UPDATED, Nov. 19, 7 p.m.: Lionheart Capital principals Ricardo Dunin and Ophir Sternberg have parted ways.
Dunin left the Miami-based real estate development and investment firm to launch Oak Capital, The Real Deal has learned. The separation agreement was finalized Wednesday, Dunin said.
Dunin plans to continue to focus on development and investment, taking a minority ownership in Fortune International Group’s planned $350 million Pompano Beach development. He takes with him a number of properties, including land in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood, sites in Fort Lauderdale, and a hotel and residential development in Breckenridge, Colorado. Dunin also owns a 50 percent stake in Lionheart’s office in the Miami Design District, which has been on and off the market over the years, he said.
Lionheart Capital, developer of the Ritz-Carlton Residences, Miami Beach, will keep the remaining units in that project, which was completed last year. Records show 60 condos of the development’s 111 units have sold to date.
Lately, Sternberg has focused on special-purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs. His Lionheart Acquisition Corp. II, a blank check company, raised $230 million to acquire proptech. OPES Acquisition Corp., a separate blank check company also led by Sternberg, announced in June that it would acquire the burger chain BurgerFi.
“It was time to part ways,” Dunin said about him leaving Lionheart Capital.
“Anything that has the Lionheart Capital name on it is no longer mine – for the good and the bad,” he added.
In a statement to TRD, Sternberg wished Dunin “the best of luck” with his new venture.
“After a decade of a successful partnership, our interests have naturally diverged,” Sternberg said. “The opportunity to buy Ricardo’s shares presented itself so I could take sole ownership of Lionheart Capital.”
Dunin has worked on projects totaling $2 billion in the U.S., Caribbean and Latin America, according to a release.
Oak Capital is based in Brickell. Dunin said he will work on residential and commercial investments and acquisitions, and plans to take advantage of distressed opportunities.
He’s also planning to launch Volume Holding Company, a family entertainment centers conglomerate along with Curt Skallerup, former founder and CEO of Altitude Trampoline Parks. The company will lease space in malls across the country and internationally with multiple entertainment concepts under one umbrella, Dunin said.
An earlier version of this story misidentified the SPAC that will be acquiring BurgerFi.