Buyers, both domestic and foreign, are capitalizing on Miami’s continuing commercial and residential investment opportunities. Recent details of new deals and reports reaffirm that Miami is still where everyone wants to be.

The Van Dyke Café’s New Landlord

The Van Dyke Café, located in the 1924 iconic Van Dyke building originally developed by Carl Fisher and at the heart of the famous Lincoln Road, just got a new landlord. New York buyers, focused on Miami Beach’s hot investment opportunities, purchased the 22,500 square foot mixed-used building for $16 million last month. According to the Miami-Dade County Records, RC Lincoln Road Holdings LLC, managed by Richard Chera, is the new owner. Chera is an executive at Crown Acquisitions Inc., a family run commercial real estate investor and landlord that specializes in retail. Chera’s savvy-ness lead him to not only a great location choice, but a smart deal- according to CoStar Group, the building is already fully leased.

Residential Foreign Investment in Florida Also on the Rise

The Standard & Poor’s/Case Shiller’s home index released last Tuesday is reporting home price gains over the past year, with Miami being the third highest market in the country, up by 4.4%. S&P attributes the rise to foreign buyers who tend to pay in cash. The Miami Herald reports that 31.3% of purchases by foreign buyers in Florida are either in Miami or on Miami Beach. In Florida alone, foreign buyers spent $10.71 billion this past year. The number one nationality to buy is Canada, accounting for 31% of foreign purchases, followed by Brazil at 9%. Latin American and the Caribbean together though made up 35% of all purchases. Brokers from The Keyes Company and EWM commented Wednesday that Europeans are also seeking investments outside of the “Euro Zone” due to the significant unrest and instability in those markets.

Last, but certainly not least, the top spending last month goes to a Russian who purchased a mansion in Indian Creek for a record $47MM.

It is clear that interest in the Miami commercial and residential market is strong and will continue to attract investors from all over the country, and the world.