Beitel lists Edgewater dev site for $75M, but is it really for sale? 

An out-of-town developer boasts he’s still committed to building a mega-project in Miami. So why would Ben Beitel go through the trouble of hiring a commercial brokerage to market his entire blocklong site?

In a recent phone interview, Beitel insisted his eponymous Brooklyn-based firm is not really interested in selling the nearly 3-acre development site in Edgewater. 

“It is full speed ahead,” Beitel said. “It is not even a question. We are getting demolition bids now. We love Miami.” 

Yet, Beitel Group recently listed the 12-lot assemblage at 3333 Biscayne Boulevard with an asking price of $75 million, an offering obtained by The Real Deal shows. 

The 26-page document, prepared by Miami-based Apex Capital Realty, touts 3333 Biscayne Boulevard as the “only available site left in Edgewater of this magnitude with approved site plans.” 

Apex’s Francisco Rodriguez and Miguel Pinto are marketing the property on behalf of Beitel Group, the offering states. 

The assemblage at 3333 Biscayne Boulevard is not for sale, Beitel insisted.  “We hired Apex to do a valuation,” Beitel said. “We want to understand the value.”

Pinto did not respond to text messages asking if Apex has a standard practice of putting out offerings to obtain a “valuation” instead of a sale. 

While he would consider selling at the right price, Beitel said his firm is still committed to building a three-tower, mixed-use project on the full city block. In 2022, Beitel acquired the 2.9-acre assemblage for $46.8 million and entered into a joint venture with Dever-based multifamily developer Aimco. At the time, Beitel and Aimco said the planned mixed-use project would also include ground-floor retail and office space fronting Biscayne Boulevard. 

His firm owns 80 percent of the project, Beitel said. 

An Aimco spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. 

The Beitel assemblage joins a plethora of Miami and Miami Beach development sites that have hit the market since December. In some cases, the sites are shovel ready, while most of the properties have at least an approved site plan. 

The site at 3333 Biscayne Boulevard is approved for a 1.5 million square-foot development consisting of three buildings with a maximum height of 41 stories, the offering states. 

The assemblage consists of 12 lots, with half the properties consisting of a shuttered Wendy’s fast-food restaurant, four single-family homes and a 26-unit apartment building that are all earmarked for demolition, the offering states. 

The site at 3333 Biscayne Boulevard is on the same block as the Hamilton on the Bay apartment tower owned by Aimco that the company is renovating. Aimco is also planning a 60-story multifamily building with 241 apartments and 4,700 square feet of retail space adjacent to Hamilton on the Bay.