$80M Empire World Towers site sale closes

The anticipated $80 million sale of the former Empire World Towers site to a company linked to developer Property Markets Group officially closed.

PMG-CH Downtown Developers was the highest bidder for the two acres at 300 and 330 Biscayne Boulevard in downtown Miami, according to written announcements from real estate firm HFF and one of the law firms involved in the transaction. The seller was a trust established for the benefit of CDR Creances S.A.S. The site is approved for the development of what would be the tallest two East Coast buildings south of Manhattan at 93 stories apiece.

The buying company received a $49 million mortgage from a group of lenders managed by Fortress Credit Co. LLC of New York, according to Miami-Dade County records.

Jailed father-and-son developers Mauricio Cohen Assor and Leon Cohen-Levy planned to construct Empire World Towers before last decade’s real estate crash. The project was halted after the Cohens were hit with tax evasion charges and sentenced to prison.

HFF managing director Jaret Turkell, senior managing director Hermen Rodriguez, executive managing director Manuel de Zarraga and associate director Scott Wadler led the team marketing the site for sale. Attorneys Marcos Daniel Jimenez and Gregg Fierman of McDermott, Will & Emery represented CDR in the sale and related litigation. Luis Flores and Rebecca Sarelson of Arnstein & Lehr represented PMG. — Eric Kalis