Atlantic Front Condos Bring $16M

MELBOURNE BEACH, FL-A receiver and auctioneer sold 51 of the 68 available units at Ocean Dunes Condominium at Aquarina Golf and Beach Club here. The total amount of the beachfront condo sales was $16.3 million, or roughly $240,000 per unit.

The auction attracted buyers from several Northeast and Midwest states as well as Canada, says Scott Brenner, president of Fort Lauderdale-based Brenner Real Estate Group. The firm worked with Pompano Beach-based Fisher Auction Co. Inc. and Melbourne-based Prudential Sterling Properties on an eight-week marketing campaign.

“The property had been in disarray for over two and a half years,” says Brenner, the third receiver appointed for Ocean Dunes. He adds that the auction process provided a more lucrative conclusion to the sale of the condos than mortgage holders would have realized through a bulk sale, with units sold absolute with no minimums or reserves.

Ocean Dunes consists of three eight-story buildings totaling 84 units at 110-140 Warsteiner Way in Melbourne Beach. Brenner has held the property in receivership for nearly a year and sold the units on behalf of mortgagees Mercantile Bank, a division of Carolina First Bank, and Ohio-based Fifth Third Bank.

Only 16 of the available units were under original ownership, leaving 68 units for Brenner’s marketing push, he says. The three-bedroom condos range from 2,000 to 2,400 square feet and feature luxury amenities such as semi-private elevators, community pool and tennis, onsite golf and direct beach access.

“We were able to address construction issues and stabilize the property,” Brenner says. His company’s property management and asset stabilization teams were able to maximize value by making the property physically attractive and functional for new buyers, he says.