Lender Moves To Foreclose On North Miami Beach Development Site
An entity affiliated with Miami-based Lendmarq has filed to foreclose on a North Miami Beach site that had plans for a mixed-use development known as NMB Place.
The lender moved to foreclose on NMB Place Owner LLC, guarantor Douglas Strabelli of Sagewood Corp. and any current tenants, claiming it is owed nearly $14M after the borrower fell behind on loan payments, according to records from Vizzda.
NMB Place Owner LLC acquired the 1.8-acre site at 1959-1999 NE 164th St. in 2022 for $14M, backed by a $13.6M loan from Lendmarq, records show.
At the time, the entity was registered to Scott Greenwald, who signed the loan through Miami-based GFS Corp., and his partner, J. Jay Lobell of JSB Capital Group, the South Florida Business Journal reported at the time.
JSB Capital sold its interest in the property more than a year ago to Sagewood Corp., led by Strabelli, Lobell told Bisnow in an email.
Sagewood and Lendmarq didn't respond to Bisnow’s requests for comment before publication.
The Lendmarq affiliate, LC 4.7 VTX LLC, filed its complaint on Monday, alleging the borrower failed to repay the full loan balance by its March maturity date. It also claimed that it had attempted to negotiate an extension, but the borrower declined to sign a modification agreement.
In the 197-page complaint, the lender also says it seeks to take control of the property's income and operations, asking the court to appoint a receiver, foreclose on personal property tied to the project, and hold both the borrower and guarantor financially responsible.
Plans had called for demolishing the existing 17K SF retail building developed in 1959, as well as 2K SF of retail built in 1967, to make way for the NMB Place mixed-use development.
That proposal included a 700-unit residential complex with more than 21K SF of ground-floor retail and almost 7K SF of offices in two 28-story towers. It also included a seven-story parking garage with 957 parking spaces.
Entitled sites that developers had planned to build on just a few years ago have begun hitting the market as many opt to sell rather than take on the risk of building in an uncertain, high-cost environment.
