MIAMI BEACH-A joint venture between locally based Wave Group Development and Blue Estate Development has obtained $60.3 million to fund Artécity, its planned six-building 202-unit condominium development in the block bordered by Park Avenue, Washington Court and 21st and 22nd streets. The total cost is estimated at $100 million.

The opening phase of the project is conversion of the historic Governor Hotel, the largest original Art Deco hotel in Miami Beach, into 61 residential condos. That property's mosaic courtyard fountain will form the centerpiece of the complex. Additional buildings include rehabilitation of existing structures into Park Apartments, containing 18 townhouse villas; Park Plaza Apartments turned into 10 studio units and ground-floor retail from an existing 10,000-sf structure; and ArtéPark South and ArtéPark North, two new five- and six-story buildings, each containing 58 residential units. The location bridges several nearby art venues, including the Bass and Wolfsonian museums and ArtCenter South Florida.

Corus Bank, a subsidiary of Chicago-based Corus Bankshares Inc., provided the development funding. Without disclosing the terms or rate, Brian Brodeur, SVP, tells GlobeSt.com, "it was a high advanced-rate loan with no separate mezzanine funding that allowed the borrower to obtain a single loan facility for the entire project rather than negotiating five separate transactions. It was based," he says, "on the strength of the market and the reputation of the developers."

The developers are Alessandro Ferretti, Piero Salussolia, Maurizio Cavalieri and Romano Ferretti, all of whom have partnered in other Miami-area projects, particularly in the burgeoning SoFi, south of Fifth, neighborhood. Allessandro Ferretti's the Wave hotel on Ocean Drive and the Ambassadors condominiums on Michigan Avenue are among them. Arquitectonica is the architect of Artécity. Conversion of the Governor is expected to reach completion in early 2006 followed by completion of the additional condos later next year. The entire complex is scheduled for completion in 2007. Majestic Properties is exclusive sales representative for Artécity, with Isabel Duran as sales manager. Unit prices begin in the $200,000s. A call to Ferretti was not returned by deadline.