A self-storage facility owner backed by Doral-based Easton Group is in danger of losing a seven-story warehouse in Miami’s Allapattah tied to a $22.1 million mortgage.
An affiliate of Uniondale, New York-based Acres Capital filed a foreclosure complaint in Miami-Dade Circuit Court on Tuesday against Howard Pryor, president of Miami-based Forge Real Estate, and two entities he manages. The lawsuit also named Edward J. Easton, president of Easton Group, as a defendant. Easton Group invested in Forge.
Acres Capital alleges that Pryor and his entities defaulted on a 2021 loan by failing to repay $20.6 million remaining on the mortgage on a Jan. 5 maturity date. Pryor and the entities also owe $1.5 million in interest and fees, the complaint alleges.
Easton is named as guarantor on the loan, which is secured by SpareSpace Storage, a self-storage facility at 650 Northwest 30th Street owned by Pryor’s entities. Easton deferred comment to Pryor.
“Forge Real Estate is actively working to refinance the existing loan, with assistance from one of our investors, The Easton Group,” Pryor said in an emailed statement. “Given the continued strength of rental rates and occupancy fundamentals in the self-storage sector, both nationally and locally, I am confident that the project will be refinanced shortly.”
SpareSpace Storage offers self-storage units ranging from five-feet by five-feet to 10-feet by 15-feet, ranging in price from $65.50 to $199.75 a month, according to the company’s website.
Another entity managed by Pryor that is not named in the lawsuit paid $2 million for the 0.5-acre property in 2017, records show. The building was completed in 2020. Its ownership was transferred to the defendant entities a year later.
Easton and his father, Executive Chairman Ed Easton, lead their family’s eponymous commercial real estate firm, which primarily focuses on industrial assets, but also dabbles in multifamily and retail properties. Last year, Easton Group paid $26 million for a Doral warehouse, $17.1 million for a shuttered Sears store at Miami International Mall and $12.1 million for a JCPenney store at the same shopping center. JCPenny is leasing back the property.
In October, Easton and Miami-based Cayon Development Group dropped $16.8 million for a Homestead shopping center anchored by a Walmart Neighborhood Market.