F. Thomas Godart, managing director at Godart Florida Real Estate Investments in Fort Lauderdale. Photo: Courtesy photo

Sales of vast South Florida tracts for redevelopment are rare, yet one broker closed two deals in the same month.

"Sometimes the stars align," said F. Thomas Godart, managing director of Godart Florida Real Estate Investments in Fort Lauderdale.

Godart closed a two-step, $41 million deal Oct. 28 on a Miramar tract that will be developed into two garden-style apartment communities and a retail complex. This came after he closed the $31 million sale of an Oakland Park golf course Oct. 1 for construction of 405 single-family homes and townhouses.

In the Miramar deal, Boca Raton-based Altman Cos. bought a 30-acre tract northwest of Miramar Parkway and Red Road from the Ansin family for $35 million. In a simultaneous closing, Master Development Partners LLC and Konover South LLC bought a 6.7-acre chunk from Altman.

Altman will build the adjacent 320-unit Altis West and 330-unit Altis East, and Master Development and Konover will build the Miramar Park Place retail complex.

The Ansins, who sold the acreage, are best known in South Florida for launching WSVN-TV parent company Sunbeam Television Corp. in Miami. The late Sidney Ansin and his son, Ed Ansin, formed Sunbeam, and Ed Ansin is the CEO.

The family also has real estate interests and developed the 5 million-square-foot Miramar Park of Commerce industrial and office complex since 1984.

In the Oakland Park golf course deal, Pulte Homes, part of Atlanta-based PulteGroup Inc., bought the 139-acre Oak Tree Golf Course from Blackwood Partners LLC and Blackshore Partners LLC for $31 million.

Pulte Homes will develop the Oak Tree community with 273 single-family homes and 132 townhouses on the course southwest of Commercial Boulevard and Prospect Road at 2400 Oak Tree Road.

"There are very few brokers who do $41 million, let alone $72 million" in land deals in a month, said Godart, who was the exclusive broker for both deals. He attributed the timing of the recent closings to coincidence based on decades of relationship building.

"What I do different from a lot of other brokers is I get to know what the buyers, the developers are looking for," Godart said. When he sees a tract fitting for big-name homebuilders, he lets them know.

"And when I call them, they take my call. In the marketplace, I am known as somebody you can trust. I built that over 30 years. My track record speaks for itself, and that allows me to do the kind of projects I do," Godart said.

Take the Oak Tree deal as an example. Godart knew the sellers wanted to sell even though the property wasn't listed. He also knew Pulte was interested in Broward County. 

"I understood that Oak Tree was available from the seller. I had a relationship with Pulte, and I brought the deal to Pulte and said, 'Look, this is a great opportunity for you,' " Godart said.

Aside from relationships, closing a deal like Oak Tree also takes some vision and thinking outside the box. The golf course had been unused for years, but no one opted to redevelop it until now.

" People were familiar with it, but no one ever saw any development ever happening there at the Oak Tree Golf Course. It's centrally located with easy access to the highways," Godart said.

The property is a less than two miles from Interstate 95 and 2.5 miles from Florida's Turnpike.

Big deals like these two are infrequent because of the lead time involved.

Godart often works on land sales for two to three years, which is sustainable because he has multiple deals in his extended pipeline.

The Oak Tree deal took three years in part because Pulte reworked its plan after neighboring communities raised issues with the original proposal for a much bigger and denser development.

Godart wasn't as hands-on in getting the proposal approved, but his clients call on him for help in similar deals, he said.

His real estate career includes doing large deals for corporations through his former company, Godart Real Estate Group, which he sold in 1999 to Chicago-based Equis Corp.

After nonreal estate ventures, he founded Godart Florida Real Estate Investments 10 years ago focusing on developable land for large projects.

"We call ourselves elephant hunters," he said. "I am really interested in doing the larger projects."

Godart's other bid transactions include the $20 million air rights deal for the development of downtown Miami's Monarc at Met 3 apartment tower and the $12.5 million deal for the development of Windsor at Doral apartment complex.

Related stories:

Disappearing Greens: New Housing Rises on Shuttered Golf Courses in South Florida

Altman Plans Miramar Multifamily Communities After $35 Million Land Buy