French Investor Picks Up Bargain in Jockey Club Remains

MIAMI-The once high-flying Jockey Club and part of its condominium wing on north Biscayne Boulevard, an oasis for celebrities and a discreet haven for corporate chiefs in the 1970s and 1980s, is under French ownership today.

Mired in foreclosure proceedings in 1986 and again in 1996, the 30-year-old, 60,054-sf Jockey Club, along with several buildings and recreational facilities at the former Jockey Club Condominium community were sold for $3.987 million at a judicial auction to Jupiter Miami Building Co.

Jupiter manager Michel Azeroual bought the property for an undisclosed French investor.

The seller of record was Kenneth A. Welt, the court-appointed trustee for the property’s last owners, Agincourt IV and Thomas W. Fawell of Chicago.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge A. J. Crystal approved the sale which area brokers tell GlobeSt.com translated to one of the best commercial real estate acquisitions of the year. Included in the sale were 9.6 prime acres at 11111 Biscayne Boulevard, the North Miami, FL site of the Jockey Club.

Based on the land itself, the price equates to $415,313 per acre or $9.53 per sf.

“That’s a fair price right now, but based on the future potential of that area, the dirt could be valued later for at least twice the sale price,” a broker from a major Miami brokerage tells GlobeSt.com on condition of anonymity.

Based only on the 60,054 sf in the Jockey Club, the price equates to $66.39 per sf, about one quarter of the replacement cost which area brokers estimate at $150 per sf to $200 per sf or at least $12 million today.

And based on the estimated 10 condo units that were part of the deal, the price equates to $398,700 per unit. The condos today would have a comparable or higher replacement cost per unit, construction industry estimators familiar with comparable luxury projects tell GlobeSt.com.

The sale also included the club’s bar and grill, restaurant space, pool, tennis courts, clubhouse and marine lease facilities.

“You’re talking about a package that, if it were new, would be valued in the area of $30 million to $50 million,” a senior broker specializing in luxury class A shelter ventures in Broward County tells GlobeSt.com on condition of anonymity.