Azora, Vizcaya flip Coconut Grove office to El-Ad for $62.3M

Azora Private Solutions and Vizcaya Capital bought the Grove at 3250 Mary last September for $47.5 million. About a year later they sold the five-story Coconut Grove office building for $62.3 million, Commercial Observer reports. The gain is nearly $15 million. The building spans 80,000 square feet.

An entity tied to El-Ad National Properties took the other side. El-Ad National, the Boca Raton-based arm of Israeli billionaire Isaac Tshuva's El-Ad Group, usually builds residential and mixed-use projects, so an office building is a departure for the buyer, according to the outlet. Berkadia's Omar Morales and Jaret Turkell represented the sellers.

At $779 a square foot, the price says more about the address than the building. The structure dates to 1982 and sits on 1.3 acres. Brokers describe demand from luxury residential buyers and high-net-worth office users, set against thin supply. Larry Page spent about $170 million last year assembling a residential compound in Coconut Grove, Commercial Observer notes.

El-Ad has been buying South Florida assets in a hurry. Four months ago it paid $45.5 million for a nearby low-rise condo that Commercial Observer says will likely be redeveloped. Earlier this month it paid $60 million for an oceanfront Fort Lauderdale hotel. The broader office market is another matter. This week's Private Real Estate Daily coverage puts office CMBS delinquencies at 8.89 percent in July, above the 2012 record. Term defaults drove $2.82 billion in fresh distress, per the same report. The trade is a reminder that the office repricing is selective: scarce supply in a wealthy neighborhood still commands a premium.