The receiver managing the assets of defunct firm Location Ventures wants permission to sell a Miami Beach development site for $17.5 million.
Receiver Bernice Lee filed a motion on Tuesday seeking an order from U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga to allow the sale of the 0.7-acre assemblage at 1234 and 1260 Washington Avenue. Pakman Miami Beach, a Fort Lauderdale entity managed by Prakash Patel, Andrew Beachler and Richard Haestier, is the buyer, court records show. Lee declined to comment.
Altonaga is presiding over an ongoing civil case against developer Location Ventures, its affiliates and the Coral Gable company’s former founder Rishi Kapoor. In a federal lawsuit filed in late December, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleges Kapoor defrauded more than 50 investors out of $93 million for his real estate projects, most of which did not get off the ground or were scuttled in the past two years.
Kapoor had planned to redevelop two commercial buildings on the Miami Beach properties into Urbin Miami Beach, a low-rise condominium with 69 co-living units. In June of last year, the city of Miami Beach shut down construction at the site due to unpermitted work. By then, half-a-dozen firms working on the project had filed liens for a combined $1.2 million in alleged unpaid work and services.
Kapoor stepped down from Location Ventures in July of last year after his firm imploded following a wave of lawsuits, as well as the initiation of the SEC’s civil investigation and criminal probes by other federal agencies and local authorities into Kapoor. The investigations were prompted by his dealings with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who was being paid $10,000 a month as a private consultant by Location Ventures’ subsidiary Urbin.
In April, Lee won court approval to hire auctioneer Lamar Fisher and his eponymous firm to sell a commercial building 1234 Washington Avenue and a vacant lot at 1260 Washington Avenue. However, the firm did not receive any viable offers despite receiving 142 queries from interested buyers in 22 states, according to Lee’s most recent motion.
Pakman Miami Beach is willing to buy the properties “as-is” for $17.5 million, as long as its purchase is not treated as a stalking horse bid subject to competition of a better offer, Lee’s motion states. The buyer would also take the titles of 1234 and 1260 Washington free and clear of any outstanding liens.
Most of the proceeds would be used to pay off a lender, 1234 Washington Acquisition, an affiliate of Coral Gables-based Spectrum Mortgage Group, that has a pending foreclosure complaint against the Location Ventures affiliates that own the properties.
The lender has agreed to accept $14.3 million of the $19.3 million that Location Ventures allegedly owes, and will drop the foreclosure case, the motion states. The receiver would use the remaining sale proceeds to pay $570,000 in past-due property taxes, $15,000 in past-due city utility bills, $125,000 in closing costs and a $25,000 fee to Fisher.
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