Harry Macklowe Sells Miami Development Site At $11M Loss
Three years after Harry Macklowe bought his first major South Florida development, the famed New York developer has offloaded it for less than two-thirds of what he paid.
Macklowe Properties sold a 1.7-acre empty site sandwiched between the Dadeland Mall and the Dadeland North Metrorail Station for $20M to Miami-based Related Group, according to property records provided by Vizzda. The price is a 37% discount from the nearly $32M Macklowe paid in April 2022.
Macklowe financed that purchase with a $39M loan from Fortress Investment Group. The lender moved to foreclose on that debt, alongside a loan on a Manhattan apartment building, last year, The Real Deal reported. A Uniform Commercial Code foreclosure was scheduled for last June but apparently never took place.
Macklowe didn't respond to Bisnow’s requests for comment. A Related Group spokesperson declined to comment.
The development site was approved for 770 residential units in two 25-story towers named The Line, designed by Miami-based Arquitectonica.
Macklowe listed the property at 8609 SW 72nd Ave. for sale in March 2024, tapping a Berkadia team led by Jaret Turkell, Omar Morales and Roberto Pesant, The Real Deal reported. Morales declined to comment on the sale Tuesday when reached by Bisnow.
The sale comes days after Related and Macklowe filed plans to build two 43-story luxury condo towers at 8000 and 7946 East Drive in North Bay Village, the South Florida Business Journal reported.
The pair purchased the Biscayne Sea Club at 8000 East Drive for $47.7M and $10.6M for the 7941 East Drive site in 2023. North Bay Village’s Planning and Zoning Board will consider the 1.2M SF proposal on Wednesday.
Macklowe, who developed the Apple Cube on Fifth Avenue and the supertall condo 432 Park in Manhattan, has a history of tumultuous investments. He famously lost a $4B portfolio during the Great Recession that included the General Motors Building and the Apple Cube.
More recently, the billionaire converted the former Irving Bank tower at One Wall Street into a $2B condo and retail development. The more than 175K SF of retail at the building has performed well, but the luxury condos have struggled to meet the same standard.
Sales for units began in 2021, but by November, only 112 out of the 566 residences had sold, the New York Post reported.
One Wall Street was the first major development from Macklowe Properties after 432 Park, which opened in 2015. Owners of the luxury units in the 1,400-foot supertall sued Macklowe and his partner, CIM Group, in 2021, claiming design flaws caused floods and power loss.
In May, the condo board filed a new lawsuit — in which Macklowe wasn't named as a defendant — alleging that the building’s facade contains more than 1,000 defects. The suit claims CIM Group and its partners failed to disclose the extent of cracking in the white facade to both prospective buyers and city inspectors, The New York Times reported.
