Wynwood developer sells retail property in foreclosure for $12M

East End Capital sold a retail property that was in foreclosure for $11.8 million, The Real Deal has learned.

Forte Capital Management, led by Chaim Cahane and director of acquisitions Dov Tepper, and Jon Krasner’s 7G Realty purchased the retail property at 310-318 Northwest 25th Street, Cahane said. Property records show East End affiliate EERC 310 Owner LLC paid $14.5 million for the buildings in 2016.

The site includes about 20,000 square feet of retail space and a 6,000-square-foot lot. The parcels total about 25,000 square feet of land. The buildings are 35 percent leased to Barcelona Wine Bar and Grace Loves Lace, an Australian wedding dress store.

Records show Rialto Capital sued to foreclose in November. A company tied to Ruben Companies provided East End with a $9 million loan in 2017, and an entity linked to Rialto provided about $3.8 million in financing in 2018. The foreclosure suit was dismissed last week.

The buyers restructured the debt with the lender and arranged the purchase with the seller, Cahane said. The deal closed on Friday. He and his partners plan to remarket the property and lease out the remaining space.

Separately, facing foreclosure, a company tied to Cahane of Forte Capital Management and Adam Verner of New York-based Springhouse Partners listed the 68-key Variety Hotel in Miami Beach for sale in September, asking $36.5 million. The property, originally developed in 1923, was recently renovated and converted into a hotel that has not yet opened.

Miami and New York-based East End Capital has been active in South Florida. It co-developed Wynwood 25 and the Wynwood Annex with the Related Group, and is one of the developers that expressed interest in developing Class A office space on properties owned by the city of Miami Beach.

Wynwood has continued to attract retail and office tenants throughout the pandemic. New York restaurant group Kissaki Sushi plans to open its first Miami outpost at Cube Wynwd, a mixed-use office building at 222 Northwest 24th Street.