British-American businessman Martin Franklin bought a large minority stake in the hospitality firm Casa Tua as it expands, The Real Deal has learned.
Franklin approached owners Miky and Leti Grendene about buying a stake in the company, Miky Grendene said. Franklin, a Miami-based executive, co-founded Jarden Corp., which was sold to Newell Brands in 2016, and he leads the Miami Beach-based investment firm Mariposa Capital.
The ownership stake sale in Casa Tua closed in the fall, Grendene confirmed. Partnering with Franklin gives Casa Tua the opportunity to work on more projects and “beef up” the team with qualified people, Grendene said, emphasizing that he is not looking to “dilute the brand.”
He declined to disclose the size of the stake sold, or Franklin’s investment. The Grendenes maintain day-to-day control of the company. “It’s more of a strategic investment. He loves our brand, and Martin is a friend,” Grendene said.
The Grendenes opened Casa Tua’s flagship Miami Beach location in 2001. The property includes a small hotel, restaurant and private club. Casa Tua also has locations in Aspen and Paris, and a Casa Tua Cucina food hall at Brickell City Centre in Miami. The brand is opening a restaurant and club in New York next year at the Reuben Brothers’ Surrey development. It also plans to brand a Fortune International Group condo tower in Brickell called Ora by Casa Tua, and will open another Casa Tua Cucina in Wynwood.
Franklin founded the Fort Lauderdale-based chemicals production company Element Solutions, and co-founded United Kingdom-based Nomad Foods Limited, the latter of which he took public in 2015. On the real estate front, he is partnering with Scott Robins and former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine on an apartment and retail project in Miami’s Wynwood.
Grendene also has a real estate background. Before he launched Casa Tua more than two decades ago, Grendene worked for South Florida developers Ugo Colombo and Thomas Kramer, he said.
Edgardo Defortuna’s Fortune plans to develop Ora by Casa Tua, a 70-story, roughly 460-unit condo tower that will allow short-term rentals. The building, planned for 1210 Brickell Avenue in Miami, will have two new restaurant concepts, a 24-hour gourmet market, an entertainment lounge, a fitness and wellness center, a three-story sky garden, and a rooftop lounge with a pool, Jacuzzi, cabanas and bar. Casa Tua will brand and operate the hospitality concepts.
Grendene said that the Ora concept could be rolled out with additional residential developments, calling the Casa Tua brand a “value add” for developers.
“You go to a residential building, but there’s no soul. There’s a beautiful lobby but no one is there. What we’re going to do is going to be completely different,” he said. “When you touch people in the heart, they come back.”