An oceanfront mansion in Highland Beach once designed and owned by NASCAR's Jeff Gordon traded hands last month for $12.5 million, Palm Beach County property records show.
The three-story home at 2445 S. Ocean Drive has — get this — an underground garage big enough for 12 cars.
It also has seven bedrooms, 12 full and two-half bathrooms, floor-to-ceiling windows, a gym, home theater and 120 feet of oceanfront.
The buyer is Mark E. Hamister, records show. The seller was Marc A. Musa, represented by Coldwell Banker's Jonathan Postma. Musa paid $13.3 million in 2003, records show.
Gordon bought the land for $2.4 million in 1996 and later built the house.
The luxury housing market is strong, though the $10 million-and-above price range is a "very different animal," with homes taking longer to sell, Postma said.
Boca firm encouraged by retail investment
Steven Levin, president of Southern Management and Development in Boca Raton, said retail investment sales across Florida are heating up. His firm recently brokered a $5.1 million shopping center deal in Wauchula in Central Florida.
"Retailers are back signing leases and negotiating contracts," Levin said. "They weren't doing that three years ago."
SMD owns, leases, sells and manages commercial properties. The 42-year-old firm owns the Reflections office building in West Palm Beach as well as shopping centers in Margate, Pompano Beach, Coconut Creek, Boca Raton and Lake Worth.
Las Olas Isles apartments sell for $4 million
A Venezuelan investor group paid $4 million for two adjacent waterfront apartment buildings in the Las Olas Isles section of Fort Lauderdale.
Villa Venezia, at 132 Isle of Venice, and Riva Apartments, at 136 Isle of Venice, total 16 units and 12 boat slips. The buyer, a group led by Daniel Guenni, is expected to maintain the properties as rentals, according to Giancarlo Cuffia, an agent from Engel & Völkers.
Marcus & Millichap's Joseph Thomas and Adam Duncan represented the seller, Sunar Holding Inc.
Las Olas Isles, a neighborhood east of downtown, is undergoing a renaissance. Developers Dennis Eisinger and Jean Francois Roy have bought three parcels in the area during the past year and plan small condominiums. They have a fourth parcel under contract.
Whole Foods increases distribution space in Pompano
Whole Foods Market Group has renewed its lease and expanded into more space at the Pompano Business Center in Pompano Beach.
The grocery retailer uses the complex as a South Florida distribution facility. It's now leasing about 123,000 square feet, up from 71,754.
The lease fills the entire Building M at the center at 2700 NW 19th Street, according to Industrial Developments International. Atlanta-based IDI owns Building M in a joint venture with Mitsubishi.
Cushman & Wakefield's Charlie Allen and Sky Groden represented Whole Foods. IDI's Larry Dinner represented the landlord.
Hallandale Beach firm expands portfolio
Hallandale Beach-based Beacon Investment Properties participated in a joint venture to buy a 23-story office tower in Chicago for $100 million.
Beacon and Harel Insurance, Investments and Financial Services of Tel Aviv bought the 535,911-square-foot 200 West Monroe in Chicago's West Loop. The seller was Monroe Acquisition LLC.
The office deal is Beacon's fourth in the Chicago area in the past six months. The company says it's pursuing other opportunities in the area as well.
The real estate firm says it has a portfolio of 8 million square feet nationwide, including the Plaza 100 building in downtown Fort Lauderdale and the Towers of Coral Springs.
Last year, the firm paid $253 million for IDS Center, a Minneapolis landmark that was featured in the opening of the hit series "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."
Brokerage handles three Fort Lauderdale office sales
Bonvie Realty has brokered the sale of three eastern Fort Lauderdale buildings over the past month.
The commercial real estate firm represented the buyer, TFRE Holdings, and the seller, KAS Partners LLC, in a $1 million deal for an 11,609-square-foot office-retail building at 5130 N. Federal Highway. TFRE plans to renovate the property.
Bonvie represented the buyer, Steven D'Apuzzo LLC, in the $1.8 million sale of a 20,961-square-foot office-retail building at 2755 E. Oakland Park Blvd.
Bonvie represented the seller, Mayjus LLC, which paid $1.57 million for a 19,000-square-foot office building at 4331 N. Federal Highway. The building traded hands about a year ago for $1.3 million.
Peowers@tribune.com, 561-243-6529 or Twitter @paulowers