CIRE Equity Takes Control of Miami Office Building After Foreclosure

Following foreclosure proceedings, an office building in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood has a new owner, San Diego-based CIRE Equity.

Lender A10 Capital assigned the 418,337-square-foot Gateway at Wynwood and a 5,187-square-foot Chase bank branch across the street to the private equity firm after the original developer, R&B Realty Group, failed to pay outstanding debt. The current occupancy rate was not immediately available.

The Business Journals first reported that A10 Capital assigned its bid to CIRE. Representatives for A10 Capital, CIRE Equity and R&B Realty Group did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The office property was completed in 2021 at 2916 North Miami Avenue. It attracted startups, such as OpenStore, and crypto company Ripple, as well as brokerage Marcus & Millichap, biopharmaceutical company Veru and coworking provider Mindspace. On the ground floor, BoConcept, a high-end furniture store, took 3,000 square feet. 

But it wasn’t enough. Last year, Wilmington Trust, acting on behalf of a commercial mortgage-backed security (CMBS) trust, sued R&B Realty Group, alleging it had stopped making debt payments in December 2023. The year prior, A10 Capital had provided a $113 million refinancing loan, which was later collateralized into CMBS financing. 

In July, A10 Capital won the bankruptcy auction, though U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Louis  Scarcella had given R&B Realty until August 22 to sell or refinance the building and repay the $112.9 million in outstanding debt.

After R&B Realty failed to meet the August deadline, A10 Capital assigned the property to CIRE Equity, which assumed a $76.7 million CMBS loan. CIRE Equity’s portfolio spans more than 600 million square feet, with more than half of that square footage on the West Coast. 

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