W South Beach owners renew mortgage, boost borrowings to $140 million

W South Beach at 2201 Collins Avenue, and David Edelstein
W South Beach at 2201 Collins Avenue, and David Edelstein

In another example of lender confidence in the surging Miami Beach hospitality market, the owner of W South Beach obtained a refinancing that increases its current loan balance to $140 million.

Just weeks after being hit with a foreclosure action, W South Beach owner 2201 Collins Fee renewed its mortgage, according to Miami-Dade County records. The county recorded the transaction yesterday.

The hotel owner obtained a $36.86 million future advance to bring its total loan value to $140 million. Wells Fargo Bank is identified in the mortgage as the administrative agent for a group of lenders.

The loan matures in Oct. 2016. It is secured by more than 200 unsold hotel-condo units and common areas at the 20-story hotel.

Previous lender Hypo Real Estate Capital filed a dismissal notice for the foreclosure case last week, according to Miami-Dade Circuit Court records. Hotel-condo developer David Edelstein told South Florida Business Journal last week that he settled the foreclosure by repaying the $60 million balance of a $378 million construction loan obtained in 2005. The developer noted recent hotel-condo sales at W South Beach have exceeded $3,000 per square foot.

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Edelstein could not be reached for comment. Messages left with New York-based RFR Holding, part of the ownership group, were not returned.

The 2201 Collins Avenue hotel was built in 2008 and opened the following summer.

Edelstein and his partners are competing with sellers of about 565 South Beach condo units completed during last decade’s real estate boom, according to Condo Vultures. That represents more than 10 percent of the nearly 5,600 units completed since 2003. South Beach has more unsold condos from the last cycle than any other South Florida market.

Elsewhere on Collins Avenue, the developer of the Hyatt South Beach obtained a $29 million construction loan last week. A company managed by Robert Finvarb Companies received the loan for the 105-room hotel project from BB&T. The developer plans to replace the existing Tropical Gardens apartment building at the 1600 Collins Avenue property with the 10-story hotel.