By Mary Hladky
An affiliate of Penn-Florida Companies is seeking to auction its 101 Via Mizner luxury apartment building in downtown Boca Raton so that it can pay its creditors.
The affiliate, Via Mizner Owner I, LLC, has requested that the auction take place on June 16.
The April 15 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court is the latest twist over the fate of the 366-unit apartment building at 101 East Camino Real. It is part of a three-phase project that is envisioned to also include a 164-room Mandarin Oriental hotel and 85 branded residences.
While the apartment building was completed in 2017, construction of the two other buildings has dragged along for years and the project is well beyond its original completion date.
Penn-Florida first faced losing the apartments late last year. An affiliate of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, which provided a $195 million senior loan to Penn-Florida in 2022, filed a notice in December that it had initiated a Uniform Commercial Code foreclosure on the building for failing to pay off the loan. An auction was to be held on Jan. 15.
At the time, Penn-Florida said that the loan was in good standing and was in the process of being repaid in full in January.
But Via Mizner Owner I filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection that month to head off the auction and give it more time to complete refinancing.
In March, Via Mizner Owner I sought and received Bankruptcy Court approval to hire CBRE to sell the apartment building. Now, CBRE will conduct the auction Penn-Florida wants, if it takes place.
Via Mizner Owner I said in a court pleading that it wants to maximize the value of the building for the benefit of creditors. The best way to do that, it said, was to sell the building to the highest bidder. It valued the building at $272.5 million.
The Coastal Star asked Penn-Florida for comment, but none was provided as of April 23.
A number of prospective condo owners for the branded residences project, who had placed large deposits, have tired of waiting for construction to be completed and have filed lawsuits seeking return of their money. Some have reached settlement agreements with Penn-Florida, but other cases are pending.
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