German group shed Mediterranean at Young Circle condo at 74 percent loss

The seller in the $3.1 million transaction for the ambitious, failed Hallandale Beach condominium project the Mediterranean at Young Circle was a German investment fund, BFWest LLC, an entity controlled by the New York branch of Germany’s WestLB AG, it was revealed this week. It took a 74 percent loss from its original mortgage loan in the 32nd bulk purchase deal in South Florida this year, according to real estate consultancy Condo Vultures, based in Bal Harbour. The fund turned over the 24-unit building, where units hit the market in 2006 at a price above $340 a square foot. Peter Zalewski, a principal Condo Vultures, who has reviewed the Broward Circuit Court records, said the new owner expects to lease the units at roughly $1 per square foot per month. The buyer, a holding company called Mediterranean Luxury Apartments that lists as principal Bryan Grosman of Hallandale Beach, paid about $96 a square foot. Zalewski said Grossman could lease the units for $1 a square foot per month. [Condo Vultures]