Mark Hunt Buying Hoffmann Families Companies Naples Portfolio

Two commercial real estate titans with strong ties to Chicago are nearing a massive deal worth about $265 million for a retail portfolio in downtown Naples, Florida.

M Development, the firm led by longtime Chicago businessman Mark Hunt that’s also one of the largest landlords in Aspen, Colorado, is buying the Hoffmann Families of Companies’ Naples portfolio, according to people familiar with the deal. The transaction includes 30 properties that total 242,000 square feet, and are concentrated in the downtown shopping districts along Fifth Avenue and Third Street.

Hoffmann Families and M Development did not respond to requests for comment.

Hoffmann claims to be the largest property owner in the ritzy North Shore suburb of Winnetka, where it has a portfolio of 24 assets across 276,000 square feet — mostly high-street retail and mixed-use properties in and near downtown as well as Wilmette.

The suburban Chicago holdings as well as Hoffmann’s 12-asset, 247,000-square-foot real estate portfolio in Avon, Colorado — home base of the Beaver Creek ski resort where the firm also claims to be the largest property owner — were shopped alongside the Naples offering, according to Eastdil Secured marketing materials. Hoffmann, however, pulled the Illinois and Colorado offerings off the market for now, as the company wanted to avoid a larger tax bill for capital gains and other duties while it considered the Naples deal.

With the sale, Hoffmann is making a rare — perhaps its first — offloading of significant real estate holdings as it pivots to focus on other sectors, namely private equity purchases of other companies, a person familiar with the company’s plans said. The firm owns businesses in a range of sectors that include news media and marketing companies, agriculture, aviation, hospitality and more. It plans to consider using proceeds of the sale as capital for more acquisitions.

The company was founded by billionaire David Hoffmann, 72, who stepped down as CEO in 2022 so his sons Geoff and Greg Hoffmann could lead the family business.

Eastdil managing directors Stephen Livaditis, Conor Lalor and Michael Pagliari are brokering the sale.

David Hoffmann’s personal mansion in Winnetka was also recently listed for nearly $9 million. He lives now in Naples and has spent only a few days a year in Winnetka, and stays at a Trump Tower penthouse he also owns while in Chicago.

Hunt’s M Development is bringing new financing from an unidentified lender to buy the Naples properties, which are currently carrying debt of about $130 million that Hoffmann had taken out from various lenders over the years.

M Development will end up with between 24 and 26 out of the 30 Hoffmann properties in Naples, because some tenants exercised their right of first refusal and purchased their properties, according to a person familiar with the deal. Hoffmann is selling the four to six properties to those tenants for around $20 million, the source said.

The developer is also adding to his existing Naples properties it owns. In 2022, entities tied to Hunt spent about $44 million buying up parcels along Fifth Avenue near the Hoffmann properties, according to a Naples Daily News report.

In total, the Naples Hoffmann portfolio brings in $14 million in annual net operating income, while the Winnetka portfolio produces $5.5 million and the Avon portfolio generates $3.5 million, according to the Eastdil marketing materials. The sale to M Development is set to close by early next week.