Fuse Group Sells Coconut Grove Buildings to Patrizio De Brasi

Lender Fuse Group sold a pair of unfinished Coconut Grove buildings tied to defaulted loans from two developers.

Fort Lauderdale-based Fuse sold the building shells at 2961 and 2967 Bird Avenue in Miami to an entity led by Patrizio De Brasi for $8.1 million, according to records. De Brasi took out an $8.2 million loan from Fuse.

The deal comes after the properties were tied to two separate much-touted, but failed Coconut Grove projects, reportedly slated to be condominiums.

First, Coral Gables-based Metronomic, led by Ricky Trinidad, wanted to redevelop the sites as part of a 300,000-square-foot mixed-use project in Coconut Grove. Ricky Trinidad, of Metronomic, revealed the plan for the $74 million development in 2018.

But Metronomic’s proposal unraveled amid debt woes, and the firm filed for bankruptcy in 2020. Fuse had provided a $17.7 million loan on the project and acquired 17 of Metronomic’s properties, including the two on Bird Avenue, through a credit bid in a spring 2021 bankruptcy auction.

Secondly, records show that in late 2021 Fuse, led by Eyal Peretz and Shimon Elkabetz, sold 2961 and 2967 Bird Avenue to an entity led by embattled Coconut Grove developer Douglas Cox for $4.9 million. Fuse also provided a $6.5 million loan to the buyer.

Cox, a homebuilder who signed contracts to sell Coconut Grove homes he planned to develop, has been targeted with mounting litigation and accusations that he delayed finishing construction and closing contracts with would-be buyers. He also couldn’t keep the buildings at 2961 and 2967 Bird Avenue.

Last May, Fuse sued Cox and his affiliate to foreclose on the debt it had on the properties. An automatic default was issued in November against the defendants for failure to respond to the suit in court, records show.

Though court records don’t explicitly say a judge ordered the transfer of the pair of properties to Fuse, state corporate records show the firm took a stake in the ownership entities following Cox’s affiliates’ default.

Fuse’s Peretz and buyer De Brasi declined to comment.
Fuse, which has provided more than $1 billion in construction, acquisition and bridge loans since it was founded in 2015, more recently has pushed to become a developer. In Fort Lauderdale’s Flagler Village neighborhood, Fuse wants to build the eight-story, 480-unit The Arcadian apartment building at 640 Northwest Seventh Avenue.