Miami condo sales fell at the start of November.

A total of 139 condos sold for $49.7 million in Miami-Dade County last week, compared to 152 units that sold for a combined $52 million the previous week. Condos last week sold for an average price of about $358,000 or $294 per square foot.

A unit at the Continuum on South Beach sold for $4 million, or over $2,000 per square foot. The two-bedroom, 1,940-square-foot condo was on the market for eight days before it closed. The listing agent was Dario Stoka and the buyer’s agent was Timothy Allen Jr.

The second most expensive unit of the week sold for $2.65 million, or $766 per square foot. Unit 705 at Prive at Island Estates traded after 168 days on the market. Alice Edery represented the seller, while Ana Maria Rodriguez brought the buyer.

Here’s a breakdown of the top 10 sales from Nov. 3 to Nov. 9. Click on the map for more information:

Most expensive
Continuum on South Beach #3301 | 8 days on market | $4M | $2,062 psf | Listing agent: Dario Stoka | Buyer’s agent: Timothy Allen Jr.

Least expensive
The Floridian #1811 | 126 days on market | $810K | $706 psf | Listing agent: Rosy Pallozzi | Buyer’s agent: Carlos Fernandez

Most days on market
Millennium Condo #2803 | 438 days on market | $826K | $492 psf | Listing agent: Claudia Urrego | Buyer’s agent: Yelena Zborovsky

Fewest days on market
Continuum on South Beach #3301 | 8 days on market | $4M | $2,062 psf | Listing agent: Dario Stoka | Buyer’s agent: Timothy Allen Jr

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10315 USA Today Way (Credit: Google Maps and iStock)

A former printing and distribution site for USA Today in Miramar sold for $12 million.

Zaragon purchased the 56,087-square-foot property at 10315 USA Today Way for $214 per square foot, records show. The seller was Sudha of Miami, which is led by Akhil Agrawal, the president of American Medical Depot.

The property was previously used by Gannett Co. to print and distribute USA Today newspapers, according to Loopnet. The printing operations stopped and the property was sold to the healthcare supplies company American Medical Depot for $4.9 million in 2012.

The building was constructed in 1986 and sits on 7 acres. The property is located within the Miramar Park of Commerce, a 600-acre corporate park in Miramar.

Newspaper companies have struggled to generate revenue from digital advertising and many have stopped printing physical papers. As a result, media companies are trying to shed their real estate assets and distribution centers. In 2011, McClatchy sold the Miami Herald’s 14-acre waterfront property overlooking Biscayne Bay for $236 million to a Malaysian casino operator.

Earlier this year, a Cox Media Group affiliate sold the 360,000-square-foot building that housed the Palm Beach Post in West Palm Beach for $24 million to Scott Sherman and Ben Mandell’s Tricera Capital.

Chicago-based Zaragon is an active developer across the country. It owns and manages about 3,500 apartments, 1,100 mobile home units and 1.2 million square feet of office and industrial space, according to its website.

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Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son (Credit: Getty Images)

After everything that’s happened at WeWork, shareholders now have a new worry.

SoftBank is delaying a $3 billion tender offer for WeWork shareholders. In a letter WeWork sent to shareholders Nov. 8, and obtained by The Real Deal, the Japanese conglomerate’s offer would commence “within five business days of the completion” a $1.5 billion investment in the struggling office startup.

That $1.5 billion payment was released to the company Oct. 30, which would have made the deadline for the tender offer Wednesday, Nov. 6. But no offer was extended, sources said.

The delay is the latest pang of uncertainty for WeWork investors, many of whom are employees whose compensation packages include company stock.

A person close to SoftBank said the tender “is going to happen soon,” but would not provide a timeframe.

“It’s just taking a little more time than expected due to the time needed to get all the technicalities in order,” the individual said, without providing specifics.

The completion of the tender offer is contingent on “the receipt of required regulatory approvals” and the absence of litigation, bankruptcy proceedings and defaults on any debt owed, according to the letter.

Representatives for SoftBank and WeWork declined to comment.

After WeWork abandoned IPO plans because of an icy reception from public investors, SoftBank pushed out co-founder Adam Neumann and took a majority stake in WeWork. The $9.5 billion rescue package — a $5 billion debt facility, the $3 billion tender offer and a $1.5 billion commitment — staved off a potential bankruptcy this month.

The saga led to WeWork’s valuation dropping from $47 billion — a figure set by SoftBank in January — to $8 billion. Many investors who bought stock in recent years are now underwater.

WeWork reported to shareholders Wednesday that it lost $1.25 billion in the third quarter as rising expenses outpaced growth.

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Richard LeFrak and Solé Mia

Richard LeFrak recounted the moment roughly nine years ago when he received a call gauging his interest in 184 acres of waterfront land fronting Biscayne Boulevard in North Miami. “It’s a [former] landfill and it’s kind of had a checkered past,” LeFrak recalled the unnamed individual on the line telling him. “I asked what’s the minimum bid? He said $21 million. That’s all I had to hear.”

It was chump change compared to the expected $4 billion LeFrak and his Aventura-based partners, the Soffer family, are putting into building Solé Mia, a master-planned community that will ultimately have 12 residential buildings totaling 4,390 units with more than 1 million square feet of commercial space in North Miami.

In January, the partnership completed the first phase, with the opening of twin 17-story towers called The Shoreline, a Costco and a 7-acre lagoon. It’s a marked contrast from when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency designated the tract a Superfund site due to the amount of toxic materials that leached into the soil.

LeFrak, the keynote speaker at Thursday’s Urban Land Institute Miami Symposium at the Mandarin Oriental, Miami, told attendees that developing the massive site isn’t easy. But he’s confident the project will be successful.

“We had to deal with the politics, straightening out the environmental stuff and doing everything you have to do,” LeFrak said. “And we are going to turn that landfill into a paradise. It takes a lot of capital and effort and faith to envision something that is going to be 20 years away.”

The New York City developer has been bullish about Miami real estate since the aftermath of the 2008 crash when he became an investor in then-struggling BankUnited and partnered in purchasing the real estate portfolio held by the failed Corus Bank. In 2012, LeFrak partnered with Starwood Capital Group chairman Barry Sternlicht to buy and rebrand the former Gansevoort Miami Beach Hotel into 1 Hotel & Homes South Beach, a luxury condominium and resort. In February, LeFrak and Starwood sold the hotel portion for $610 million.

“I asked Barry to show me the brand book and he pointed to his head,” LeFrak said. “I had faith in him. He knows how to get things done. Now he’s spreading the 1 Hotels brand around the country and the world.”

Even as the luxury condo market has stalled in Miami, the population growth and the amount of land available for development and redevelopment, will lead real estate investors to continue flocking to the region, LeFrak said. “You follow the population,” he said. “You don’t create it. You have to be here ready to serve them. So, yes, I do see more investors coming here. I think too many for my taste.”

He also noted how technology is creating “tremendous disruption in the real estate business.” LeFrak said trends such as co-living and short-term rentals are driven by a younger generation that demands more mobility in their lives. “You’ve got to get in front of it,” he said. “You have to cater to it.”

As an example, LeFrak said a manager at one of his company’s new apartment buildings recently explained to him that not many new tenants are showing up in moving trucks. “He told me some people are moving in by taxicab,” LeFrak said. “They just bring in their luggage. When I asked what about the rest of it, he said it’s all being sent by Amazon.”

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Smart Brickell , Santiago Vanegas

Habitat Group is moving forward with the construction of a large condo-hotel project in Brickell after scoring a $24 million loan.

Habitat secured the construction loan from Miami-based Ocean Bank to build Smart Brickell’s Tower 1 at 239 Southwest 9th Street in Miami’s West Brickell neighborhood. The tower will have 50 hotel rooms and 50 condos and is planned for completion in 2021.

Smart Brickell is a three-building condo-hotel project that will offer owners the ability to rent their units out 50 times a year. In all, the project will have nearly 300 units and about 12,000 square feet of commercial space for a cafe, restaurant and retail. Tower 2 is expected to break ground in early 2020.

Santiago Vanegas, CEO and president of Habitat Group, said Smart Brickell Tower 1 is already sold out, while Smart Brickell Tower 2 is about 80 percent sold.

Miami-based Cervera Real Estate is handling sales for Smart Brickell. Hernando Carrillo is the architect. Condo prices range from $300,000 to $600,000.

Habitat Group is focusing on West Brickell. The company recently paid $6.1 million for a site at 1200 Southwest Second Avenue where it’s planning to build Brickell 12, a 96-key hotel project. The company’s other projects include the Brickell Lux and Millux Hotel, according to its website.

With just over $4 billion in assets, Ocean Bank is an active construction lender in South Florida. Last year, the community bank provided an $85 million construction for Melo Group’s Art Plaza Apartment. This comes at a time when many banks in South Florida are backing away from construction lending due to heightened regulatory scrutiny.

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Mika Mattingly and Cecilia Estevez with the Mid Bay Club Apartments

A South Florida family is looking to cash out on a waterfront development site in North Miami.

The Mid Bay Club Apartments, a 34,275-square-foot site at 11950 North Bayshore Drive, hit the market with brokers Mika Mattingly and Cecilia Estevez of Colliers International South Florida, Mattingly said.

Property records show an LLC controlled by William R., William E. and Eileen Prevatel, and Patricia Wood, own the property. It includes a 27-unit apartment building completed with one and two-bedroom units. It was built in 1964.

The building is generating $470,000 a year in gross income. Based on comparable sales of $400 to $500 per square foot, Mattingly said, the site could trade for roughly $15.4 million. It’s zoned B-Z, which stands for Bayshore Zone, and allows 100 units per acre, or 90 units for that specific property. The zoning also allows for 115 feet, or roughly 11 stories, with over 200,000 square feet of development, according to a release.

Mattingly called it “the only covered land play” in the area, meaning the only income-producing development site on the water in North Miami. A buyer could also assemble land to the north and south to build a larger project.

The building last sold in 2011 for $1.5 million, records show.

The property offers views of Indian Creek Village, Bay Harbor Islands and North Bay Village. North Miami is going through a renaissance, Mattingly said. A number of projects are underway, including LeFrak and Turnberry Associates’ $4 billion Solé Mia project, which is located on 184 acres in a designated Opportunity Zone.

Former NFL player Elvis Dumervil has assembled more than 700 apartment units in North Miami and North Miami Beach.

Miami Heat veteran Udonis Haslem is also partnering with a developer to build a 134-unit rental apartment project for low-income residents of North Miami.

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Avra Jain and a rendering of 225 NE 34th Street

Avra Jain is a believer in Miami’s Midtown office market.

The area, near Wynwood and the Design District, has thousands of apartment and condo units recently constructed. In addition, some of the neighborhood is also in a federally designated Opportunity Zone, allowing Jain, a former Wall Street bond trader, to take advantage of substantial tax breaks.

Jain is planning to build a 15-story office building at 225 Northeast 34th Street with $33 million in Opportunity Zone money, she told The Real Deal. Jain’s company, Vagabond Group Consulting LLC, partnered with Los Gatos, California-based Bauen Capital to create an Opportunity Zone Fund. The office building will be built on top of an eight-story parking deck and will have a large green space. It will be combined with an existing 47,000-square-foot building that includes Anatomy Gym.

In 2017, Jain, Joe Del Vecchio and partners paid $13 million for the property at 3415 Northeast Second Avenue in Miami. It included the three-story, 52,500-square-foot building with the parking garage. Altogether the land totals 35,320 square foot, according to property records.

Jain said she is looking to fill a void in the market by creating a creative Class A office building for entrepreneurial and tech tenants looking to build their businesses in an Opportunity Zone.

Construction of the new addition is expected to begin in six to 12 months, according to Jain, who is best known for redeveloping the historic Vagabond Hotel in Miami’s MiMo district.

Jain was one of the first developers in Miami who sought to take advantage of the Opportunity Zone tax break. Vagabond Group Consulting and Coconut Grove-based Terra are also looking to take advantage of the program to redevelop a 6-acre industrial complex at 4800 Northwest 37th Avenue in Hialeah. Jain is structuring her funds on a project-specific basis, which means she is creating a fund to invest in each individual project rather than a blind pool to invest in multiple assets.

The federal program allows investors, businesses and developers to defer or forgo capital gains taxes if they build or invest in one of 8,700 designated Opportunity Zones throughout the country. Investors are able to forgo their capital gains if they put their money in an Opportunity Zone for at least ten years.

The program was intended to spur investment in distressed and low-income areas, but critics charge the program is simply a tax break for the wealthy and for mega projects such as the $4 billion SoLe Mia mixed-use project in North Miami.

Developers have until the end of the year to claim the biggest tax benefit from the program.

Jain said the Opportunity Zone program can make securing financing easier. “Banks are not always favorable toward office,” said Jain. “It is encouraging people to spend money where they may not have spent it before.”

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Every day, The Real Deal rounds up South Florida’s biggest real estate news, from breaking news and scoops to announcements and deals. We update this page throughout the day. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com

This page was last updated at 9 a.m.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation wants the city of Fort Lauderdale to approve apartment buildings based on city code, not on the income level of residents or areas where a project is located. The foundation wants voters to pass an initiative that would prevent the city from denying proposals based on income or location, according to the Sun Sentinel. Foundation officials are alleging their proposal to build a 15-story tower for low-income residents is being opposed by the city because nearby residents in a more affluent neighborhood don’t want it. But the city said the project isn’t allowed because it qualifies as a social service residential facility. [Sun Sentinel]

Bill Cunningham, the Corcoran Group’s president of sales, is leaving the firm. The move is part of a broader shakeup that will also see Gary Malin, president of sister firm Citi Habitats, add the role of COO of Corcoran to his responsibilities. In an email to agents Thursday, Corcoran CEO Pam Liebman said Cunningham’s departure is one of several changes underway at the company, which is a subsidiary of publicly traded Realogy. [TRD]

Avra Jain and a rendering of 225 NE 34th Street

Avra Jain is planning to build a 15-story office building with $33M in Opportunity Zone money. Jain’s Vagabond Group Consulting LLC partnered with Los Gatos, California-based Bauen Capital to create an Opportunity Zone Fund. The office building, at 225 Northeast 34th Street, will be built on top of an eight-story parking deck and will have a large green space. It will be combined with an existing 47,000-square-foot building that includes Anatomy Gym. [TRD]

Compiled by Katherine Kallergis

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Next week brings a new group of real estate events:

Host: CREW Miami
Date: Nov. 19
Time: 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

CREW Miami is holding a lunch program at the Four Seasons Brickell in Miami, 1435 Brickell Avenue from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The event will focus on policy and investment challenges associated with commercial real estate’s environmental impact. Speakers include Alex Harris of the Miami Herald and Adam Lipkin of Counterpointe SRE.

Host: South Florida Business Journal
Date: Nov. 21
Time: 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

The South Florida Business Journal is holding its 2019 Structures Awards at Jungle Island, 1111 Parrot Jungle Trail from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Come to this event to network and spend an evening honoring exceptional projects across various sectors of the real estate industry.

To submit more industry events, please reach out to events@therealdeal.com.

The post Mark your calendars: These are South Florida’s top real estate events next week appeared first on The Real Deal Miami.

Bill Cunningham and Citi Habitat’s Gary Malin. The longtime president of sales is leaving the firm.

Bill Cunningham, the Corcoran Group’s president of sales, is leaving the firm, The Real Deal has learned. The move is part of a broader shakeup that will also see Gary Malin, president of sister firm Citi Habitats, add the role of COO of Corcoran to his responsibilities. 

Corcoran CEO Pam Liebman

In an email to agents Thursday, Corcoran CEO Pam Liebman said Cunningham’s departure is one of several changes underway at the company, which is a subsidiary of publicly traded Realogy. Corcoran is realigning its management team to focus on a “regional support structure” that Liebman will oversee, she wrote. In Cunningham’s wake, Michael Sorrentino, who oversees Brooklyn sales, will add oversight of Manhattan to his responsibilities.

“Corcoran is an incredibly strong brand, and I am confident these changes will make us even better,” she wrote in the email, a copy of which was reviewed by TRD. Sources familiar with the discussions said that among the changes was Malin’s elevation to the COO role at Corcoran. Malin has been leading Citi Habitats, which specializes in rentals, since 1998.

Cunningham joined Corcoran in 2001 and worked his way up to running the firm’s flagship office on the East Side. In 2014, he did a brief stint as president of Trump International Realty, before rejoining Corcoran as general sales manager.

In that role, he served as Liebman’s top deputy and confidante as the firm battled to maintain its dominance in the face of stiff competition and aggressive recruiting, particularly from Compass. With 1,320 Manhattan agents and $4.5 billion in closed sell-side deals, Corcoran was the No. 2 firm in the city last year, down 28 percent year-over-year, according to an analysis by TRD.

Neither Corcoran nor Cunningham immediately returned calls for comment.

Cunningham’s departure comes two months after Corcoran was hit by a major data breach, in which agent splits, marketing budgets and gross commission income were leaked to the entire company in an email. Though the email came from Cunningham’s account, Corcoran said criminal hackers were to blame.

(Read more: Revealed: Corcoran’s hacked files)

Still, the trove of leaked information shed light on the health of the firm, which is one of the most successful subsidiaries of Realogy. The New Jersey-based conglomerate, which is also the parent company of Sotheby’s International Realty, Citi Habitats and Coldwell Banker, has seen its stock plummet over the past 18 months amid a slowdown in the luxury market and heightened competition for top agents. In addition to rolling out cost-cutting measures, Realogy announced last week that it is selling its relocation business for $400 million to help pay down $3.5 billion in debt.

In Thursday’s email, Liebman hinted that Corcoran, too, has been impacted by the changes to the brokerage landscape. She called Cunningham a colleague and a “very good friend,” and said she’d be spending more time with agents in the field, “actively listening, collaborating and supporting” them. She also said she’d be attending rotating sales meetings each week, and having biweekly breakfasts with agents.

“As always, I will be available to help you with my favorite thing, getting your deals done,” she wrote.

Though she did not address agent departures specifically, this month Brian Meier and his team joined Christie’s International Real Estate from Corcoran. And in the Hamptons, agents Cee Scott Brown and Jack Pearson joined Compass.

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The Club at Crystal Lake, AHS Residential’s Ernesto Lopes

Landmark Co.s snagged a new Deerfield Beach apartment complex for $30 million.

Landmark Companies bought the 125-unit property at 3800-3816 Crystal Lake Drive for $240,000 per unit. AHS Residential, which is managed by Ernesto Lopes, sold the complex. It was built this year.

Keasbey, New Jersey-based Landmark secured a $17.5 million loan from JPMorgan Chase to buy the complex.

AHS Residential purchased the property for $1.4 million in 2014, records show.

The complex, known as the Club at Crystal Lake, totals 144,205 square feet and sits on about 5 acres. The apartments range from one to three bedrooms with prices starting at $1,449 per month, according to its website.

Club at Crystal Lake sits in front of the site of the former Crystal Lake Golf Club. at the corner of Military and Sample roads. Lennar Corp. is planning to build 415 single-family homes and townhomes on the former golf club.

Lennar purchased the property in March for $12.8 million from Hoyer Homes.

Miami-based AHS Residential was founded in 2012 by Lopes and Rubens Menin Texeira de Souza to develop, build and manage multifamily properties. The company focuses on workforce housing and is currently developing Deering Groves, a 280-unit rental community in south Miami-Dade County.

In October, AHS Residential sold a seven-story apartment complex in Dania Beach for $38 million to a California-based trust.

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Softbank’s Masayoshi Son and Jared Kushner (Credit: Getty Images)

Talks for SoftBank to fund crowdfunding startup Cadre ended when Jared Kushner declined to divest his ownership stake in the company.

Ryan Williams — who co-founded the platform with Jared and Joshua Kushner in 2014 — was in talks with SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son in early 2018, Bloomberg reported. Williams had even flown to Tokyo at Masayoshi Son’s invitation, but the talks fell through.

Cadre’s Ryan Williams (Credit: Getty Images)

Son, SoftBank’s CEO, was concerned that Jared Kushner may have had conflicts of interest or undue influence due to his appointment as senior advisor to President Donald Trump in 2017.

Cadre has had to contend with the Kushner’s political profile, executive departures and “inflated business claims,” according to Bloomberg.

According to one account of the pitch made to SoftBank’s $100 billion Vision Fund in 2018, Cadre demonstrated software that it had not been using in practice. Cadre denied that, and did not comment further on the contents of its pitch.

The startup has not yet realized its goal of creating an online marketplace to make commercial real estate investments available to the masses. The online platform is currently only available to verified high net-worth individuals. In its latest funding round in 2017, it was valued at $800 million. [Bloomberg] — Georgia Kromrei

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Wayne Huizenga Jr., Rick Scott and Rybovich superyacht marina  (Credit: Wikipedia, Google Maps)

The son of Blockbuster video billionaire Wayne Huizenga successfully lobbied then-Gov. Rick Scott to include the site of his $100 million West Palm Beach development into an Opportunity Zone, according to a ProPublica investigation.

The Opportunity Zone legislation, passed in December 2017 as part of President Trump’s tax code overhaul, was intended to help low-income neighborhoods. In this case, it benefits Wayne Huizenga Jr.’s plans to build luxury apartment towers on the Marina Village site. His partner on the project is Related Group developer Jorge Pérez, and Related Companies’ Stephen Ross owns a portion of the Related Group.

Over the last decade, Ross, Pérez, Huizenga and their families have given at least $1 million to Scott and the Republican party of Florida, ProPublica reported. A week after Huizenga Jr. sent a letter to Scott to include the census tract into the federal program, Scott revealed the areas he had selected in Florida, which included the tract, home to the Rybovich superyacht marina owned by Huizenga, where he’s planning to develop apartments.

The state of Florida did not originally include that area as an Opportunity Zone, and Scott rejected other poorer census tracts that the city of West Palm Beach had requested be included. Scott is now a state senator.

Investors who develop in one of the 8,000 designated Opportunity Zones throughout the country can defer federal taxes on capital gains until Dec. 31, 2026. Investors can reduce that tax payment by as much as 15 percent and pay no taxes on possible profits from an Opportunity Zone fund if they hold onto the investment for 10 years.

A spokesperson for Scott told ProPublica that the former governor focused on job creation in low-income areas. Rybovich’s president said the motivation to secure the Opportunity Zone designation was to “create incentives for redevelopment by third parties in the surrounding neighborhood.” [ProPublica] – Katherine Kallergis

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The Real Deal will be celebrating its 250th issue this January! This special commemorative issue will include a look back at the first two decades of New York real estate in the new millennium, and some of The Real Deal’s most notable coverage. Don’t miss our stories on the billion-dollar dealmakers and the billion-dollar deals that have helped shape the city and its skyline.

Our first issue of the new decade will also include a tally of the records and milestones of 2019 as well as stories on rent reform, one of the most pressing issues facing the industry today. Other coverage will examine LLC laws shielding owners’ identities and the changing social media strategies being used to sell properties today.

For marketing opportunities, please contact Advertising@TheRealDeal.com.

The post Coming soon: <i>TRD’</i>s 250th issue! appeared first on The Real Deal Miami.

Jorge Pérez and Jon Paul Pérez (Credit: Wikipedia)

Miami’s condo king is preparing to hand over the title of president to his son within the next year.

Jorge Pérez, president and CEO of Related Group, will give up some control to his son, Jon Paul Pérez, in 2020, an executive at the company said during a Bisnow event on Thursday.

“Twenty years ago, Jorge made it very clear this is a family business and it will continue to be a family business,” said Matthew Allen, executive vice president and COO of Related Group. “That was always really key for us to make sure we guide him. He’s still learning. Really, he’s grown up tremendously. It’s amazing what he’s done.”

Jon Paul was promoted to executive vice president over the summer, a spokesperson confirmed. South Florida Business & Wealth first reported that Jon Paul will become president within a year, and CEO within two years.

The Related Group is South Florida’s largest condo developer, and has expanded into multifamily, affordable housing and hotels in recent years.

Allen spoke in a keynote conversation with Arden Karson, senior managing director of South Florida at CBRE — and a former Related executive — at the Bisnow Multifamily Annual Conference. The event was held at the W Fort Lauderdale, a Related Companies-owned development. Related Cos. owner Stephen Ross owns a minority stake in the Related Group.

Billionaire Jorge Pérez, who founded Related Group in 1979, has spoken about his succession plan in the past without a specific timeline. Both Jon Paul and his brother Nick worked for Related Companies in New York. Nick joined the Related Group in 2018 and is spearheading the development of the company’s new Coconut Grove headquarters alongside Vice President Patrick Campbell, a spokesperson said.

Jon Paul joined his father’s company in 2012, and has worked on projects such as Brickell Heights and Wynwood 25. When Jorge steps down, the senior leadership, which includes Allen, Carlos Rosso, Steve Patterson and Albert Milo Jr., will remain in place, Allen said.

“It’s a plan that’s been put into action since day one. But as I tell everybody … the day [Jorge Perez] is not at Related is the day we put him in his grave. I mean, he ain’t going anywhere. He will always have his eyes on everything,” Allen said. “Instead of putting in 80 hours at the office, he’ll only put in 40 hours a week and spend more time traveling and doing his art.”

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WeWork is reportedly facing an SEC probe (Credit: iStock)

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an inquiry into WeWork to determine if the company violated reporting rules ahead of its doomed planned public offering.

Citing two unnamed sources, Bloomberg reported that SEC investigators are scrutinizing disclosures made to investors while the company embarked on aggressive fundraising efforts and completed transactions that posed potential conflicts of interest.

The agency’s inquiry is reportedly in its early stages, and may not lead to allegations of wrongdoing. WeWork has reportedly retained Andrew Ceresney, a former head of the SEC’s enforcement unit.

A WeWork spokesperson declined to comment.

The report adds to mounting concerns for shareholders. During a period that involved the departure of CEO and co-founder Adam Neumann and a $39 billion drop in valuation, WeWork reported to shareholders Wednesday that it lost $1.25 billion in the third quarter as expenses again trumped growth.

And on Thursday, The Real Deal reported that SoftBank has delayed the launch of its promised $3 billion tender offer for more than a week. The offer is contingent on meeting “required regulatory approvals” and the absence of litigation, bankruptcy proceedings and debt defaults. Following the report, WeWork’s junk bonds value sunk while their risk jumped.

Some shareholders have begun to revolt. A former WeWork employee and shareholder filed a derivative lawsuit in California last month, accusing Neumann, other key executives and its main investor, SoftBank, of self-dealing and unjustly enriching themselves. The lawsuit is seeking class-action status.

The SEC inquiry is reportedly focused on claims WeWork executives made to investors ahead of the planned IPO. According to Bloomberg, WeWork spent big ahead of the IPO to demonstrate expansive growth to existing investors. By doing so, it depleted cash reserves and shortened the timeframe in which WeWork would run out of cash. SoftBank, its largest investor, ultimately saved the company and committed to a $9.5 billion lifeline, which included the $3 billion tender offer.

Multiple transactions disclosed in the company’s pre-IPO filing to the SEC, known as an S-1, have faced extensive scrutiny by investors, including a $5.9 million payment to Neumann for giving the company rights to the trademark “We.” Other transactions involved WeWork leases with buildings owned by Neumann. These arrangements have since been unwound.

However, another transaction that has been scrutinized is WeWork’s $850 million purchase of the Lord & Taylor building in Manhattan. Multiple executives — including Eric Gross and Neumann — had dual interests in the acquisition, as TRD previously reported. Board member and investor Steven Langman had interests in three sides of the deal.

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TRD is bringing some of the brightest minds in real estate to the Bahamas this winter. We’re excited to begin announcing some of the experts and innovators who will join us for our second annual Future City event. REBNY president Jim Whelan, JDS’ Michael Stern, Gil Dezer of Dezer Development, Young Woo, Anna Zarro and Rotem Rosen are just a few of the thought leaders who have already signed on.

REBNY president Jim Whelan

Future City is an exclusive three-day retreat that gives 200 C-level executives a chance to learn from and network with the biggest dealmakers in the country. From February 23rd to 25th, TRD will take over the Baha Mar resort to provide participants with a chance to gain high-level knowledge as well as practical, applicable strategies for today’s changing market.

VC funding for Proptech hit record levels in 2019 as new technology helped real estate revolutionize. Our workshops and breakout sessions are tailored to the specific needs of our audience. We host cocktail events, group meals, and keynote speeches throughout. Plus, Future City’s luxury venue provides additional activities that will include golf, fitness, poker, backgammon, and more.

JDS’ Michael Stern

Last year’s sessions included workshops like “How to get on the venture capital train” and “Construction innovations changing the development landscape.” Attendees included Ken Fisher, John Catsimatidis, Sharif El-Gamal, Anthony Scaramucci, Meir Cohen, Don Peebles, Bruce Mosler, Chris Wein, Bently Zhao, Kobi Karp, Edgardo DeFortuna, Brad Metzler, Shaun Osher, Bess Freedman, Justin, Ehrlich, and many more.

If you are VP level or higher, please email FutureCity@TheRealDeal.com for further details. Space is limited and subject to approval.

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From left: James Grage, Matthew Elliott, and Marc Hameroff, with the home (Credit: Facebook)

A fitness expert, bodybuilder and supplement maker is looking to shed his waterfront estate in Hollywood.

James Grage, co-founder and vice president of BPI Sports Fitness Supplements, is selling the house at 1215 Diplomat Parkway, within Hollywood Golf Estates, at auction on Nov. 25.

Platinum Luxury Auctions is handling the auction, which will be held without a reserve or minimum price, according to a release. The home hit the market in April, priced at $5.39 million, listed by Jay Pierre of Coral Shores Realty. Marc Hameroff and Matthew Elliott of Engel & Völkers Miami have had the listing since September and are taking it to auction.

The front of the home

Hameroff said Grage is moving to western Broward County and wanted to auction the property for a quick sale. “The seller understands that the traditional sales process may require a longer period of time to find the right buyer,” Hameroff said. “He instead wants a more expedient sale process, and the luxury auction short timeframe and date certainty of the sale appeal to him.”

The five-bedroom, six-and-a-half bathroom house, built in 2013, spans 7,264 square feet, on a nearly half-acre lot. It has 150 feet of frontage on a 120-foot canal. Records show Grage paid $810,000 for the property in 2011.

The kitchen in the home

Grage had the home custom built and has lived there with his family for the past six years, Hameroff said.

The home’s features include open-concept formal living room with a large gas fireplace and NanaWalls opening to the patio, a gourmet kitchen with Viking and Miele appliances, and an infinity pool and fire pit.

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Brickell Flatiron (Photo Credit: Golden Dusk Photography)

Despite suing developer CMC Group for an unfavorable redesign of Brickell Flatiron’s commercial space, Avi Dishi and Haim Yehezkel finalized a $22.5 million deal to buy the 24,800 square feet on the ground floor and mezzanine level set aside for a restaurant and retail.

The sale closed earlier this week, according to representatives for Ugo Colombo’s CMC Group and Dishi and Sons, the shell company formed by the two real estate investors.

“Buyer and seller fully complied with the purchase contract,” said a CMC Group spokesperson in a written statement. Dishi and Sons attorney Adam Lamb confirmed his clients paid the agreed upon price from 2016, when the deal was brokered by Cervera Real Estate’s Nickel M. Goeseke. Lamb added Dishi and Sons is not withdrawing its lawsuit, filed in August in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.

“We are pursuing a claim for damages,” Lamb said. “The property is not what was presented to us.”

Lamb said his client completed the sale to fulfill commitments for some of the commercial space that has been pre-leased.

In its lawsuit, Dishi and Sons sought a court order to slash the purchase price. The partnership alleged CMC Group altered the construction plans without notifying Dishi or Yehezkel. Those revisions allegedly made significant portions of the commercial space unusable by placing a garage ramp through it.

Dishi and Sons, which paid a deposit of $11.25 million, claims CMC Group only provided plans and other renderings showing the commercial units contained usable, unobstructed spaces on the ground floor with appropriate ceiling heights. Dishi and Sons obtained letters of intent from prospective tenants, including an unnamed high-end restaurant that wanted to take advantage of the high ceilings and ample space.

Dishi and Sons alleges that when the 64-story tower was being built, CMC Group put a “several-ton cement parking garage ramp” in the middle of the commercial space.

The 597-unit condominium at 1000 Brickell Plaza was recently completed. Brickell Flatiron‘s amenities include a rooftop sky spa and pool deck, a billiard and cigar room, wine cellar, movie theater, children’s playroom, outdoor lap pool and a children’s pool. Luis Revuelta, along with Italian designer Massimo Iosa Ghini and artist Julian Schnabel, designed the project.

The post Brickell Flatiron retail space closes for $22.5M amid lawsuit appeared first on The Real Deal Miami.

Every day, The Real Deal rounds up South Florida’s biggest real estate news, from breaking news and scoops to announcements and deals. We update this page throughout the day. Please send any tips or deals to tips@therealdeal.com

State lawmakers are moving to shut down Opa-locka. The state’s Joint Legislative Auditing Committee is seeking to move forward with legislation that would force residents of Opa-Locka to vote on dissolving the city, according to the Miami Herald. The push comes after a report from the state auditor found 99 issues of fraud and mismanagement in June. [Miami Herald]

Brickell Flatiron commercial space sale closes amid lawsuit. Despite suing developer CMC Group for an unfavorable redesign of Brickell Flatiron’s commercial space, Avi Dishi and Haim Yehezkel finalized a $22.5 million deal to buy the 24,800 square feet on the ground floor and mezzanine level set aside for a restaurant and retail. [TRD]

Fitness expert wants to shed his Hollywood home via auction. A fitness expert, bodybuilder and supplement maker is looking to shed his waterfront estate in Hollywood. James Grage, co-founder and vice president of BPI Sports Fitness Supplements, is selling the house at 1215 Diplomat Parkway, within Hollywood Golf Estates, at auction on Nov. 25. [TRD]

Compiled by Keith Larsen

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