Chariff Realty Group, a Miami-based real estate firm, closed a $6.9 million sale of Little Haiti warehouses that the buyer is to use to work on the Magic City project.

Chariff Realty Group president and broker Lyle Chariff and principal and broker Mauricio Zapata represented Salvatore Investments Inc. in selling three warehouses at 300, 310 and 320 NE 60th St. to Guy Laliberté, the founder and creative guide of Cirque du Soleil who has partnered with the developers of the Magic City Innovation District. The deal closed Dec. 11.

The Magic City Innovation District is a proposed mixed-use art, entertainment and technology project roughly between Northeast 60th and 64th streets and east of Northeast Second Avenue.

Laliberté joined the rest of the developers who are project founders Tony Cho, of Metro 1, and Bob Zangrillo, of Dragon Global, who are working on this under Cho Dragon Management. Miami-based real estate development and investment firm Plaza Equity Partners, led by Neil Fairman, Anthony Burns and George Helmstetter, also is part of the team.

The developers so far have applied for a re-zoning, according to the city of Miami.

Laliberté is to use the warehouses as offices and storage to work on Magic City, Zapata said.

Jose Sbarra, of Salvatore Investments, recently built the warehouses, which have high ceilings and overall better quality than the typical distribution warehouse, Zapata said.

“The area, since it's growing, it's calling for that type of product. It's a higher quality product than a regular loading dock warehouse for distribution. This is more like for somebody who has a special need,” he said.

The sale breaks down to $356 per square foot, Zapata said.

And that's high by current standards but given the future area growth, including the Magic City plans, this price will look like a good deal in the future, Chariff and Zapata said.

“It's obvious that it's expensive today. I am already getting emails today (from) people (who) just don't understand the pricing,” Chariff said.

Added Zapata: ”In the very near future this is going to look like a very good deal. Although it looks like today that he paid a premium, very soon it's going to look like a great deal.”