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South Florida briefs

South Florida briefs

Via Mizner, Frank Weed and Faisal Ashraf
Via Mizner, Frank Weed and Faisal Ashraf

New York lender makes big bet on Boca Raton

Local developer Penn-Florida Companies scored a roughly $400 million debt package for Via Mizner, a massive mixed-use project in downtown Boca Raton.

New York-based private lender Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies provided  $318 million in financing to Penn-Florida Companies, while U.S. Immigration Fund, an EB-5 lender, lent $80 million. Lotus Capital Partners arranged the debt package, which is the largest financing in South Florida so far this year.

Overall, Via Mizner will span 2 million square feet with a 366-unit luxury apartment building, an 88-unit condominium building, a 164-key Mandarin Oriental Hotel & Resort and 60,000 square feet of retail.

The debt from Mack includes a refinance of the rentals, 101 Via Mizner Luxury Apartments, a construction loan for the hotel and a bridge loan for the condo site. Lotus will go to market for a separate construction loan in the low $100 million range for the condos later this year.

Pitbull and 1060 Ocean Drive (Credit: Google Maps, Getty)

Pitbull to open restaurant in Miami Beach

The Nakash family has landed Pitbull as a celebrity tenant for one of its Ocean Drive hotels.

The international rap star and Miami native plans to open a restaurant called iLov 305 in the former Bon Air Hotel at 1060 Ocean Drive, Nakash attorney Alfredo Gonzalez said.

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As part of the plan, the Nakashes will restore the building’s lobby and the facade to its original 1934 design. The lobby will have a cocktail lounge, a seating area and a daiquiri bar. The new restaurant, along with the kitchen, will extend down
to the basement level. In 2012, the Nakashes — who parlayed their Jordache Jeans empire into a global real estate conglomerate — purchased the hotel’s ground floor retail space for $18.3 million. They also own the Hotel Victor at 1144 Ocean Drive and The Villa Casa Casuarina at 1116 Ocean Drive.

Pitbull, whose real name is Armando Christian Perez, will join fellow Cuban-American musicians Emilio and Gloria Estefan as the only celebrity restaurant owners on Ocean Drive. Pitbull also owns the Miami Grill fast-food franchise.

Phil Gutman and David Hammond

Brown Harris Stevens scoops up Miami brokerage

Brown Harris Stevens closed on the acquisition of Opulence International Realty in Miami.

It’s the latest brokerage buy for BHS, which entered the Miami market in 2015 with the purchase of Mark Zilbert’s Zilbert International Realty and later closed on two more firms. With the purchase, the New York-based firm is adding 35 agents, including broker Jill Patterson, to its roster. Opulence has primarily focused on downtown Miami and Coconut Grove, and it is bringing over about $40 million of inventory to BHS. In 2016, Opulence closed about $220 million in sales volume.

While BHS and Opulence declined to provide the price of the deal, mergers and acquisitions expert Steve Murray said that a firm brokering $220 million in annual sales could sell for at least $1.1 million.

With Opulence, BHS now has nearly 300 agents in South Florida, including six offices in Miami-Dade and four in Palm Beach County.

Phil Gutman, the executive vice president of BHS Florida, said the firm is now looking at the Sunny Isles Beach and Aventura markets.