WORLD PROPERTY CHANNEL ®

(MIAMI, FL) -- In one the priciest land deals seen in Florida in years, an affiliate of Buenos Aires-based Consultatio, S.A. paid $78 million or $1,738 per square foot for a 10.3-acre oceanfront site that previously housed the 300-room, eight-story  Sonesta Beach Resort in Key Biscayne, FL.

The price equates to about $7.5 million per acre.

Sonesta Beach Resort

The sellers were SBR-Fortune Associates LLLP ("SBR"), a 50/50 partnership comprised of affiliates of Sonesta International Hotels Corp. of Boston  and Miami-based Fortune International Realty, headed by Edgardo de Fortuna.

The property in the transaction is not the similarly named 390-room Trump International Sonesta Beach Resort which is located at 18001 Collins Ave., Sunny Isles Beach, FL, just north of Miami Beach.

(Please see,  "Fortune International Takes Big Hits on 2 South Florida Real Estate Deals, Sept. 7, 2009")

Manuel de Zárraga

The Miami office of HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P.) arranged the sale. The HFF team of executive managing director Manuel de Zárraga, senior managing directors Dan Carlo and Dan Peek and associate directors Jaret Turkell and Luis Castillo served as the exclusive sale advisor to the property owners.

The Atlantic Ocean site contains over 500 linear feet and is entitled for 165 residential units.

"The former Sonesta site in Key Biscayne is the premier oceanfront development site along the eastern seaboard of the U.S. in what is far and away Florida's most vibrant residential and hotel market catering to the affluent markets of South America and Europe," says de Zárraga.

"That a prominent development group from overseas was the ultimate buyer of this unique property is a testament to how the international community views greater Miami as a very desirable venue for long-term investments," adds Carlo.

HFF (NYSE: HF) operates out of 17 offices nationwide and offers clients a fully integrated national capital markets platform including debt placement, investment sales, structured finance, private equity, loan sales and commercial loan servicing. 

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