Craig Robins, Partners Score $250M Refi for Design District Retail

Craig Robins and his partners closed on a $250 million refinancing for Paradise Plaza in the Miami Design District.

Paradise Plaza Associates, an affiliate of Miami Design District Associates, secured the financing from Deutsche Bank, according to the attorneys involved in the deal. The property at 151 Northeast 41st Street has 120,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space and a 7,800-square-foot garage.

Miami Design District Associates is a partnership between Robins’ company Dacra, L Catterton Real Estate and Brookfield Properties. Greenwich, Connecticut-based L Catterton is backed by the French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

Tenants at Paradise Plaza include Chanel, Gucci, Off-White, Bottega Veneta and L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon.

Robins and his partners three years ago secured a 10-year, $500 million refinancing from Bank of America for Oak Plaza, a 15-building, 497,000-square-foot portion of the Design District south of Paradise Plaza.

Records show Paradise Plaza Associates secured a $250 million loan from FS CREIT Originator, an affiliate of Rialto Capital Management, in late 2021 for Paradise Plaza.

Bilzin Sumberg attorneys Martin Schwartz and Kevin Koushel represented the borrower in this latest refinancing. The law firm was also involved in the Oak Plaza loan secured in 2020.

Robins has led the development of the Design District into a luxury retail mecca home to dozens of designer brands. Last year, Miami Design District Associates revealed plans to develop its first Class A office building called the Ursa, which is planned for the site at 30 Northeast 39th Street.

Miami Design District Associates also partnered with Qatari firm Constellation Hotels Holding, developer Nadim Ashi’s Fort Partners and New York-based private equity firm Raycliff Capital to acquire a large assemblage on the same street as the office building site for $165 million late last year. The properties total more than 2.5 acres that run along Northeast 39th and 40th streets from North Miami Avenue to Northeast First Avenue.