Jeff Sutton is planting a flag in Miami’s Design District by teaming up with Pebb Capital and Lane Capital Partners to acquire a fully leased mixed-use building for $72.5 million.
The joint venture, including Sutton’s New York-based Wharton Properties, acquired the seven-story Design 41 at 112 Northeast 41st Street in Miami’s high-end shopping district, according to a news release. Boca Raton-based Pebb Capital is led by Todd Rosenberg and New York-based Lane Capital is led by Alan Leavitt.
Tony Arellano and Devlin Marinoff with Dwntwn Realty Advisors brokered the transaction, representing the buyer and the seller, Design District Development Partners, an entity managed by Benjamin Norton in Sarasota.
The previous sale price is not listed in records, but Design District Development Partners obtained a $24.3 million construction loan in 2016. Design 41 was completed two years later, records show.
The developer secured a $30 million bridge loan in 2018 that was increased by $11 million three years later, according to mortgage documents. It obtained a separate $4.3 million loan in 2024.
Sutton and his partners were looking initially to recapitalize the building but pivoted to buying it outright, Arellano said.The loans came due during the sale process, he added.
“We had cascading loan maturities and challenging dynamics with the lenders,” Arellano said. “But we got the deal done.”
The building’s office tenants include architecture firm Foster + Partners and the Miami office for David Edelstein’s New York-based TriCap. Retail tenants on the ground floor include perfume shop Bond No. 9 NY and bedding store Hästens.
The Design District is among the top retail destinations, and among the most expensive, in the U.S. Rents in the neighborhood skyrocketed by more than 200 percent, during a five year period ending in 2024, to an average of $500 per square foot, according to Cushman & Wakefield.
Last month, Craig Robins’ Dacra, L Catterton Real Estate and Brookfield added $100 million to a $250 million loan secured by six retail properties in the Design District.