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This Week's South Florida Deal Sheet: Delayed Mandarin Oriental Boca Raton Lands $300M Loan

The developer of the Mandarin Oriental hotel and condominium project in Boca Raton has secured a $302.5M loan to continue construction of the project, which has been mired in delays, The Palm Beach Post reported

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The Mandarin Oriental Boca Raton has been under construction since 2019.

Boca Raton-based Penn-Florida Cos. landed the loan from Madison Realty Capital, a Chicago-based investment firm, which refinanced a $225M loan MRC provided in 2019. 

The project at 103 East Camino Real, which includes 163 hotel rooms and 88 branded residences, was announced in 2015, and construction began in 2019. The project was originally slated to be completed in 2020 before construction was delayed and the completion date was pushed back to this year. A representative for Penn-Florida told the PBP this month that the project wouldn’t be finished until next year. 

A long-running lawsuit with a partner on the project had delayed construction and made raising capital “a struggle,” according to court documents reviewed by the Post. 

The condos at the development are around 90% sold, The Real Deal reported, with prices ranging from $2M to around $23M. The project is part of a larger mixed-use development called Via Mizner, which spans 7 acres and includes a 366-unit luxury rental building that was completed in 2018 and a 60K SF retail development called The Shoppes at Via Mizner. 

SALES

Limestone Asset Management and Orion Real Estate Group, both based in Miami, purchased two South Florida Walgreens for $15.6M in an all-cash deal, according to a release. Walgreens was the seller of the properties, an 18K SF store at 2700 West Flagler St. in Miami and a 15K SF location at 780 Northeast Ninth St. in Hialeah. Brian Pfohl, executive vice president at CBRE, represented Walgreens, while Kevin Sanz of Orion Real Estate Group led the buyer group. 

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Miami-based Linkvest Capital and Coral Gables-based retail developer Indigo Properties paid $5.8M for an 8-acre development site in Hialeah Gardens, according to a release. The purchase was executed through an entity called Linkvest HG, which acquired the property from the Alan Kornbluh Revocable Trust, the Harris Family Living Trust and the Sidney Crown Revocable Trust. The joint venture is planning to build a mixed-use project with a storage facility and several freestanding retail parcels at the property, located on the corner of Northwest 138th Street and 107th Avenue. 

FINANCING

The owners of Paradise Plaza in the Miami Design District secured $250M in refinancing for the 120K SF retail property, according to a release. Paradise Plaza Associates LLC, a subsidiary of Miami Design District LLC, secured the capital from Deutsche Bank. 

Paradise Plaza at 151 Northeast 41st St. includes retail and restaurant space as well as 7,800 SF of event space and a garage. The entity that owns the property is controlled by Connecticut-based L Catterton Real Estate and Dacra, the Miami-based developer of the Miami Design District. 

Bilzin Sumberg attorneys Martin Schwartz and Kevin Koushel provided legal counsel to Paradise Plaza Associates for the refinancing. The law firm has assisted in securing more than $800M in financing for the Miami Design District since 2020, according to the release.

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Estate Cos. and Westdale Capital added $66M to a construction loan to build Soleste on the Bay.

Estate Cos. landed $171M in construction financing for two residential projects in South Florida, Commercial Observer reported

U.S. Bank added $66M to a $34M mortgage originated in 2021 for the construction of Soleste on the Bay at 16375 Biscayne Blvd. Miami-based Estate Cos. is partnering with Dallas-based Westdale Capital on the project, a 28-story tower with 363 apartments in North Miami Beach. It is being built on a 3.8-acre parcel, which Estate Cos. acquired in 2020 and 2021 for $34M. A second rental tower is also planned for the site.

Nationwide Life Insurance Cos. provided $71M for the second project, a 12-story development with 308 apartments called Soleste Hollywood Village North in Broward County. The property is located at 2001 Van Buren St. Estate Cos. also owns an adjacent parcel where it is planning another rental property. The developer paid nearly $15M for the 2.4-acre assemblage in 2021, CO reported. 

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Boston-based AEW Capital Management provided investment giant Blackstone a $51M construction loan through a mortgage to build two industrial buildings totaling 310K SF, Commercial Observer reported. The warehouses will have 36-foot clear heights with 96 docks and are being built on an 8-acre site at 9800 Northwest 87th Ave. Link Logistics, an industrial developer founded by Blackstone, purchased the parcel for $7.2M in 2019. Construction began earlier this month and is expected to be completed next year, a Link representative told Commercial Observer. Eastdil Secured represented the developer in the transaction. 

LEASES

Ice cream retailer Salt & Straw is continuing its expansion in Miami with plans to open a 1,525 SF location at 749 Lincoln Road, according to a release. It will be the third Miami location for the company, which was founded in Portland, Oregon, in 2011 and also has stores in Wynwood and Coconut Grove. Salt & Straw will open on Sept. 1 at a property owned by Terranova Corp., which owns 137K SF across seven properties on Miami Beach's Lincoln Road.

PEOPLE

JLL added two senior managing directors to the firm’s West Palm Beach office to help grow its presence in the region, according to a release. Kevin Probel and Kevin McCarthy are coming to the firm from CBRE, where they completed over 320 leasing transactions totaling 1.4M SF in Palm Beach County as first vice presidents of transaction and advisory services.

Probel and McCarthy will focus on both office landlord and tenant representation. The two brokers have more than 50 years of combined experience. McCarthy will be returning to JLL, which he left for CBRE after leading JLL's Palm Beach brokerage division for six years.