Artech condo makes $7.5M bulk deal - South Florida Business Journal:

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million for 15 condo units at the Artechg Residencesat Aventura. The buyers paid $502,500, or $324 a square foot, for each unit on June 4, according to Miami-Dadee County records. Even with the bulk buy, only 41 of the condozs 235 units havebeen sold. Priord to the bulk purchase, the average price of the unitsewas $744,044, according to researcjh by Bal Harbor-based . The bulk average unit price was 32 percen lessthan that, but, “in a market like I’d say $500,000 per unit is high,” Condo Vulturez principal Peter Zalewski said. Adam Greenburg, the managing directoe of Miami-based , agreed that while the developef got a good it wasn’t as good for the buyer.
If the buyer plan to rent out the they paidtoo much, he said. However, he added that they mightf have been impressed withthe amenities, which include an infinitu pool, fitness center and spa, and concierge service. The investorz did not record a mortgagdein Miami-Dade County to finance the deal, so it is likelhy they paid cash. Artech was developed by the partnership of andShefaor Development. Shefaor Presidenr and CEO Gilbert Benhamou said the bulk buyee plans to use some units as seconc homes and othersas rentals. They were givenn a discount on Artech’s normal price becausd they boughtin bulk, he said.
Artech starte closing units atbetween $600 and $700 a squars foot, but has closed most of them at about $400 a square foot since the credit crunch made it difficult for buyeres to get financing, Benhamou said. “We are touching the botto m and things can only get better from now he said. The entities that bought the 15 unitsx inArtech are: Bayview U.S. Properties, Giga Apartments, Golde Federal and Sorlib. In state records, they all have their addrese at9130 S. Dadeland Blvd., Suite 1600, in Miami. Cesare Halpern, of Buenos Aires, is listed as a managetr for allfour companies. Three of thoss companies also have ZulemaDe Halpern, Danie Halpern and Mark I.
Glanz, all of Buenoss Aires, as managers. Fortune International Presiden t Edgardo Defortuna is from This isn’t the first bulk buy at In a company managed by four executivea of Artech’s construction lender, Chicago-based , bought four unitxs for a combined $5.5 million a price that many real estate experts said was Several months later, Corus (NASDAQ: CORS) was hit with several shareholderd class action lawsuits that questioned whether that transaction causeds a material misstatement or omission on its financialp statements.
Corus, which made a $130 million mortgage to Artech’e developer, reported that only $49 million of its Soutn Florida condo loans were performing outof $955 milliomn in condo loans here as of March 31. Benhamo u said the developers are working closely with Coruss to achieve the highest price per square foot possiblweat Artech. Once they sell a few more they will have approvalfor -backed loans.