Finance specialist tapped to lead Opera sales

George Fraguio
George Fraguio

George Fraguio, a finance specialist at Fortune International Group and a veteran of Countrywide , has been tapped to head sales at the beleaguered Opera Tower in downtown Miami. Among Fraguio’s chief duties will be linking up potential buyers with banks to help craft specially tailored end loans, according to a release.

Florida East Coast Realty, founded and led by wizened developer Tibor Hollo, is offering financing for up to 50 percent of the purchase price, a promotion that helped unload half the tower’s inventory — 400 units — by February 2013, as The Real Deal previously reported.

Back in 2009, Hollo marketed no-income, no-assets, no-questions-asked loans for 75 percent of a unit’s value, plus a money-back guarantee, provided the money was spent on the 56-story mixed-use building and there was no price haggling.

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Through an affiliated management company, FECR will leaseback buyers’ units for up to three years from closing, paying an annual rent equal to 6 percent of the purchase price.

Monthly condominium maintenance fees will also be picked up by the developer, with no rental commission fees or property management expenses. Buyers only face property taxes and insurance, the release said.

The Opera, at 1750 N. Bayshore Drive, fell victim to South Florida’s real estate collapse and is undergoing a $1.2 million renovation to help it compete with the dozens of new residential high-rises in the Miami pipeline. — Emily Schmall