Trade Zone Property Sold

Codina Group is buying the 47-acre Miami Free Trade Zone complex and land near the International Airport for an estimated $40 million to develop Beacon CyberPort. The price for the high-tech park equates to about $851,064 per acre or $19.54 psf.

German Leiva and his wife have controlled the property since the late 1970s. They will continue to manage the existing complex and work with Codina to oversee its expansion.

Targeting telecom switching centers and other tech businesses, the project will incorporate the trade zone’s existing 750,000 sf of warehouse, showroom and office, while adding 200,000 sf of new facilities.

The Miami asset has been one of 13 trade zones in Florida and the only privately-held property with federal permission to receive exports duty-free for assembly and reshipping.

Codina’s brokerage unit also represents the Swerdlow Group’s high-tech LightSpeed Center at Beacon Tradeport in the Airport West area. Codina executive vice president Eric Swanson, however, sees no conflict of interest in handling both developments. He feels Beacon CyperPort focuses on tenants looking for less than 50,000 sf, while the new two million sf Swerdlow project is courting larger users.