CLIENT NEWS: Michael Stern, David Martin buy Miami Beach development site, Bikini Hostel property for $120M
September 18, 2025Developer Michael Stern’s JDS and David Martin’s Terra bought the development site for a planned waterfront condo tower in Miami Beach for roughly $120 million, The Real Deal has learned.
The developers completed the bulk purchase of Bay Garden Manor at 1250 West Avenue, according to sources. Martin took an interest in the deal in late July. Stern’s other partners include Gianluca Vacchi’s GV Development and RG Development.
The price includes the bulk condo purchase and the Bikini Hostel property at 1247 West Avenue, sources told TRD. Northwind Group financed the deal with a $98 million loan.
Bay Garden Manor, a 15-story, 238-unit building, was constructed in 1964. The developer’s 1250 West Ave LLC had purchased at least two dozen condos at the building prior to the latest and final batch of closings. The developers will eventually terminate the condo association, which is a required legal step before the developer can tear down the building.
Residents can remain in the building for about six months, according to sources.
Jorge Betancourt, president of Bay Garden Manor’s condo association, said the building began receiving offers from developers in 2021 and 2022, after the deadly Surfside condo collapse.
Condo buyouts are notoriously difficult because developers are sometimes working with more than 100 individual owners, some of whom live in these buildings. Selling their units was “unsolicited for a lot of people,” Betancourt said.
Betancourt noted that the cost to maintain, repair and insure the building was prohibitive for many owners. Insurance for the building increased to $800,000 in a five-year period, up from about $240,000, he said.
Dan Marinberg, an attorney and broker, brokered the Bay Garden Manor deal. Marinberg, who sold five units himself to the developers, said he’s working with six other condo buildings in South Florida that are considering selling in bulk to developers.
“Condo buyouts like this deal are exceedingly rare because of what a successful deal requires — critical legal analysis, proper location, proper zoning, the right buyer and willing sellers,” Marinberg said in a statement.
JDS and its partners secured a contentious approval this summer from the Miami Beach City Commission that will allow for a taller and slimmer tower on the bayfront West Avenue site, which is next to Monad Terrace. JDS and partners developed Monad Terrace, a luxury condo project that was designed by French architect Jean Nouvel.
The new building at 1250 West Avenue can be up to 330 feet tall, more than double the height allowed as of right. But a reduction in density brings the maximum number of condos to 125 units from 286 allowed by right.
The JDS-Terra venture will redevelop Bikini Hostel across the street as part of a public benefits package it’s providing to the city. Stern has declined to disclose the purchase price for Bikini Hostel, but sources said it was about $20 million.
The Miami Beach commission granted final approvals to the development agreement and zoning amendments at a special meeting in late June. At the same meeting, Martin also secured an upzoning for the Deauville Beach Resort property at 6701 Collins Avenue. Martin is a 25 percent owner of that property; the controversial Meruelo family holds the majority interest.
