Via Mizner apartments (right) will continue to operate during Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings for the owner, an affiliate of Penn-Florida. The apartments are the only completed building in this rendering of a finished complex. Still under construction are the Mandarin Oriental branded residences (left) and hotel (center). Rendering provided
By Mary Hladky
An affiliate of Penn-Florida Companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Jan. 15 to head off an auction of its 101 Via Mizner luxury apartment building in downtown Boca Raton.
The now-canceled auction of the 366-unit building at 101 E. Camino Real was to take place the day the bankruptcy petition was filed.
Penn-Florida faced losing ownership of 101 Via Mizner because it failed to pay off a $195 million senior loan provided by an affiliate of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in 2022. The Blackstone affiliate filed a notice on Dec. 1 that it had initiated a Uniform Commercial Code foreclosure.
The apartment building will continue to operate as usual during the bankruptcy proceedings, according to a pleading in the case.
The Penn-Florida affiliate is Via Mizner Owner I LLC, whose manager is Mark Gensheimer, the founder and president of Penn-Florida.
The bankruptcy filing is a legal maneuver that gives Via Mizner Owner I more time to obtain refinancing.
At the time the auction notice was filed, Penn-Florida said that the Blackstone affiliate loan was in good standing, had recently matured and was in the process of being repaid in full in January through a refinance.
“To allow time for the refinancing to close, a reorganization proceeding is being utilized which will also provide for the building to continue operating in its normal course,” the company said in a statement.
The statement also said the refinancing is unrelated to the construction of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and branded residences that are located immediately north of the apartment building. The three buildings comprise the Via Mizner project.
In a very brief comment to The Coastal Star, Boca Raton attorney Bradley Shraiberg, who represents Via Mizner Owner I, said the company was going to propose a plan of reorganization and that a refinancing is likely.
A pleading he subsequently filed in the case says that Blackstone elected not to extend the loan to accommodate the refinancing.
101 Via Mizner has been appraised at more than $250 million, but Via Mizner Owner I believes the value is significantly higher, the pleading states.
The Penn-Florida project is facing many headwinds.
The Mandarin Oriental Hotel and branded condos were to be completed in 2017, but that date has been delayed five times and now is slated for the end of 2025.
A number of owners who placed large deposits on condos tired of waiting and filed lawsuits seeking return of their money. Two couples voluntarily dismissed their cases, indicating they had reached confidential settlement agreements with Penn-Florida.
Contractors also have filed suits, claiming they had not been paid for completed work. Two were voluntarily dismissed, while three are pending.
Comments