Lender takes control of The Collective’s Wynwood dev site through foreclosure auction

The Collective lost its planned co-living development site in Wynwood to its lender through a foreclosure auction, The Real Deal has learned.

New York-based Gamma Real Estate took control of the property at 166 Northwest 29th Street by placing a “credit bid,” or an offer using its existing debt of $27.6 million, to win the UCC foreclosure auction on Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Miami’s Urban Development Review Board in May approved a mixed-use project for the site. The Collective’s plans included an eight-story to 12-story co-living building with 180 residential units, 70 lodging rooms and 9,508 square feet of ground-floor retail. Units would range from studios to six-bedroom apartments geared toward young professionals, according to the developer’s proposal.

Gamma Real Estate, led by the Kalikow family, sought to foreclose on the Wynwood site amid The Collective’s broader financial troubles. Occupancy levels at its co-living locations dropped during the pandemic and forced delays on its projects in the pipeline. In September, the British company fell into administration, the U.K equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, after failing to find a buyer.

Gamma Real Estate did not return a request for comment. The auction was conducted by Matthew Mannion of Mannion Auctions.

The Collective has also faced foreclosures on its properties in Brooklyn.

In January, the firm sold its development site in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg for $54 million, avoiding a foreclosure. The proceeds went to pay off a $49 million mortgage held by Gamma Real Estate. The company recently lost another Brooklyn property in Bed-Stuy to a foreclosure.

The Collective still has locations in West London and Canary Wharf in the U.K., and The Paper Factory in New York City’s Long Island City neighborhood, according to its website.