Monarch Sues to Foreclose on Dan Kodsi’s Unfinished Miami Worldcenter Project

Monarch Alternative Capital is seeking to foreclose on the unfinished Legacy Hotel & Residences project at Miami Worldcenter, claiming developer Dan Kodsi owes nearly $32 million after construction stopped. 

The suit, filed in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court this month, alleges affiliates controlled by Kodsi have stopped making mortgage payments since April and have not paid property taxes for the past two years.

In 2021, Silverstein Properties, a prominent New York developer, provided Kodsi’s Royal Palm Companies a $290 million construction loan for the Legacy Hotel & Residences, a 50-story, mixed-use development in Downtown Miami. The loan was later amended to $293 million. 

The development, within the 27-acre Miami Worldcenter master development, was set to include 310 condos, a 219-room hotel, and a 120,000-square-foot wellness center on a 1.5-acre site at 930 Northeast First Avenue. The sold-out condo component garnered $160 million in pre-sales, Kodsi has publicly stated. 

But trouble arose in March 2024 when construction halted following issues with the placement of slabs, Kodsi told the South Florida Business Journal, though construction never restarted, with the project reaching only the 16th floor. 

Since then, 12 contractors have filed construction lien foreclosure lawsuits, seeking a combined $55 million. In June, Monarch Alternative Capital acquired Silverstein’s mortgage, for which Kodsi owes $31.9 million as the principal sum, per the suit. The Business Journal was the first to report the lawsuit.

Monarch, which has about $16 billion in assets under management, is an active player in the Miami real estate scene. In April, it provided a $413 million construction loan for PMG’s condo and multifamily project in Brickell. In 2023, it also bought the 801 Brickell office building for $250 million.

For Kodsi, the Legacy tower would have marked his second development at Miami Worldcenter. In 2019, Kodsi — along with Miami Worldcenter master developers Art Falcone, Nitin Motwani and Los Angeles-based CIM Group — completed the 60-story Paramount luxury condo tower. 

The development has attracted high-profile developers, such as Related Group and Witkoff. 

A representative for Monarch declined to comment. Dan Kodsi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.