The Miami Beach-based company expects to sign a contract this week for a so-far undisclosed sum on this fortified warehouse built in 1999 for $11 million on 12.6 acres. The city of Miami deeded the land years ago to the Wynwood Community Economic Development Corp. for the development of a free-trade zone.

"This project could bring a lot of money and industry to South Florida," Abraham M. Daniels, Four Starz' president, tells GlobeSt.com. "By coming in here and doing this, we're about to bring a lot of money to the economy."

The pending development comes as investors in Four Starz Holdings just sold a 51% controlling interest in the company to Las Vegas-based Harvard Scientific Corp., a biopharmaceutical firm now in the process of diversifying its holdings, for about 14 million shares of its publicly traded stock.

Harvard Scientific, which is likely to be renamed Four Starz, also gained control of three other subsidiary companies--Four Starz Productions Inc., Gladiator Films Inc. and La Playa Studios Inc, the subsidiary in charge of redeveloping the Wynwood building.

Financing for the facility already is in place, says Daniels, who now becomes chief executive officer of the new Four Starz entity. Besides Daniels, the board of directors also appointed Daniel De Liege as president and chief operating officer.

Since its formation last year, Four Starz has raised capital for several film productions including a $25 million film about the life of Don Aronow, the slain Miami designer and builder of the famed Cigarette speed boat. The producer is Steve Perry, known for his work on the Lethal Weapon and Die Hard action series.

"This is a very exciting project," Daniels says about the proposed TV, film and music-making studios. "Miami has become a film-making capital. Things are happening on a significant magnitude here. There's not a day that goes by that films are not being shot down here."

Although they're being shot in South Florida, Daniels adds, many of the films are being sent to Hollywood, CA or even Orlando for pre-production and post-production work. By selecting the Wynwood site, however, the company is negotiating for a property at the center of several ongoing disputes.

Last year, for instance, the nonprofit ownership filed an eviction notice against the company selected to manage the free-trade zone operation. The group has also sued Miami twice before.

In the mid-1990s, the group alleged the city wrongfully withheld $5.5 million in community block development grant money earmarked for the trade zone project. The nonprofit group accused the city of discriminatory action in an action filed last December in Federal court.

Instant Insights /

Entertainment Venture Making Bid for Troubled Wynwood Warehouse

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