Dental clinic buys distressed Coral Gables office building for $7M

Elvis Mons must be smiling: His cosmetic dental clinic bought a distressed Coral Gables office building for $6.6 million.

Dental Design Smile bought the nearly vacant property at 3195 Ponce De Leon Boulevard, with plans to renovate it and consolidate all of its current locations there, according to the clinic’s brokers. Leste Group, an alternative investment platform with an office in Miami, provided a $4.4 million bridge loan to finance the purchase.

Abiel Ballesteros and Daniel Lopez of United Dream Real Estate closed the deal on behalf of the buyer.

The seller, SDI Matto JV Holdco, is tied to Coral Gables-based distressed debt investor Secured Debt Investments. The property had been under foreclosure.

LV Lending had sued the previous owner Four Aces in 2019, alleging more than $2.5 million in unpaid principal plus interest on a loan for the property, court filings show. Last year, SDI Matto had stepped into the shoes of LV Lending and continued the foreclosure suit.

Dental Design Smile’s purchase marks a new chapter for the five-story building that is 90 percent vacant. Mons’ dentistry clinic plans to invest $3.5 million in renovations, including creating a rooftop and penthouse for VIP clients, according to Ballesteros.

The deal comes on the heels of several Coral Gables office sales that have closed in recent months, including by buyers Ubiica and Maven Real Estate, which are betting heavily on the city. In June, they bought an office building and parking lot for $8.7 million. They plan to develop either multifamily or an assisted-living facility on part of one of the lots and on an adjacent one they previously bought.

In a different part of Coral Gables, Ubiica and Maven completed an assemblage in April with the purchase of an office building for $4.1 million. They plan to build a multifamily project on that and adjacent properties they own.

Other asset classes also are trading in the city. This month, Terranova paid $6 million for the former site of California Pizza Kitchen on Miracle Mile, marking the firm’s 12th property along the shopping and dining street.