Miami Riverhouse Jumpstarts Development Near Civic Center

The price, $11.3 million, makes it one of the largest transactions to date in this part of the city. Seabrook acquired the property in 1994 for $1.8 million.

Boulanger and Rousso will develop Miami Riverhouse, a 199-unit condominium complex on the property. Meanwhile, while retaining a minority interest in Miami Riverhouse, Seabrook's owners, who are members the Burstyn hotelier family here, turn their attention to development of a 650,000-sf mixed-use property on their Days Inn site nearby. That site is adjacent to a planned 150,000-sf research center for University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine.

Miami Riverhouse and the mixed-use development respond to requests by the city, university and hospital for increased residential density and supporting services. While the area employs more than 40,000 people, its already-tight supply of residential space is being eroded further as medical professionals and others acquire single-family homes to meet their expanding office-space needs.

Judah Burstyn tells GlobeSt.com he expects the as-yet-unnamed mixed-use development to break ground in 14 months. Jay Massirman of the local office of CB Richard Ellis is consulting with Burstyn in identifying a national development team to partner with Miami Hospital Investment and Prime Realty Investors Corp., the two local development companies of which Burstyn is president.

The complex will consist of two 32-story towers. One will contain approximately 300,000 sf of office space, "to accommodate professional offices for doctors, medical practitioners and lawyers serving the justice building here," he says. A residential tower will have 200 units, "geared for a range of buyers, from nurses and technical hospital workers to doctors and executives." Pricing, he says, "will begin at $175,000 and reach to about $700,000 for larger, penthouse units."

Burstyn estimates construction of the residential tower will cost about $180 per sf and about $200 per sf for the office tower. Both buildings will also contain ground-floor retail. "My brother and I have been a major supporter and investor of the Civic Center area for over 10 years," he says, "and are very excited to see the wonderful changes in the area. Our newest project will create jobs, residences and facilitate the city's request for high density projects in this highly endorsed employment zone." Designated as both an Empowerment and Enterprise zone, it receives a variety of incentives, including some tax abatements.