Remy Jacobson’s Design District building heads to foreclosure auction

Remy Jacobson is about to lose his commercial building in Miami’s Design District at an upcoming foreclosure auction stemming from an unpaid eight-figure mortgage debt.

On July 19, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Gina Beovides issued a final foreclosure judgment for $10.4 million, including $8.4 million in unpaid principal, in favor of Centennial Bank. The court sale has been set for Sept. 18, according to court records and Vizzda. 

The loan is secured by a three-story office building an entity managed by Jacobson and his brother, Jean-Marc, acquired for $10.5 million in 2016, records show. At the time, Miami-based City National Bank provided a $7.3 million mortgage for the purchase. Three years later, Conway, Arkansas-based Centennial Bank took over the loan, and Jacobson’s entity increased the debt to $11.9 million. 

Jacobson and his brother are co-CEOs of RealT, a Boca Raton-based cryptocurrency real estate investment platform. The siblings did not immediately respond to an email request for comment. 

Andrew Pineiro, the lawyer for Centennial Bank, said his client declined comment. 

In 2021, the Jacobson entity listed the property for sale four years after obtaining approvals from the Miami Historic and Environmental Preservation Board to renovate the mid-century modern office building. Jacobson planned on revamping the building’s facade with glass panels and other improvements. The site is in an Opportunity Zone so investors who buy into the property can qualify for tax breaks on their capital gains. 4141 North Miami Avenue is also eligible for $1.2 million in historic preservation tax credits based on the costs of construction, according to a Loopnet listing.

The property was still listed for sale as recently as last month, Loopnet shows. The asking price was $11.9 million. 

Arthur Porosoff with Porosoff Group Compass Commercial, who listed 4141 North Miami Avenue for Jacobson, said he will now be marketing the property for Centennial Bank, and that a new listing with an updated asking price will go up soon.

“Definitely working on bringing the property back to market,” Porosoff said. “No one knows this property better than I do.” 

Designed by Miami-based Shulman & Associates, the renovated building Jacobson proposed would have offered 6,100 square feet of retail space on the first floor for a restaurant, art gallery or store. The second and third floors would have had 4,400 square feet of office space each. And a 4,000-square-foot rooftop terrace would have been an event space.

In 2020, Centennial Bank filed an initial foreclosure lawsuit alleging that the Jacobson entity failed to meet the financial institution’s request to provide more equity to pay for construction costs. The complaint was dismissed after the Jacobsons filed a motion arguing that the lawsuit was not supposed to be filed due to a statewide moratorium on foreclosures enacted during the pandemic. 

Last year, Centennial Bank filed a second lawsuit alleging that the Jacobson entity stopped making mortgage payments in April 2022.