Developer Pedro Martin Teams Up To Target Miami's Midtown

A partnership between developer Pedro Martin and real estate investor Avra Jaine could bring massive development to Miami’s Midtown neighborhood.
Their partnership, Terra Skylar Investments, is in the process of producing plans to redevelop four parcels zoned for more than a million square feet of mixed use space.
The new construction would spread over two city blocks and could make Terra Skylar one of the area’s largest property owners. The properties are between Northeast 35th and 36th streets and between Biscayne Boulevard and Second Avenue, east of the massive mixed-use Midtown Miami complex and south of Miami’s Design District.
Through a series of modest deals and with little fanfare, the partners bought the properties over the last three months.
So far, the partners have accumulated nearly 40,000 square feet of vacant land and an aging office building on a 30,307-square-foot parcel. The partners paid a total of $10.15 million for four properties, according to Miami-Dade property records.
Terra Skylar plans to upgrade the seven-story building and retain its tenants until it decides the time is right to redevelop the assembled land into a mixed-use center.
The building now houses mostly smaller law firms and is anchored by a Regions Bank branch.
Midtown is a few miles north of downtown Miami, where Martin’s Terra Group developed two luxury high-rises during the housing boom. Terra emerged unscathed from the recession that pushed other seasoned developers and their condo projects into foreclosure. During the economic crisis, Terra acquired land at a discount in Doral and has become one of the most active residential developers in the area west of Miami International Airport.
Terra, led by Martin and his son, David Martin, recently unveiled plans to redevelop the site of the former Grand Bay hotel in Coconut Grove into a luxurious condo project.
Jaine also has a contract to acquire the Vagabond motel at 7301 Biscayne Blvd. She plans to restore it and operate the property as a boutique hotel. She is seeking to rezone the site to accommodate a taller structure.
The rezoning application is set to go before the Miami City Commission for consideration on Thursday.
 
Source: DBR