MIAMI-Two Art Deco buildings on South Beach have been sold to the new condo conversion division of Burstyn Properties for an aggregate $5.6 million. The Evelyn at 1600 Euclid Ave. and the Knickerbocker at 130 Third St. will take the company's portfolio of "boutique" residential condominiums to seven.

The Evelyn, which was built in 1936, "has been dormant, since it was acquired [by another company] in 2000," David Burstyn, president, tells GlobeSt.com. His company acquired it in "a distressed situation" for approximately $2.1 million through local lawyer Louis Zaretsky, who also arranged a $1.6-million loan for the acquisition. Burstyn expects renovations to cost about $3 million.

The three-story Evelyn will be converted to contain 21 residential condos. A majority of the units will average between 550 sf and 600 sf, and sell at prices beginning the mid-$200,000s. Three penthouse units of about 1,200 sf "will be about $900,000 or maybe $1 million," Burstyn says. The condo fee is $170 a month, regardless of unit size. Completion is scheduled for the end of this year, and South Beach Investment Realty is handling the sales.

Burstyn paid Cloud Nine Holdings, a private investment company, $3.4 million for the Knickerbocker, which was built in 1926 as a hotel and is now a residential rental property. It will be completely gutted, and its conversion and renovation into between 19 and 22 units "will cost a couple of million," Burstyn says. Units will range from 500 sf to 950 sf, and prices will begin in the low $300,000s and reach to "$700,000 and change." The condo fee will be "about 150 a month."

Brothers David and Bradley Burstyn are the third generation in locally based Burstyn Properties. Together they launched a division devoted to converting historic Miami Beach hotel and rental properties into condominiums. "Our buyers are primarily second-home buyers, and they like small, historic Art Deco buildings," he says. Other conversions in the portfolio include the Bennett, the 52-unit Hemmingway in Fort Pierce, 12-unit Sage on 15th, 12-unit Sage on Lenox, and 22-unit Sage on 123rd. Sage is developing as a Burstyn brand.