Craig Robins, Fort Partners and Qatari hotel firm buy Apollo site in Miami Design District

A powerhouse team plans a mixed-use development on a Miami Design District assemblage purchased from Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, sources told The Real Deal.

The buyers and seller declined to confirm the price, but sources said it is about $170 million.

The purchasing partnership includes the Qatari firm Constellation Hotels Holding, developer Nadim Ashi’s Fort Partners, New York-based private equity firm Raycliff Capital and Miami Design District Associates. It is buying more than 2.5 acres in the high-end retail and dining district.

The buyers are expected to announce their plans next year. The project would likely include a hotel, sources said.

The 15 buildings run along Northeast 39th and 40th streets from North Miami Avenue to Northeast First Avenue. RedSky and JZ Capital lost the portfolio to Apollo last year. Apollo, along with commercial broker and developer Michael Comras, planned to bring in Restoration Hardware, but that deal blew up this year.

Miami Design District Associates is a partnership between Craig Robins’ company Dacra, L Catterton Real Estate, and Brookfield Properties. Greenwich, Conn.-based L Catterton is backed by the French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

Fort Lauderdale and Miami-based Fort Partners owns all of the Four Seasons properties in South Florida. The firm developed the Four Seasons Hotel and Residences at The Surf Club in Surfside, where a resale set a record for condo sales on a per-square-foot basis earlier this year. It also developed the Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Fort Lauderdale.

Apollo is providing seller financing ranging from about $100 million to $125 million, executives said on a recent earnings call.

RedSky and JZ had spent $236 million to assemble the properties, which consist of small retail buildings, in 2015 and 2016.

RH, the high-end home furnishings retailer previously known as Restoration Hardware, had sued Apollo and Comras over a deal to lease a portion of the assemblage, alleging that their landlord didn’t own up to its end of the deal and wanted to push RH out. The lawsuit was settled in September, once Apollo had a sale in place to this buyer group, sources said.

Robins has led the development of the Miami Design District into a luxury retail mecca that’s home to dozens of major designer brands, including Chanel, Tiffany & Co., Bottega Veneta, Gucci, Fendi, Prada and Saint Laurent, as well as high-end restaurants.

Earlier this year, Miami Design District Associates revealed plans to develop its first Class A office building called The Ursa, though others are in the works in the neighborhood. The 15-story office building is planned for the site at 30 Northeast 39th Street, across the street from the Apollo assemblage.

It’s unclear if the latest project will mark the first ground-up hotel in the district. In May 2021, Miami city commissioners approved amendments to the Design District special area plan that would allow for a 36-story hotel to be built at 3750 Biscayne Boulevard and 299 Northeast 39th Street. SAPs allow owners and developers of 9 or more contiguous acres to seek a slate of zoning changes that allow for denser projects.

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