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Hotel coming? Harry Gross’ G Holdings buys Edgewater dev site for $29M
Buyer has built high-rise hospitality projects in New York
New York hotel developer Harry Gross’ G Holdings bought a development site in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood, The Real Deal has learned.
Infinity Real Estate sold the 1.1-acre property at 2501 Biscayne Boulevard for $28.5 million, according to the seller’s news release. The firm had planned to develop the site with a 308-unit apartment project, and was on the cusp of submitting an application to the city when it was approached by a buyer, the release says. Leslie Maister of CBRE represented the seller.
The release didn’t name the buyer, and Maister and Infinity Partner David Berg declined to comment on the buyer’s identity. But a source said the purchasing entity is Granite 2501 Biscayne. State corporate records show the limited liability company ties to other entities that are led by Harry, Ronnie and Etai Gross. The LLCs also are based at the same New York address listed for the family’s G Holdings.
Harry Gross was an active New York hotel developer over a decade ago. In 2011, his Granite Broadway Development company made a splash with plans for a 68-story hotel on the northwest corner of Broadway and 54th Street, which was the tallest hotel-only tower in the U.S. at the time. A 2013 profile of Harry Gross in the New York Post reported the project cost $319.5 million and consisted of a 378-key Courtyard by Marriott hotel and a 261-key Residence Inn.
Granite Broadway’s other hotels as of 2011 included the Courtyard New York JFK Airport, the Courtyard New York Manhattan/Times Square South and the Residence Inn Manhattan/Times Square, according to The New York Times.
Since then, Gross has largely remained away from the public eye. Media reports about him and his projects dwindled in recent years, though the firm did make a move on Florida five years ago. In 2019, Gross filed plans for a 150-key hotel and 5,000-square-foot convenience store on U.S. 27 in southwest Florida’s Polk County, according to real estate website GrowthSpotter.
Ronnie Gross and G Holdings’ Laura Okamura didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
A partnership between Arch Companies and Infinity Real Estate originally planned to develop the Edgewater site with a 20-story, 250-apartment project, TRD reported in 2021. Arch had bought the eight-lot assemblage for $13 million in 2016, records show. Infinity partnered on the project afterward and increased plans to 308 units.
Arch was not a seller in the recent deal, Berg said, declining further comment. Infinity increased the development capacity on the site by purchasing 140 units of density from properties elsewhere in the city, the release says. Infinity planned a 26-story project, though the site allows for up to 36 stories by right.
The firm plans to use the sale proceeds in a 1031 exchange for the purchase of development sites elsewhere, Berg said.
Founded by managing partner Steven Kassin, Infinity is a New York-based real estate buyer and developer, according to the release and the firm’s LinkedIn. It also has a Miami Beach office.
In Miami’s Little River, Infinity and MVW Partners plan a Live Local Act multifamily project with 400 units at 8038 Northeast Second Avenue. Forty percent of the units will be below market rate, Berg said. In Fort Lauderdale, Infinity and Bachow Ventures plan a 371-unit rental project at 11 North Andrews Avenue.
Developers have zeroed in on Edgewater, transforming the area into a condo and multifamily mecca.
Urban Network Capital Group wants to build a 27-story, 180-unit condo-hotel on the northwest corner of Northeast 36th Street and Northeast Fifth Avenue. Also, Pacific Star Capital plans to redevelop the Denny’s restaurant and parking lot at 3600 Biscayne Boulevard into an 18-story, 175-apartment building with 37,000 square feet of retail.