BH3 Founders Face $26M Foreclosure Over South Florida Oceanfront Resort
By Julia Echikson February 13, 2026 4:10 pm
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Daniel Lebensohn, Gregory Freedman and affiliates tied to the real estate firm they cofounded, BH3 Management, are facing foreclosure after defaulting on a $26 million loan attached to an oceanfront resort in Hillsboro Beach, Fla.
Emerald Creek Capital filed the suit in Florida’s 17th Judicial Circuit last week, alleging the developers first defaulted two years ago. The New York-based lender had issued the three-year, floating-rate loan in 2022, the year the defendants had completed the six-story property.
Called Hillsboro Beach Resort, the 70,809-square-foot building includes 81 rooms at 1159 Hillsboro Mile. Sonder also managed the asset and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy last year.
“This hotel is an oceanfront gem but has endured a myriad of issues, including the increased interest rate environment and the recent bankruptcy of its former operator, Sonder,” per a statement from the borrowers. “1159 HM [one of the affiliates] has been and remains in ongoing dialogue with its lending partner.”
A representative for Emerald Creek Capital did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Issues first arose in March 2024, when the borrowers failed to pay property taxes, the suit alleges. The lender advanced $731,000 to cover the tax bill. In all, the lender provided just under $2.2 million in protective advances.
When the loan matured last year, the borrowers had yet to pay back the debt. Emerald Creek Capital and the borrowers entered into a forbearance agreement, which ended in January. The defendants have yet to cure all the defaults, the suit alleges.
BH3 Management is a prominent real estate firm based in Fort Lauderdale, which both develops and finances commercial real estate projects. Last year, it nabbed $225 million from J.P. Morgan and Monroe Capital to refinance a new, 250-unit luxury rental building in Hallandale Beach. Just this month in California, it listed Malibu’s first new condo in decades.
Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.
