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South Florida

Calta buys Coral Gables apartments from Shoma co-founder Maria Lamas

Buyer paid $12M for Venetian Flats, a two-building complex with 32 units

Calta Group’s founders Ignazio and Gaetano Caltagirone and Venetian Flats at 915 and 920 Palermo Avenue in Coral Gables
Calta Group’s founders Ignazio and Gaetano Caltagirone and Venetian Flats at 915 and 920 Palermo Avenue in Coral Gables (Google Maps, The Calta Group)

The Calta Group is quickly expanding its multifamily division after acquiring a Coral Gables apartment complex from Shoma Group co-founder Maria Lamas.

A Calta affiliate paid $12 million for Venetian Flats, a two-building property with 32 units at 915 and 920 Palermo Avenue, according to records and Vizzda. The buyer obtained a $7.8 million mortgage from Terrabank. 

The deal breaks down to $375,000 per apartment. 

The seller, an entity managed by Lamas, bought Venetian Flats for $8.2 million in 2021, records show. Coral Gables attorney Anibel Duarte-Viera represented Lamas when she acquired and sold the property. 

The buildings were completed in 1963 and 1964 on nearly one acre, records show. The property is near the Venetian Pool and the Biltmore Hotel. 

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Founded in 2010 by Italian brothers Ignazio and Gaetano Caltagirone, Coral Gables-based Calta is also partnering with Miami-based Gilu Development to build Revv Hollywood, an eight-story apartment building in Hollywood. 

The 180-unit project marks Calta’s first multifamily development. This month, Calta and Gilu obtained a $60 million construction loan for Revv Hollywood. Last year, Calta bought the 1.6-acre development site for $9.5 million, records show. 

Calta has $250 million in real estate investments in South Florida, according to a press release.

Lamas co-founded Coral Gables-based developer Shoma Group with her ex-husband, Masoud Shojaee. The firm’s name is a combination of both their last names. 

In February, Lamas and her two adult daughters sued Shojaee’s current wife, Shoma President Stephanie Shojaee, for defamation. The still pending lawsuit alleges that Stephanie Shojaee made false statements on a podcast that portrayed Lamas as “incompetent, careless, lazy and hateful.” 

In 2021, Lamas sued a Shoma affiliate that owns the firm’s corporate headquarters at 201 Sevilla Avenue. Lamas alleged that the Shoma affiliate defaulted on a $6 million loan she provided by conducting unauthorized construction in the 31,000-square-foot building. Lamas and the Shoma affiliate voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit the same year, court records show.