UPDATE: MCZ/Centrum Buys One Flamingo Tower for $164M, Puts Two On Hold

Aimco put the landmark at 1500 Bay Rd., commonly known as "the Bird," up for sale in mid-June 2005. The team from CB Richard Ellis, retained by Aimco to market the complex, declined to provide an estimated price tag, but area brokers told GlobeSt.com the asset could command between $650 million and $700 million. If MCZ/Centrum exercises all of its options, the full property's base price would be $600 million.

However, the agreement also provides Aimco with profit participation if certain thresholds are met. Aimco will receive the first $19.8 million in condo-conversion proceeds after certain, but unspecified, development fees and returns on the buyer's equity are met, plus 20% of the buyer's net profits after that. The agreement also provides Aimco with $600 per unit per year for use of the health club on the complex, "if and when each tower is sold."

In late June, occupancy at the Flamingo was 90% and rent rates ranged from studios at $1,039 a month to three-bedroom units beginning at $2,709 a month. The average size on units in the complex is 1,009 sf. One broker who provided GlobeSt.com with an estimated price tag for the sale of the complex also said condo units could sell for $500 per sf or more, which would put the average unit price at more than $500,000.

Aimco will continue to operate South Tower for up to a month and the other towers if and until the options are exercised. The options call for acquisition of the 614-unit North Tower at $169 million, which equates to $275,224 a unit, between Sept. 1, 2006 and Feb. 28, 2007, and acquisition of the newer 513-unit Central Tower for $267.5 million, or $521,442 a unit, between Dec. 1, 2007 and May 31, 2008. "Under certain conditions," according to a statement from Aimco, "the buyer may extend these periods."

Robert Given, SVP of CBRE's South Florida multi-housing team, along with EVP's Jay Massirman and Sean Cunningham and associate Gerard Yetming, represented Aimco in the transaction. Aimco acquired the North and South towers, then-known as Morton Towers, for $53.6 million in 1997 and also purchased an adjacent parcel for $4.4 million. After renovating the two towers, it completed the Central Tower and some townhouses, adding 513 units to the complex in 2004.

MCZ/Centrum entered South Florida with conversion of the Wave in Hollywood Beach in 2004. Since then it has acquired another half-dozen properties in which conversion is either completed or underway. Among them are: the Tides, Cite, Regent Park at Young Circle; Bay Club in Aventura, and, most recently Sian, which will combine existing and new buildings into a mix of residential and hotel condos.