MIAMI-Even as new condo projects get underway in Downtown Miami, the remnants of a few failed projects remain as a testimony to the bust. One of those projects, Filling Station Lofts, may soon get new life.

PAC Capital LLC is set to repossess the unfinished condo development. After a 30-month foreclosure suit, Filling Station Lofts is in the final stages of transfer to the construction lender of record, according to CondoVultures.com.

“Filling Station went to auction and only one other bidder went after it—and stopped when the price hit $3,300,” says Peter Zalewski, principal at Bal Harbor-based Condo Vultures. “The tower sits on North Miami Avenue in the Biscayne Boulevard corridor and offers 77 units. It’s one of the last unfinished projects in Greater Downtown Miami.”

Filling Station has been topped off and PAC Capital will take title to the unfinished building the in next several weeks. PAC obtained a “Final Judgment Of Non-Residential Foreclosure” for $41.1 million against the project’s developer, Filling Station Lofts LLC, on Dec. 1, 2011, according to an order signed by Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Gill Freeman. The judgment totals $26.9 million in principal and $14.2 million in interest, as well as court costs and attorneys fees, the order shows.

“The loan was purchased from Ocean Bank,” Zalewski says. “I think PAC Capital will build it out or retrade it.” PAC Capital has not indicated what it will do with the asset and was not immediately available for comment. But the Filling Station is in a less desirable area of Downtown Miami, with a cemetery to the north, a cement mixing plant to the west and a homeless shelter to the south.

Still, units are moving at a steady pace in the area. According to CondoVultures.com, buyers purchased nearly 1,750 units for more than $800 million in Greater Downtown Miami in 2011. The sales activity represents a 21% increase in the average new condo sales price but a 53% decrease in the number of transactions. But at least 10 new condo towers with more than 3,200 units are on the drawing boards, according to the CondoVultures.com Preconstruction Condo Projects list.

Instant Insights /

Lender Taking Possession of Downtown Miami Condo Project

Related Stories

Recommended For You