Spanish billionaire Amancio Ortega picked up a retail building in Miami’s Design District for roughly $110 million, beating out other prospective buyers including the owner of clothing brand Uniqlo.
Ortega’s family office, Ponte Gadea, purchased Atlas Plaza at 130 Northeast 40th Street, sources familiar with the purchase told The Real Deal. It’s home to a Rolex store and Michael’s Genuine, one of the Miami Design District’s longest running restaurants, The deal closed on Wednesday, according to a source.
Ponte Gadea paid about $60 million above the previous sale price roughly a decade ago.
A Newmark team led by Adam Spies and Marcella Fasulo brokered the sale, which was first reported by Bloomberg. Spies and Fasulo declined to comment.
The seller is a joint venture between Wiesbaden, Germany-based asset management firm Commerz Real AG, New York-based Tricap, led by David Edelstein, and New York-based RFR Holding, led by Aby Rosen. In 2015, the partnership acquired Atlas Plaza for $50 million, which includes the building immediately south at 135 and 137 Northeast 39th Street. Atlas Plaza was completed in 1969, and the adjacent building was built in 2015.
Spokespersons for Commerz, Tricap and RFR declined to comment.
Michael’s Genuine, the flagship restaurant for chef Michael Schwartz, opened in Atlas Plaza in 2007. The plaza is fully leased, and other retail tenants include Longchamp and Oliver Peoples, an offering states.
Ponte Gadea bested offers from other potential buyers, including Tadashi Yanai, owner of Fast Retailing, the parent company for Uniqlo, sources said.
The partnership between Craig Robins’ Miami-based Dacra, New York-based Brookfield Properties and Greenwich, Connecticut-based L Catterton that owns close to a half-million square feet of space in the Miami Design District also looked at Atlas Plaza, sources said. L Catterton is a subsidiary of French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
With a net worth pegged at nearly $125 billion, according to Forbes, Ortega is currently the third richest person in the world. Through Zara, the clothing chain he founded, Ortega built a global retail and real estate empire that includes iconic trophy properties across the world, including New York’s Haughwout Building and the Post Building in London.
In recent years, Ortega’s family office has been on a major South Florida shopping spree, dropping nine-figure sums for office, multifamily and industrial properties. Ponte Gadea is under contract to buy Sabadell Financial Center, a 30-story office tower in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood, for $275 million.
In June, Ponte Gadea dropped $165 million for Veneto Las Olas, a 44-story apartment tower with 259 units in Fort Lauderdale. In December 2023, the family office paid $113 million for Bridge Point Cold Logistics Center, a freezer facility in Hialeah.
Katherine Kallergis contributed reporting.
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