FORT LAUDERDALE, FL-A joint-venture between New York City-based Delma Properties and 13th Floor Investments, a Miami-based opportunistic commercial real estate investment company, paid $11M in cash for the remaining 118 condominiums at the 219-unit Monteverde, a K. Hovnanian Homes development. The condominium is part of the Renaissance Commons planned unit development. The deal closed on May 24.

In addition to the condominium units, the property comes with two development parcels and current approvals for 228 units. Because there was a foundation poured on the development pads, the buyers may, within the next 18 months, build more condominiums, or another kind of development, says Robert Given, executive vice president at CB Richard Ellis in Miami, who was one of the brokers who represented the seller.

The Monteverde units sold for an average of $93,220, or $79 per square foot, says Given. At the height of the market, starting at the beginning of 2007, the developer closed on 101 units averaging $203 per square foot.

“The closing of Monteverde at Renaissance Commons represents our 20th closing of a partially sold-out condominium development in the last two years,” says Given. “A lot of our sellers have owned their assets all cash, without a lender forcing them to sell,” he says. “But about 75% of fractured condominium (owners) were being pressured to sell by the lender. In this case though, there was no debt,” says Given. The developer just wanted to sell and get back to its core business of building single family homes, he says.

With the purchase of the Monteverde units, 13th Floor Investments has half a dozen similar projects in South Florida, but the seller has only one condominium development, says Given. The 13th Floor has enough condominium units to take advantage of the economies of scale when it comes to leasing, management and maintenance, whereas the original developer does not have these advantages, he says.

The Renaissance Commons is a redevelopment of an old Motorola site. Replacing that Motorola campus is new retail and office development, in addition to housing.