WORLD PROPERTY CHANNEL ®

(MIAMI BEACH, FL) -- How far have apartment building prices fallen in Miami-Dade County? A recently recorded transaction says it all. 

A 51-year-old, 24-unit building in the trendy South Beach neighborhood of Miami Beach sold for $2.9 million or $121,000 per unit and $194 per square foot.

Peter Zalewski

Peter Zalewski, a principal at Bal Harbour, FL-based Condo Vultures® LLC.which monitors  the Miami-Dade County multifamily and condominium market, says "the asking price for the property back in 2006 was $5.5 million."

He adds, "Before the real estate market tumbled in South Beach, this project would have been suitable for a condo conversion that would have sought in excess of $350 per square foot."

South Florida developer Allen R. Greenwald's corporation, 1409 Lincoln Road LLC,  paid $4 million, or $167,000 per unit and $267 per square foot, for the 1958 structure in April 2006, according to Miami-Dade County real estate records.

Lincoln Road, Miami Beach

The three-story, 14,979-square-foot building is located immediately west of the Lincoln Road pedestrian mall..The building has 12 one-bedroom units and 12 studios ranging from 404 square feet to 926 square feet.

The buyer was Stef USA Inc., a Miami Beach-based corporation headed by Stephane Ginez and Caroline Charpie, according to Florida Secretary of State records.
Zalewski says Greenwald's corporation began renovations on the project in March 2007 but ultimately ran the property as a rental building.

"The new owners are taking a similar approach, asking $975 per month, or $1.51 per square foot, for a 644-square-foot unit with hardwood floors, jalousie windows, and a wall unit air conditioner," the broker says.

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