In What’s Likely a Florida Record, Condo Project Scores $430M Construction Loan
Witkoff Group and Monroe Capital are redeveloping an Art Deco property into the Shore Club Private Collection
By Julia Echikson July 20, 2023 11:45 am
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Despite interest rate hikes and a lagging residential market, Witkoff Group and Monroe Capital scored one of South Florida’s biggest construction loans ever: $430 million for a luxury condo development on Miami Beach’s Collins Avenue.
The financing from JPMorgan Chase (JPM) will go toward the Shore Club Private Collection, a redevelopment of the Art Deco property built in 1938. The oceanfront site — located at 1901 Collins Avenue, just south of the Setai property — spans 3 acres. Lotus Capital negotiated the loan on behalf of sponsorship.
Witkoff and Monroe are adding a 20-story tower and one single-family home, as well as updating the historic eight-story Cromwell House, which will house four residences. In total, the Robert A.M. Stern Architects-designed project will feature 49 condo units.
The property will also include a 75-room hotel, though it’s unclear whether the hospitality component is part of the financing package. Construction is expected to begin later this year and is scheduled to be completed in 2026.
Since launching sales in January, more than two-thirds of units have sold, amounting to $550 million, according to Witkoff, a prominent New York developer that has zeroed in on South Florida since the pandemic.
“This record-breaking loan underscores the tremendous confidence the market has in Shore Club Private Collection,” Alex Witkoff, co-CEO of Witkoff Group, said in a statement.
“The project has been leading luxury condominium sales in Miami since its launch, and we are setting a new standard in Miami Beach with prices per square foot consistently over $5,000 and the average home selling for more than $20 million,” the developer added.
Witkoff’s construction loan may well be the largest in South Florida’s history, certainly its recent history. In 2021, David Martin’s Terra and Russel Galbut’s family office landed a $345 million construction loan for a 48-story residential tower, also in Miami Beach, from Blackstone and Apollo Global Management.
Last year’s largest mortgage amounted to $269 million, which Fortress Investment Group lent to Forest Development and Dan Kodsi’s Royal Palm Companies for a waterfront condo project in Palm Beach County’s Lake Park. Other major South Florida development-related loans in the past year or so have topped out at around that figure, according to The Real Deal.
Witkoff and Monroe acquired the Shore Club property in 2021 from the troubled New York-based HFZ Capital Group, though it’s unclear for how much, and first unveiled plans for the redevelopment later that year.
Just one block south of the Shore Club, another prominent developer, Michael Shvo, is redeveloping the historic Raleigh property, though he has yet to secure construction financing.
Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.
