MIAMI-Locally based real estate entrepreneur FalconTrust Air LLC has secured $14.25 million in debt refinancing for FalconTrust Air's Fixed Base Operation at the KendallTamiami Executive Airport at 14150 SW 129th St.

The financing, secured by Chicago-based Cohen Financial Miami office managing director Howard Taft and senior analyst Charles Penan, was provided by Bank of Florida. The principal of FalconTrust Air LLC is Adalberto Sotero. Penan tells GlobeSt.com that $10 million of the loan will be used to refinance costs associated with the first phase of the four-phase Fixed Base Operation development and the remaining $4.25 million will be used to begin construction of the second phase.

Completed in 2005, the first phase of FalconTrust Air's Fixed Base Operation consists of 90,000 sf of hangar space which can accommodate 65 planes. All of that space has been leased. It also includes a 22,000-sf, three-story facility that contains executive offices, conference rooms, a private movie theater, pilot's shop, exercise center/sauna, a car rental service center and a complimentary bar/lounge.

FalconTrust Air plans to begin construction in the coming months on the second phase of the development, which will include 34,500 sf of hangar space that can accommodate a Global Express and up to 20 additional planes. The planned space is 70% preleased. A time frame for starting the third and fourth phases of the project have not yet been established.

Penan notes that FalconTrust Air plans to build similar facilities at other airports across the country. "There quite a demand in Miami for private plane space because of the executives from South America that travel here," he says.