Investment Group Sells Last of 60 Units at Marina Blue
June 5, 2012 by Lucas Lechuga
As you might recall, an investment group operating under the name Welcome Bay LLC paid $13M, or $200 per square foot, for 60 units at Marina Blue in a bulk-sale acquisition on December 24, 2008. It ended up being the second largest bulk sale that took place that year in Greater Downtown Miami. Up until last year, the investment group still maintained control of all 60 units.
In early 2011, after failing to solicit a suitable offer for the 60 units in a package deal, the investment group decided to sell each unit individually in hopes to arrive at an average sales price of around $310 per square foot. They did just that. The last of their 60 units at Marina Blue sold last month. The investment group did not allow any financing contingencies in their sales contracts and required the buyers to pay the seller's closing costs. The units, which already had tenants in place, were well suited for individual investors with "rental-grade" build-outs. Each of the units had either carpeting or laminate wood flooring throughout, vertical blinds and no built-in closets.
Now that the last of the 60 units has sold, the good deals at Marina Blue are relatively scarce. There are currently 24 units available for sale at Marina Blue on the MLS. The average asking price of the 24 units is $443 per square foot. That is quite a far cry from the $310 per square foot that the 60 units fetched. Nonetheless, there are still a few units available for sale that buyers should have their eyes on:
- Unit 1603 - 1 bed + den/1.5 bath - $285,000 ($302 per square foot) - this is a short sale
- Unit 2103 - 1 bedroom + den/1.5 bath - $320,000 ($339 per square foot) - REO
- Unit 2310 - 1 bed/1.5 bath - $298,000 ($353 per square foot) - regular sale
60 Units X (association fee) X (taxes) x (ins) X (3.5 years) = ???
Do you even think they made any money in the end considering how much the carrying costs were?
I guess if they had renters in the units up until they sold it would not have been so bad.
Are you serious??? This was clearly a great deal for them. They bought 60 units at $200 SF. Let’s say the average unit is 1,100 SF. That would be 66,000 SF, so about $13m. HOA fees probably average $650 a month so about $7,800 a year and taxes around $5000 a year. Add in another $1300 for property management and another $400 for maintenance and you’re at a total of $14,500 per unit for carrying cost. Rents are/have been at $2.00 SF and that’s conservative. So that comes out to $2,200 rent per month or $26,400 per year. So total… Read more »
The rental market in Miami really commands 2.00 per sq foot? Thats pretty good.
Where I live the rental market is .50 to .60 cents per sq foot lol. I guess if thats the case they did pretty good.
Maybe a good deal for the Marina Blue investment group but not a good deal for the 60 buyers. Had they known that nude Tarzan-like face-eating zombies would be roaming the streets in broad daylight less than a 1/4 mile from their condo, they probably would have opted not to buy.
Yeah I’m sure these buyers are pretty pissed to find out that after they bought a $340k condo they can’t live out their life long dream of pretending to be a homeless guy and sleep under a freeway on memorial day.
I guess you didn’t consider that these crazy zombies/cannibals with superhuman strength could easily devour the Marina Blue valets, concierge, front desk clerks and security guards and then take the elavator to whatever unit the zombie wishes and then eat the owner. And if in fact voodoo is involved, the zombie could feasibly put a curse on the whole Marina Blue building and all its residents.
I actually watched the Heat game in the party room at Marina Blue last night.Pretty cool room, it’s at least 3 stories tall with great views. But now that you mention it, the front door was actually unlocked! So any zombie could have walked in and, as you say, devoured the concierge. I guess I got lucky that last night the only killing being done was by Lebron.
Drew and Gixxer,
Please explain “nude Tarzan-like face eating zombies”. I am coming back to Miami in 10 days – who, what, where, how, and etc. Have I missed some info while I have been out? Please. Thank you Talk to you later
Have you been living under a rock?
If Drew presents a little to much sarcasm for you, everyone is referring to an incident that happened over memorial day weekend on the MacArthur causeway. People called in police reports of a guy swinging naked like tarzan from light post. Being that it was memorial day weekend with all the craziness going on in south beach police weren’t inclined to respond quickly. They guy later came across a homeless man and began beating him and then started to literally chew on the guys face. There are some gruesome pictures on the internet if you are not squeamish. It was… Read more »
“What Do You Think” –
The only advice I can give you is to stay far, far away from Miami, Fla for the foreseeable future. All of our causeways and bridges have been overtaken by naked men of Haitian origin who may or may not be under the heavy influence of LSD, crack, bath salts, and/or malt liquor. And these men like to eat PEOPLE.
Needless to say, we have a very fluid situation down here, so I recommend that you cancel your plans, unless of course you want to get your face chewed off. Good luck.
Drew and Gixxer,
I really appreciate your input. The guy freaked out and acted ungodly. By the way, to keep my sanity, I walk daily from my condo to any direction within 5 mile range. Some locations are barren and scary. I’ll be extra careful. Thanks!
Ungodly indeed. Good luck, my friend.