Brickell Motors CEO Mario Murgado is offering to pay $9.7 million to buy the former King of Diamonds strip club site, a 4.75-acre property that offers lengthy frontage on I-95 near Miami Gardens, court documents show.
In November, the strip club was evicted from its former 60,622-square-foot industrial warehouse at 17800 State Road 9 that it had called home since it opened a decade earlier.
King of Diamonds was known for its super-bright blue and pink neon lights visible from I-95, and as a mecca for musical artists and athletes. Model and entrepreneur Blac Chyna once stripped there, while South Florida boxer Floyd Mayweather and singer Justin Bieber made high-profile visits.
The New York-based landlord, KODRENYC LLC, was previously sued for foreclosure by its New York lender in August 2017. The property owner filed a new Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, and has asked for court approval of a purchase agreement with Murgado for $9.7 million. A $1 million deposit is being held pending court approval.
According to motions filed by KODRENYC in the bankruptcy, the “debtor has considered the current market value of comparable properties and determined that a sale price of $9.7 million represents a fair and reasonable price for the property under the current market conditions.”
KODRENYC had bought the site for $6 million in 2014, property records show. The warehouse was built in 1958.
Murgado did not immediately respond to a phone message left at his office Wednesday about the property. Brickell Motors has nine dealership locations for brands including Audi, Buick, GMC, Honda, Mazda, Infiniti, Cadillac and Volkswagen. It has expanded in recent years, opening new dealerships in Stuart, Florida, and in Chicago.
A bankruptcy attorney for KODRENYC, Scott Shuker, said he believes Murgado is considering a dealership at the former strip club site.
“We want to sell the property and allow payment to all creditors and a return on investment for the property owners. We think there’s enough there for that,” Shuker said.
He said the lender claims to be owed $8.9 million, while the property owner thinks the debt should be closer to $6 million.
The foreclosure in Miami is halted, at least temporarily, by the new bankruptcy filing. In that case, KODRENYC is arguing that some operators of the club were related to KODRENYC’s lender, and that about $2.5 million in credit card receipts from the club should have been applied to the mortgage on the property but were not.