Two Roads Development just closed on $16.5 million in financing for Elysee Miami, a luxury condo tower planned in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood.
Mosaic Real Estate Credit, a Calabasas, California-based alternative lender, provided the loan for phase one of construction, according to a press release. It’s part of a larger financing package for the project at 788 Northeast 23rd Street.
Two Roads, which recently completed the nearby Biscayne Beach, is developing Elysee with entities managed by New York-based investment firm DW Partners. It launched sales of the 57-story, 100-unit tower about two years ago. Cervera Real Estate is handling the exclusive sales and marketing of the project. The developer has signed contracts in the mid-40 percent range, Reid Boren, a managing principal at Two Roads, told The Real Deal.
Due to the condo market slowdown, a number of developers have pushed back their construction timelines. Financing has also become increasingly difficult to secure.
Two Roads, which planned to break ground at the start of this year, will use the financing for pilings, excavation work and pouring the concrete foundation. Construction is expected to go vertical during the first quarter of next year and be completed in 2019, according to the release.
The developer has a commitment from MREC to provide a bigger construction loan and is also looking at other types of financing, Boren said. “The $16.5 million really gives us enough to start the heavy construction now and we’re confident that before we get our construction loan, we’ll hit 50 percent [in sales],” he added.
The bayfront building will have units ranging from 2,300 square feet to 4,000 square feet, and from about $1.5 million to more than $10 million. Bernardo Fort-Brescia of Arquitectonica is the architect, and interior architect and designer Jean-Louis Deniot will design the common areas and amenity spaces. Amenities will include a pool deck with a bar, summer kitchen and barbecue terrace, a waterfront fitness center and yoga studio, a sky lounge on the 30th floor and more.
The lender is an affiliate of Mosaic Real Estate Investors, and was founded by Ethan Penner and Vicky Schiff. MREC provides bridge and construction debt capital as first mortgage loans, mezzanine and preferred equity structures.
Elysee’s loan has not yet cleared public records. Boren declined to discuss terms of the financing.