Hollywood’s Bread Building redevelopment project scores $83M loan

UPDATED, Aug. 23, 4:25 p.m.: A joint venture led by BTI Partners can warm up construction of the former Bread Building site in Hollywood, after nabbing an $83 million loan.

The Fort Lauderdale-based developer’s partnership with Bridge Investment Group secured the financing from Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, according to a press release.

Cushman & Wakefield brokered the loan. Attorneys Michael Denberg and Luis Flores with the law firm Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr represented the developer. BTI and Bridge plan to build an apartment building with 362 market-rate units and 16,000 square feet of retail at 1747 Van Buren Street.

Last year, after paying $11 million for the property, BTI Partners tore down the 11-story Bread Building, a Hollywood landmark completed in 1969 that fell into disrepair and was vacant when the joint venture acquired it. The developer is preserving the iconic “Hollywood Bread Building” sign.

The joint venture’s purchase also included adjacent parcels for an assemblage totaling 1.6 acres, records show. The site is an Opportunity Zone, giving potential project investors the ability to receive tax breaks on their capital gains by funding the new development.

Bridge, a Salt Lake City-based real estate investment firm led by Executive Chairman Robert Morse, is BTI’s equity partner. It has raised capital through several Opportunity Zone funds since 2018, according to Bloomberg.

BTI, led by CEO Noah Breakstone, is also planning to redevelop the 3.25-acre Young Circle Shopping Center into a two-tower mixed-use complex with apartments, shops, restaurants, office space and a skywalk connecting the buildings. BTI paid $16 million for the former retail site in 2020.

The Bread Building redevelopment is part of a new wave of commercial construction ramping up in Hollywood. In June, the Estate Companies secured an $80 million construction loan to start building Soleste Hollywood Boulevard, an eight-story project with 253 apartments and 30,000 square feet of commercial space. The South Miami-based developer paid $15.3 million for the site at 2050 Tyler Street, which is also in an Opportunity Zone.

Coral Gables-based Calta Group plans to tear down a collection of low-rise buildings at 2215 Hollywood Boulevard that the firm acquired for $9.5 million in April. The Italian development firm plans to convert the 1.6-acre site into an eight-story, 180-unit apartment project. Construction is expected to begin in the fourth quarter.

Indianapolis-based MHG Hotels is planning a Marriott-branded hotel with 112 rooms on the site of two single-story office buildings at 1926-1934 Tyler Street. MHG paid $2 million for the properties in October, records show.