Calmwater Finances Miami Building Buy to House New WeWork

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Los Angeles-based Calmwater Capital provided a $34.5 million loan for the purchase of a Miami residential condominium property slated to be converted to offices that will entirely house a WeWork (WE), Commercial Observer has learned. The borrower is a group of four investors, Daniel Gohari, Rory Greenberg, Andrew Joblon and Ricky Whitefish.

The financing for the acquisition and conversion of the 96,575-square-foot, 60-unit Security Building—located at 117 N.E. First Avenue in the city’s downtown area—comes in two parts. 

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The first is an $18.2 million short-term loan that covers the acquisition of the first 55 condo units, according to the lender. While the cost of the units was not immediately available, the South Florida Business Journal reported in late June that 47 of the condos sold for $23.5 million to a partnership between four investors.

The second half of the financing is a $16.48 million loan, with an unspecified term, that covers the purchase of the last five units, as well as the building renovation and conversion.  

“The office sector is undergoing a radical evolution, and companies like WeWork are leading the revitalization to rethink the definition of office space,” Larry Grantham, a portfolio manager at Calmwater Capital, formerly Karlin Real Estate, said in prepared remarks provided to CO. “This loan will fund an innovative project that brings the next phase in creative office space to Miami.”

An anchor tenant was required in order for the deal, and the subsequent conversion, to go through. The owners were able to lock down WeWork to lease the entire building, making it the shared workspace company’s second venture in South Florida. WeWork currently has an office in Miami Beach, which opened earlier this summer.

A WeWork spokeswoman declined to comment.