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Midtown Miami gets new ownerThe original developer of Midtown Miami cashed out in order to raise funds for construction.By ELAINE WALKERMidtown Miami’s original developer has sold the remaining 16 acres of the mixed-use project’s undeveloped land, plus another adjacent six-acre parcel.Midtown Equities of Manhattan sold most of its holdings in the 56-acre development to Midtown Opportunities, a private investment group. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.The sale comes as Midtown Miami overcame the challenges of the recession and the real estate market to become one of area’s more successful examples of an integrated urban mixed-use project, where people can live, work and play. It was a vision that the Cayre family of Midtown Equities has spent nearly a decade cultivating.Jack Cayre, principal of Midtown Equities, said they had Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, a real estate capital markets firm, marketing the property for many months, looking to raise additional equity for the buildout of the site. But Cayre says it wasn’t all about price.“There were a lot of people that didn’t have the right vision,” Cayre said. “They wanted to turn Midtown into another, ‘Me, too,’ area. We wanted someone that really got it, embraced the whole cool factor and really had the drive to continue to make that happen. We’re not looking to count the last dollar off the table. We’re looking to see Midtown Miami evolve into what we’ve always been talking about.”Cayre’s firm will continue to own and manage more than 110,000-square-feet of retail and office space, located on the ground floors of the existing three residential buildings. These retail tenants include Sugarcane raw bar grill, Mercadito Midtown, The Cheese Course, Sustain, DogBar and Green Monkey. The company also owns about 20 residential units, Cayre said.Midtown Equities, which paid $34.5 million for the 56-acre site, recouped most of its initial investment selling half the original parcel to Developers Diversified Realty to build the Shops at Midtown Miami. The deal doesn’t impact the land owned by Developers Diversified.Miami developer Alex Vadia will manage future development on the site through Midtown Development.“We saw this as an opportunity of a lifetime to purchase 22 acres in an urban setting,” said Vadia, 27, whose family has been a real estate developer in Florida for 50 years, developing the vision for Wellington in Palm Beach County and projects in Lee County and the Florida Panhandle.But Cayre expects to stay involved in future development on the site as a joint venture partner for individual components.“A key component of this deal is us working together going forward,” Cayre said. “You’re looking at billions of dollars in future development. It made sense for us to bring in fresh capital for that. We wanted to make sure Midtown is positioned to grow and thrive.”The Midtown site that Vadia’s group purchased is between Notheast 36th and 29th Streets, then bordered by East Coast Avenue to the east and Buena Vista Avenue to the west. The adjacent parcel, the old Chiquita Banana distribution site used as Midtown sales center, is located on the other side of the railroad tracks at Northeast 29th Street and Second Avenue.“We see it as a development that has traction,” Vadia said. “We’re evaluating anything that will enhance the community.”Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/12/07/2536229/midtown-miami-gets-new-owner.html#ixzz1fu1ACwrr Its the same people that bought the site of Infinity II...