NEWS REPRINT
Group to Buy 17th Street Site
Posted Thu, Jul. 07, 2005
by Patrick Danner
Copyright © The Miami Herald, 2005
The site of the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale is set to be acquired by a partnership headed by Fort Lauderdale real estate agent Kelly Drum.
The property housing the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale on 17th Street Causeway is slated to be sold next week.
A partnership led by Fort Lauderdale real estate agent Kelly Drum has contracted to buy the 6.4-acre site and 73,000-square-foot educational building from Ocean World Associates of Philadelphia. Drum wouldn't disclose the sales price, but the property has an assessed value of $15.7 million. The sale involves only the property, not the school itself.
The site sits just east of The Boathouse, a concrete structure with six interior boat slips, which a group including Drum bought in December. The group paid $11.2 million for The Boathouse, which also has two exterior slips.
Drum has no immediate plans to develop the Art Institute site; the school said it has more than nine years remaining on its lease.
Nevertheless, Drum sees potential for marine-related uses for the property, which is on the Seminole River, just off the Intracoastal Waterway.
''Long term, there will be a need for more dockage in this town,'' said Drum, a partner in Drum Realty. ``We certainly feel that will be a component of the property sometime down the road.''
Boaters are finding it harder to store their vessels, because marinas on waterfront land increasingly are being redeveloped as housing.
Drum's groups control about eight acres of waterfront property off of 17th Street Causeway. Drum's family also owns the nearby Lauderdale Marina at 1900 SE 15th St., which is in the process of converting some of its 60 slips to accommodate eight megayachts of 80 feet or more.
David Gifford, a Philadelphia lawyer representing Ocean World Associates, confirmed the pending sale, but had no additional comment.
Arlene Wites, a spokeswoman for the Art Institute, said the sale will have no impact on the school's operations. ''We've got a lease through 2014,'' she said.
The income generated from the Art Institute's lease will allow Drum and his partner and brother-in-law Robert Roschman to plan for development, Drum said. The site is zoned for retail, office and residential, he added.
Ocean World Associates' partners include Robert Knutson, chairman of the Art Institute's parent company, Education Management Corp. of Pittsburgh. The Art Institute paid Ocean World Associates about $2.9 million in rent for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2004, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Education Management.
Education Management is one of the largest providers of private post-secondary education, operating 70 campuses with a total enrollment of more than 66,000 students.
The Art Institute is the company's largest school, with 3,300 students. Education Management has an total enrollment of more than 66,000 students.
For more information, contact Kelly Drum
(954) 931-3222
boathouse@boatstation.com or visit MegaSlips.com
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