronald Alter's law practice.

The real value could be what's next door, where Dacra is building its high-end retail project.

Thor Equities has made some headline-grabbing purchases in the Design District in recent years, although those properties are not adjacent to this site. This summer, it paid $45.4 million for 50,622 square feet of retail and office space on 32,066 square feet of land from 10 to 50 N.E. 40th Street and at 3995 N. Miami Ave., plus another $15.75 million for the 10,593-square-foot building on a 9,167-square-foot lot at 3925 N. Miami Ave.

In March, Thor Equities paid $5.65 million for a 4,700-square-foot lot with a commercial building at 53 N.E. 39th Street. That location is separated from the two buildings that Thor Equities just purchased by a parking lot that it doesn't own.

It looks like Thor Equities needs to hammer out another deal.

Brian Bandell covers banking, finance, health care and education. Get the latest banking news with our free daily newsletter. Click here to subscribe.