Rivani Buys Former China Grill Building in South of Fifth
An office and retail building at the gateway to South of Fifth changes hands as Rivani keeps adding to his Miami Beach footprint.
Robert Rivani’s Black Lion Investment Group has bought the eight-story office and retail building at 404 Washington Avenue in Miami Beach, the former home of China Grill, from an entity tied to the Trump Group. The property sits at the gateway to South of Fifth, the neighborhood where Rivani has been building out a growing footprint through CATCH, GAIA and now this deal.
Why it matters
This is the third Rivani-linked story to run through our South Beach coverage since July. On July 9 he sold the Wynwood Jungle retail building to Tabani Group for $25.7 million, and on July 23 Miami Beach commissioners sent his $50 million office expansion at 1691 Washington Avenue to a November referendum. Selling in Wynwood, expanding on Washington and now buying at the South of Fifth gateway is not a single trade, it is active portfolio churn, with Rivani rotating capital toward the beach corridor where he already has the most invested. For developers watching where private capital is concentrating in Miami, that pattern is the story as much as any one closing.
The numbers
The Real Deal reported the price at $32 million. Connect CRE, citing the buyer, put the confirmed figure at $31.5 million, or about $516 per square foot on the roughly 61,000-square-foot building. BridgeInvest provided a $29.5 million acquisition loan, arranged by Berkadia’s Brad Williamson, Scott Wadler and Michael Basinski. Dominion Partners LP, the Trump Group affiliate led by Eddie and Jules Trump, had owned the property since paying $13.8 million for it in 1999.
What’s next
Rivani has not detailed redevelopment plans beyond promising renderings, and the building keeps its current tenant roster of Universal Music Group, Marriott Vacations Worldwide, 26North and Major Food Group’s HaSalon for now. With one sale, one expansion fight and one acquisition inside a month, the next signal to watch is whether Rivani keeps rotating out of some South Beach assets while doubling down on others, or starts consolidating around this stretch of Washington Avenue for good.