Deutsche Bank Leads $120M Retail Refi for Miami Worldcenter
By Julia Echikson May 24, 2024 2:39 pm
reprints
The master developers of Miami Worldcenter, the 27-acre megaproject, scored $120 million to refinance its retail space.
Deutsche Bank (DB) is serving as an administrative agent for itself and other lenders, according to mortgage documents. Miami Worldcenter Associates, the entity behind the master development, is led by Art Falcone’s Boca Raton-based Falcone Group. Nitin Motwani, who also runs the Fort Lauderdale-based Merrimac Ventures development firm, is a partner in the project, as is Los Angeles-based CIM Group.
The mortgage covers about 300,000 square feet of retail space along Northeast First Avenue and Northeast Eighth Street — including an 80,000-square-foot building, and ground-floor retail condos attached to the 60-story Paramount condo tower. It also includes a parking garage at 650 NE Second Avenue, and lots at 651 and 652 NE First Avenue.
The retail component is 95 percent leased, the master developers announced earlier this month. Lululemon, Sephora, Ray-Ban stores, the Lucky Strike bowling alley and the Brasserie Laurel have already opened.
Others that have signed leases include retailers The Container Store, Savage X Fenty and Free People, as well as food and beverage offerings Serafina, Earls Kitchen + Bar, Sixty Vines and Starbucks. A 15,000-square-foot stand-alone Apple store is now under construction.
Spanning 10 city blocks, Miami Worldcenter is one of the largest private projects in the country, akin to New York’s Hudson Yards. High-profile developers, such as Related Group and Witkoff Group, as well as WeWork founder Adam Neumann have projects in the pipeline at the $6 billion project.
Besides the Paramount building, completed projects include a CitizenM hotel, the Bezel apartment and Caoba apartment towers. A representative for Miami Worldcenter did not provide comment.
Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.
