Reese Stigliano, President of Stigliano Commercial Real Estate, is pleased to announce the sale of the former Cuyahoga Wrecking site, a federally-designated Brownfield, located on State Road 9 in the City of Opa Locka.
Declared a public nuisance in 1986, the site was the dumping grounds of the Cuyahoga Company, one of the most active demolition contractors in South Florida. The Seller was Miller Legg Capital Holdings, LLC. Stigliano represented the sellers. The Buyer, Castle Opa, LLC, purchased the 7.6-acre parcel for $475,000. The Buyer is planning a mixed-use development to include a six-story, 250-unit apartment building, retail, and a possible hotel.
To consummate the sale, there were some enormous obstacles to overcome, said Stigliano. The property was under contract for almost two years. During that time, Reese, in cooperation with co-broker Pete Messina of CBRE, had to deal with outstanding code enforcement liens of over $1.8 million from the City of Opa Locka, which was under investigation by the FBI for corruption charges and a 2015 Miami-Dade environmental cleanup lawsuit that carried a $25,000 per day penalty.
Fortunately, the owners had the patience to allow Stigliano and the Buyer the time to unravel the issues encompassing the property. Prior to the closing, Reese was able to assist the Buyer in negotiating a Lien Settlement Agreement with the City of Opa Locka, reducing the $1.8 million in municipal liens to less than $200,000. Stigliano was also instrumental in negotiating a Consent Agreement with the Miami- Dade County Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources (DERM), which laid out a remediation plan to clean up the site and reduced the $25,000 per day penalty from over $18 million to $72,000.
“Even though the dollar size of the transaction was relatively low, the complexity and variety of issues involved with the property made this one of the most challenging transactions in my 35-year career in the commercial real estate business,” said Reese.
