Whitman Family Nabs $740M Loan for Bal Harbour Shops

Bal Harbour Shops’ owner landed a $740 million loan for the high-end retail center, marking continued lending in South Florida.

New York-based investment behemoth Blackstone provided the loan, which refinances a $550 million debt secured in 2019 and also provides construction financing for the shopping center’s expansion, according to records and the landlord’s news release.

Manny de Zarraga and Chris Drew were part of the JLL team that represented the landlord.

Whitman Family Development, led by Matthew Whitman Lazenby, owns the 500,000-square-foot luxury mall at 9700 Collins Avenue in Bal Harbour. A 250,000-square-foot expansion with retail and dining space is under construction.

The expansion is expected to be completed next year, according to the release.

Bal Harbour Shops is 98 percent leased to 110 tenants, according to a Blackstone news release.

The mall is known for its luxury boutiques such as Gucci, Prada, Saint Laurent, Chanel and Ferragamo. It is anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.

Whitman Lazenby’s late grandfather, Stanley Whitman, opened Bal Harbour Shops in 1965, intending for the mall to be an improvement to the retail along Miami Beach’s Lincoln Road.

Miami Beach-based Whitman Family Development scored hard-fought approval for the expansion in 2016 after years of pushback from residents and others in the community, as well as contentious litigation. Stanley Whitman died less than a week after the vote.

In 2019, Whitman landed the $550 million loan from MetLife Investment Management. That debt replaced a $150 million loan Whitman secured in 2018 from SunTrust Bank.

The new $740 million financing has a floating interest rate, records show.

Separate from the retail expansion, the Whitman family this year proposed to redevelop the shopping center with a Live Local Act project. The plan touched off a firestorm between the Whitmans and Bal Harbour council members, as well as others in the community. The Live Local Act, approved by the state last year, allows developers to build taller buildings with more units than a site’s zoning permits as long as they include apartments at below-market rents.

Whitman Family Development’s affiliate, through which it owns Bal Harbour Shops, filed two suits against the village this year, court records show. Both are pending. The village council approved development regulations in March that could foil Whitman’s proposed project.

The proposed Live Local project would consist of up to 275-foot tall towers with 528 apartments, a 70-key hotel, 46,000 square feet of retail and a private 200-member club. The maximum allowed height on the site now is 56 feet, with some exceptions allowing up to 69 feet, village records show.

South Florida has defied expectations of a lending slowdown amid higher interest rates. Elsewhere in the tri-county region, Steve Ross’ Related Ross landed a $200 million refinancing this month for a portion of its CityPlace mixed-use complex in downtown West Palm Beach. On the heels of that, David Martin’s Terra scored a $170 million construction loan for a 578-unit apartment complex near Dolphin Mall in Sweetwater, part of Terra’s larger 2,000-unit Upland Park development.

This month, billionaire Jeffrey Soffer also landed a $550 million refinancing for his JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa at 19999 West Country Club Drive in Aventura, as well as a $1.2 billion debt for his Fontainebleau Miami Beach resort at 4441 Collins Avenue.