Pensam Loans $30M in Bridge Debt on Miami’s Design 41
By Matt Grossman October 25, 2019 3:51 pm
reprints
A mixed-use commercial building in Miami has pulled in a $30 million bridge loan from Pensam Funding, the lending arm of an investment platform based in the South Florida metropolis, the lender announced today.
The debt is intended to fund the lease-up for Design 41, a new office-and-retail building at 112 Northeast 41st Street, an address that puts it about 3 miles north of Miami’s downtown but in the heart of its up-and-coming Design District. The neighborhood has emerged in the last few years as a center for restaurants and culture.
Pensam’s loan replaces prior funding on the 48,000-square-foot property from BridgeInvest, which gave the developer, Benjamin Norton, a $28 million mortgage last year. Construction wrapped up last spring and the BridgeInvest loan went towards “finishing touches,” according to a Real Deal report at the time.
Today, tenants including financial firm HPS Partners, furniture supplier Global Industries and haute-couture purveyor Galia Lahav have already taken office space in the building, as per Pensam’s Ray Cleeman. A perfume shop and an art gallery, meanwhile, have signed up for a portion of the building’s retail space, and Cleeman said a third peddler is close to signing a retail lease.
“Foot traffic is increasing and the area’s continuing to grow,” Cleeman said of the Design District. “Over the last eight to 10 months, you’re starting to see tremendous traction among the retailers and restaurants. “
The seven-story building offers 41,000 square feet of office space and 7,000 square feet of retail. But the project, based off of blueprints by Enrique Norten, almost didn’t get off the ground due to a dispute between Norton and his original development partner, Asi Cymbal.
The two had feuded over Norton’s inability to find financing for the project under the EB-5 visa program, TRD reported, and over a purported attempt by Norton to push Cymbal out of the deal. But the duo settled their differences out of court in a confidential deal.
The project’s first round of financing came from Los Angeles’ Canyon Partners in 2016 in the form of a $24.3 million construction loan.
As per research by Blanca Commercial Real Estate, a Miami brokerage, the Design District has been one of a bright spot among the city’s office market. Newly built office buildings in the neighborhood pulled in rents between $55 and $65 per square foot, compared with a citywide average of $40 per square foot.
Norton’s company, Design District Development Partners, couldn’t be reached by press time.
