Investor Babak Ebrahimzadeh sold an office building and an adjacent garage with mixed-use development potential in Riviera Beach’s Singer Island for $16.5 million.
Ebrahimzadeh, through his Miami-based Master Mind, sold the Ocean Blue property consisting of a five-story office building and three-level garage at 2655 North Ocean Drive, according to brokers and records. The buyer is George Jay II, Limited Partnership, an entity tied to real estate investor George Johnnides. The deal closed on Friday.
Rachel Mitrogiannis of Ascella Group and Earl Hollis III of Hollis Realty Group represented the seller. Paul Snitkin of Anderson Carr represented the buyer.
The 45,000-square-foot office building and roughly 200-space garage were completed in 1989 on a 1.7-acre site, property records show. Ebrahimzadeh, who paid $8.6 million for the buildings in 2022, completed improvements over the past three years, including floor replacement in bathrooms and hallways; porcelain floor tile installation in the lobby; and other interior renovations. Master Mind invested roughly $3 million in capital improvements, according to Mitrogiannis.
Ocean Blue is about 70 percent occupied, with former professional golfer Greg Norman leasing the penthouse for his business, Mitrogiannis said. Other tenants include Florida Sugar & Molasses Exchange. Los Angeles-based Le Petit Prince Cafe will open in January in the commercial space between the garage and office building.
By-right, about 225,000 square feet of residential or other uses can be developed atop the garage, Mitrogiannis said.
Johnnides plans to lease up the office building first, including the roughly 5,500 square feet of first-floor restaurant space, before pursuing development, according to Snitkin.
“Down the road, we are going to do something there, but first we will get this asset stabilized,” Snitkin said, adding that Johnnides hasn’t yet decided if he would pursue office or residential development. “When we get to that stage, it depends on what’s needed.”
Elsewhere in South Florida, Johnnides has invested in South Beach. In June, he sold the 19,700-square-foot Office Depot-leased building at 1771 West Avenue in Miami Beach’s Sunset Harbour neighborhood for $28.5 million.
Ebrahimzadeh’s other South Florida investments include paying $5.5 million in 2022 for the 10,000-square-foot office building at 1545 Centrepark Drive North in West Palm Beach, with plans at the time to redevelop it into a 12-story office building.
Ebrahimzadeh and Nader Ohebshalom also lead Gatsby FL, an arm of New York-based Gatsby Enterprises. Last year, Gatsby FL bought the 10-story One Town Center office building and attached garage at 1 Town Center Road in Boca Raton for $82 million.
Gatsby Enterprises also owns the 15-story 800 Brickell office tower and adjacent garage at 800 Brickell Avenue in Miami. It had paid $125.5 million for it in 2019.
South Florida’s office market has slowed compared to the leasing and investment sales bonanza during the pandemic. Prime areas such as Brickell and downtown West Palm Beach have continued to boom, while suburban areas and less desirable buildings have felt the sting from elevated interest rates and inflation. The influx of out-of-state companies also has slowed.
In March, Jorge Linkewer, principal at Aventura-based Triarch Capital Group, and Sarah and Sergio Selcer bought the Airport Commerce Park office complex at 4101 Ravenswood Road in Dania Beach for $18.3 million.
In Brickell, Spanish billionaire Amancio Ortega is expected to purchase the 30-story Sabadell Financial Center at 1111 Brickell Avenue in Miami for $275 million.
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