Miami commercial brokerage alleges it was stiffed on medical office commission

The brokerage seeks a market-rate commission

ShareMD's John Bardis and Real Capital Partners' Otto Travieso with 7400 Southwest 87th Avenue, Miami (Linkedin, Google Maps)
ShareMD's John Bardis and Real Capital Partners' Otto Travieso with 7400 Southwest 87th Avenue, Miami (Linkedin, Google Maps)

A Miami-based commercial real estate brokerage alleges that a buyer and seller cut it out of its commission on a medical office deal.

The brokerage, Real Capital Partners, sued the buyer and seller of the three-building, 10-acre medical office campus at 7400, 7500 and 7800 Southwest 87th Avenue in Miami, according to the lawsuit filed last month in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.

Real Capital wants a “market rate commission” for the sale, and it alleges the sale price came out to more than $50 million, according to the suit. Industrywide, such commissions can be 3 percent, which would amount to 1.5 million, generally split among brokers.

The buyer of the medical campus is ShareMD, an owner and operator of medical coworking space based in Alpharetta, Georgia. ShareMD is led by CEO John Bardis.

SharedMD’s counsel, Danielle Gonzalez of Greenberg Traurig, told The Real Deal the company hasn’t been served with the lawsuit yet. She denied Real Capital’s allegations.

The sellers are affiliated companies of Pan American Cos., led by Carlos C. Lopez-Cantera, the father of Florida’s lieutenant governor from 2014 to 2019 under former Gov. Rick Scott.

Carlos M. Lopez-Cantera, the former lieutenant governor, told The Real Deal he was not involved in the deal. The elder Lopez-Cantera did not return a request for comment.

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The price for the deal was not publicly disclosed, as ShareMD bought the medical campus by taking over the legal entities that own the buildings, according to the lawsuit. Those legal entities went from LLCs incorporated in Florida to LLCs incorporated in Delaware with addresses affiliated with ShareMD.

Real Capital, led by principal broker Otto Travieso, alleges that ShareMD bought the buildings for more than $50 million, and that Pan American wanted to sell them for about $60 million. The brokerage was enlisted by ShareMD as early as September 2019 to find South Florida properties for ShareMD to buy, according to the suit.

Real Capital introduced the buyer and seller, got information on the rent rolls and finances from the seller, and delivered a letter of intent from ShareMD to buy the properties, the suit states.

In February, Real Capital agreed to a $300,000 commission from Pan American if the 7400 and 7500 buildings sold for $36 million, according to the suit. A ShareMD representative orally agreed to a 3 percent commission for Real Capital, shared with another broker affiliated with the buyer, if the deal went through, the suit alleges.

Real Capital alleges that in April it asked a Pan American representative if the buyer and seller were under contract, which she denied. The company then learned in news reports that PanAmerica had sold the buildings to ShareMD.

Other recent lawsuits filed over commission disputes include Rose Bauer and her company Rivero Real Estate accusing two other Miami luxury brokers of depriving her of a 5 percent commission, or about $520,000, resulting from the sale of a four-bedroom, 4,904-square-foot unit at the boutique tower Palazzo Della Luna on Fisher Island.

Also, this summer, a broker accused SL Green of shafting her on a $1.4 million commission on a New York deal, and a former agent alleged that Tomer Fridman, Kim Kardashian’s real estate agent of choice, withheld a split commission, according to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.