From left: Flagstone Property CEO Mehmet Bayraktar and a rendering of Island Garden

More than a decade in the works, the Watson Island mega-yacht complex project may be expedited by the inclusion of a new equity partner, Miami Today reported. Flagstone Property Group first won approval for the project, named Island Gardens and slated to include a luxury hotel, a retail component and a 50-slip harbor for yachts longer than 80 feet, in 2001. But it eventually stalled when lenders balked and hotel operators fled the project as the economy stumbled. [more]

The latest turn in the long-running development saga on city-owned
Watson Island would grant aspiring Island Gardens developer Mehmet Bayraktar and his Flagstone Property Group
another three years to start building its hotel and luxury marina
complex in exchange for $1.5 million to secure the rights. Flagstone
has proposed that the payment eventually get credited as construction
rent once the project gets underway, a move that irked Miami City
Commissioner Frank Carollo. According to Carollo, that essentially gives the
developer a free three-year extension on a project that so far has
failed to get off the ground. Flagstone would pay $1 million in annual
construction rent under its proposed arrangement. [Miami Today]

Move over Dubai — the 3,200-foot Miapolis tower is getting ready to soar. The ambitious Jungle Island project that would be located on Miami’s Watson Island hasn’t made much progress yet, but the fact that the enterprise is still under discussion has been cited as a reflection of developer Guillermo Socarras’ persistence. Its centerpiece skyscraper, Miapolis, which would surpass the height of the recently opened Burj Khalifa in Dubai, would garner plenty of attention if it manages to get off the ground. Socarras, who plans to assume Jungle Island’s $39 million loan and debts, will require local and federal approval for the mega-building, including a sign-off from the Federal Aviation Administration. Socarras then wants to strike a deal with the city for a new 99-year master land lease on the 28-acre parcel at a rate of $4 million a year. City officials remain skeptical of his ability to move the project forward. [Miami Herald] [more]

Flagstone Development Group’s Mehmet Bayraktar, who is clinging to the rights to develop the long-delayed, $600 million Island Gardens marina and hotel project, has finally managed to pay his $500,000 in overdue rent to the city of Miami. Miami Commissioners had been scheduled to vote earlier this month on whether to cut ties with Bayraktar altogether and find another use for the land after months of waiting for the back rent. Last week, they granted the developer five additional weeks to make the payment after a former Flagstone employee claiming to be owed $675,000 tried to garnish funds held in an escrow account. The employee has since agreed to allow the funds to be released to the city. The payment will buy Bayraktar some more time to get financing together for the project, which has thus far proved no easy task. Miami Commission chairman Marc Sarnoff and Mayor Tomas Regalado said the payment is a necessary step in getting the project to move forward. [SFBJ]

Mehmet Bayraktar, the Flagstone Property Group head who owes the city of Miami $500,000 in overdue rent on the Watson Island property he has been planning to develop for the past eight years, was granted a five-week reprieve today, despite Miami commissioners’ calls last week for his immediate payments. Bayraktar had appeared before the commissioners last Thursday, where he promised to repay his debts by releasing the money held in escrow in time for a special meeting called for today. If he failed to do so, the city was to cut ties with Flagstone and find another use for the property. But when Bayraktar’s former attorney filed a motion in court to obtain those escrow funds in order to recover money she claims he owes her, the commissioners said they would allow Bayraktar until the end of January for that dispute to get resolved. Attorneys for both the city and for Flagstone said the motion was likely to be overturned quickly. If Bakraytar does succeed in coming up with the funds next month, he would still be seeking his fourth extension in eight years for beginning construction on his planned Flagstone Island Gardens complex, which is now expected to cost more than $600 million, and for which his problems with obtaining financing have been well-documented.

Developer Mehmet Bayraktar of the Flagstone Group and a rendering of his Flagstone Island Gardens complex on Watson Island

Support for developer Mehmet Bayraktar and his Flagstone Property Group, whose planned Flagstone Island Gardens complex on Watson Island is notoriously financially troubled, is waning amongst Miami officials as the company scrambles to pay back rent on the city-owned land. Commissioners were scheduled to vote last Thursday on whether the city would cut ties with Flagstone, but after a heated discussion, during which Miami City Commission chair Marc Sarnoff said the company had “certain credibility issues” in terms of its promises both in the past and present, the final vote has been delayed until tomorrow, as the city awaits a move from the developer to meet several conditions for its continued presence. The developer has recently been pleading for more time and has offered a $500,000 payment of back rent — unpaid since July — as well as a plan to document its expenditures of $46 million on the project in hopes of getting more time to line up financing. Miami City Commission chair Marc Sarnoff said he hopes the project can move forward and has faith in Bayraktar, but that he is more concerned that Watson Island become a source of revenue for the city. He recommended that the company be required to up its security deposit to cover possible future liens, and make a hefty $1 million rent prepayment in addition to paying the back rent immediately. TRD 1 Comment

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A trio of construction projects around Miami’s Adrienne Arsht Center
for the Performing Arts has raised concerns with the Performing Arts
Center Trust, which sets policy for the center. The overhaul of the
29-acre Museum Park, the tunnels to connect the Port of Miami to Watson
Island and the refurbishment of the bridge linking I-395 to the
MacArthur Causeway could all affect the center. Mike Eidson, a partner
at law firm Colson Hicks Eidson and chair of the trust’s I-395
committee, said that project is of particular concern, since it will
take away parking and could cause traffic issues.  [Miami Today News]

[more]

Miami city commissioner Marc Sarnoff says he will not cut Flagstone Property Group a break on its already overdue August rent for the Watson Island land slated for development. The group has until Nov. 1 to pay its rent before the city can seek legal action. Flagstone’s Watson Island plans call for a luxury hotel and yacht marina, and in exchange for an extension on the deadline for securing financing for the project, CEO Mehmet Bayraktar had agreed to pay $83,000 per month to hold the property. Some city officials have been publicly doubting whether the project will ever materialize, though Bayraktar has dismissed the doubts, saying he has some leads on investors. Meanwhile, Sarnoff has said he would like the city to take legal action if the missing rent payment is not made in time. [Miami Today News]

Mehmet Bayraktar, chairman and CEO of Flagstone Property Group, is still in arrears on rent in Miami for Watson Island, where he hopes to develop a luxury marina, hotel and retail complex, but said the project will move forward when financing becomes more accessible. Bayraktar said the problems rest not with his plans, but with the wider system. Flagstone lost a key development partner this year when ING Clarion Partners withdrew from the project.

Flagstone Property Group has repaid $100,000 in back rent owed to the
City of Miami, and its CEO said work continues on the proposed luxury
marina project there. Mehmet Bayraktar didn’t comment on whether he’ll
make the $83,000 payment for August but said construction was basically
ready to go. He said the financing and costs needed extensive revisions
and a different loan deal, but he vowed to continue the project. [more]