Location Ventures’ former Coral Gables dev site faces foreclosure

Another development site formerly owned by Rishi Kapoor and Coral Gables-based Location Ventures is the target of a foreclosure action.

An entity managed by Chandler Halpern in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday sued Kapoor and the entity that owns the 1.6-acre property at 1505 Ponce de Leon Boulevard in Miami-Dade Circuit Court. The complaint alleges that Kapoor and the ownership entity, 1505 Ponce SPE, failed to pay back a $10 million loan that matured in November.

As of February, Kapoor and 1505 Ponce SPE owed an additional $12.1 million in interest and attorney fees, a letter attached as an exhibit to the lawsuit shows. In the past year, other lenders have sued Location Ventures affiliates that own development sites in Miami Beach and Coconut Grove over alleged defaults. 

Rob Hyman, the Chandler entity’s lawyer, did not respond to a phone message and an email requesting comment. 

In an email, Kapoor’s attorney Fred Schwartz said the property has been owned by Parag Mehta, married couple Alex Kleyner and Diana Ulis, and MICL Group — four former investors in Location Ventures and two development sites, including 1505 Ponce de Leon Boulevard — since shortly after his client resigned in July from Location Ventures, the company he founded. At the time of the purchase, Location Ventures and its affiliates were managed by retired Miami-Dade Judge Alan Fine, who had been hired by former company investors to liquidate assets and pay off creditors. 

Florida corporate records show that 1505 Ponce SPE is managed by Ulis and Vastal Shah, an MICL principal. 

“Those defendants bought out Location Ventures’ interests last year in a transaction with retired judge Fine, who was winding up the various Location Ventures companies,” Schwartz said via email. “We understand these defendants failed to meet their obligation to pay the loan’s principal and interest when due, and the dispute is between those parties.”

However, the Halpern entity’s lawsuit alleges that Kapoor is a personal guarantor on the loan. 

The development site, where Location Ventures had previously planned a 16-story condominium with 87 units, is not subject to the proceedings in a federal civil lawsuit by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission against Kapoor, Location Ventures and various affiliates. In that case, Cecilia Altonaga, the former presiding judge, froze all of Kapoor’s assets and appointed Miami-based attorney Bernice Lee as a receiver to manage Location Ventures and its affiliates. 

The SEC alleges Kapoor defrauded more than 50 investors out of $95 million they put into real estate projects by Location Ventures and its Urbin subsidiary. In response to the SEC lawsuit, Kapoor accuses the SEC of building its case with false and misleading claims from a disgruntled former employee and Kleyner and Ulis. The Miami Beach couple contributed the most money, $45 million, court records allege. 

In 2022, 1505 Ponce SPE bought the 1.6 acres on Ponce de Leon Boulevard from Tibor Hollo’s Florida East Coast Realty for $35.5 million, records show. Back then, Kapoor was a rising star in South Florida’s development community. 

But by early last year, his career unraveled, and Location Ventures cratered in an avalanche of lawsuits and scandals, including the revelation that Kapoor was secretly paying Miami Mayor Francis Suarez $10,000 a month as a private consultant.