Grant Cardone, Penn-Florida Complete $235M Purchase Of 101 Via Mizner Out Of Bankruptcy
Penn-Florida Cos. wasn’t giving up the 101 Via Mizner apartments without a fight.
After submitting an emergency bankruptcy filing on Jan. 15 to dodge a foreclosure auction, the Boca Raton-based company partnered with celebrity real estate investor Grant Cardone to buy the building from its bankrupt entity for $235M.
The new Cardone-led entity, Mizner 366 LLC, purchased the 366-unit property with a stalking horse bid in a deal that was approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida this month and closed Wednesday.
The partners assumed the seller’s debt, which was amended to $155M and assigned to Uniondale, New York-based Arbor Realty Trust, according to property records provided by Vizzda. The loan matures in 2028.
In January, Blackstone Mortgage Trust initiated a UCC foreclosure on the 14-story building, seeking a public sale of the building’s ownership after it defaulted on the $145M mortgage.
Penn-Florida affiliate Via Mizner Owner I LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy just hours before the scheduled auction to halt the process and give the company time to restructure its debt, the attorney representing Penn-Florida, Bradley Shraiberg, told Bisnow at the time.
Blackstone declined to comment on the sale.
Aventura-based Cardone Capital entered the picture in June when Cardone's attorneys sought approval from bankruptcy Judge Peter Russin to place a $230M bid on the property at 101 E. Camino Real.
Cardone, who raises money via his millions of social media followers to invest in real estate, told the South Florida Business Journal he planned to sell $100M in bitcoin to investors alongside the multifamily building.
But the bid didn't initially qualify and was amended into a joint venture between Penn-Florida and Cardone, with Penn-Florida contributing $15M and the purchase price boosted by $5M, The Real Deal reported.
The deal also said that if the partnership were to convert the apartments into condos, sales would be distributed to the original ownership entity's equity investors until the figure reaches $300M, then equally split between Penn-Florida and Cardone beyond that.
A CBRE team led by Robert Given, who represented Penn-Florida’s Via Mizner Owner I LLC, was paid a $611K fee for brokering the sale, according to court records.
Penn-Florida dodged two other foreclosures, in complaints that named CEO Mark Gensheimer, on a pair of office buildings in Boca Raton totaling $20.4M. The lawsuits were voluntarily dismissed with prejudice, meaning they can't be reopened, the SFBJ reported Thursday.
But the developer has more issues to work through.
Its planned Mandarin Oriental-branded hotel and residences, also in Boca, are still tied up in litigation from buyers who have sued the developer due to delays in construction past the contractual deadline.
“Penn-Florida is thrilled to enter into this partnership with Cardone Capital. Grant Cardone shares our vision to preserve 101 Via Mizner as Boca Raton’s premier downtown luxury address,” a Penn-Florida spokesperson said in a statement. “We plan to continue to operate 101 Via Mizner as the premier luxury rental community in downtown Boca Raton.”
Cardone didn't respond to Bisnow’s request for comment.
UPDATE, JULY 28, 2:30 P.M. ET: This story has been updated to include a statement from Penn-Florida Cos.
