South Florida developer Michael Swerdlow, who sold out of a major condo-retail project in North Miami just before the real-estate bust, wants to reacquire the property and complete the stalled venture.
The prime 184-acre site, owned by the city of North Miami, goes up for second-round bids next month. The Miami-based Swerdlow Group and New York developer Bruce Eichner are vying to land the parcel called Biscayne Landing.
The minimum bid is set at $17.5 million, with an additional $1.5 million annual lease and other considerations. That's considerably less than the property's value in the pre-bust days.
In 2006, Swerdlow sold out to his partners, who were subsequently hit by the slumping real-estate market and buried by some $200 million in losses. The only remnant of activity on the site are two condo towers, which have been split off from the property.
Biscayne Landing is situated between the Biscayne Bay Environmental Preserve and U.S. 1, and surrounded by schools and commercial properties. The city calls it the largest tract of undeveloped land in northeastern Miami-Dade County.
"Two-hundred acres is a rare thing in Miami," Swerdlow told Sunshine State News. "I loved the project so much I wanted back in."
But Swerdlow, who is partnering this time with New York-based landlord Richard LeFrak, also calls the site "excruciatingly complicated."
Noting that it housed a landfill in the 1980s, Swerdlow calls the tract "environmentally problematic." While the organic debris has decomposed, the site is littered with piles of broken concrete and will require extensive prep work.
On the other hand, Swerdlow notes that the concrete can be repurposed for roadbeds and he envisions Biscayne Landing emerging as a natural home for midrise condos of eight stories or less.
Swerdlow puts commercial before residential, however.
"There's a huge market now for big-box retail," he says, listing Lowe's and BJs as possible additions.
"They can be produced quickly, and it changes around the numbers and ease with which you can do the project. It changes your internal rates of return and it starts to make other development easier," he explains.
Eichner's Continuum Co. is playing things closer to the vest.
Mike Merola, general counsel for the company, declined to offer any details, saying, "We think the project presents a unique opportunity, and we are pursuing a thoughtful response [to the city]."
Hardscrabble North Miami will never be confused with glittery South Beach. With a quarter of its 60,000 residents living below the poverty line, the self-anointed "City of Progress" has a reputation for political squabbling. But municipal officials appear to agree on one thing: The time is right for Biscayne Landing.
A prospectus for the parcel reads:
"Located midway between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, this site is situated in a desired portion of the largest metropolitan area of Florida, within walking distance to David Lawrence K-8 Center, the Alonzo and Tracy Mourning High School-Biscayne Bay Campus, Florida International University-Biscayne Bay Campus and a large number of retail stores along Biscayne Boulevard/U.S.1."
The site is also situated near Biscayne Bay and Floridas largest urban park, Oleta River State Park.
Having made $23 million in offsite improvements to Biscayne Landing, the city is ready to move forward. And five years after selling out, Swerdlow is ready to move back in.
"It's a great location and an unbelievably good piece of land," he said.
The city's deadline for final proposals from Swerdlow and Eichner is Sept. 20.
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Reach Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
