$1.2B Deal For 15-Acre Downtown Miami Site Falls Apart
The planned $1.225B sale of a 15.5-acre site in Downtown Miami is on hold after the buyer failed to secure financing in time or an extension on an exclusivity period on the deal.
Smart City Miami LLC, a partnership led by Terra Group and its CEO, David Martin, agreed to purchase the site — which sits on Biscayne Bay and includes the former Miami Herald headquarters — in April before recently seeking an extension on the sale period and amendments to the sale and purchase agreement.
Genting Malaysia Berhad, the Malaysian casino operator that has owned the site since 2011, rejected the request and Smart City Miami withdrew its bid, according to a regulatory disclosure.
Smart City Miami remains interested in the site, but Genting has already begun to field offers from other buyers, according to a source familiar with the sale. Genting isn't lowering its $1.2B asking price, according to the source, and it isn't entertaining offers below that price point.
“GENM has seen the value of its investment in Miami increase approximately 400% in just over a decade and firmly believes in the sustained strength and growth of the Miami market,” Genting said in a statement. “GENM will review other opportunities to close on the sale of the Miami Land.”
Terra and Smart City Miami are expected to continue to pursue an acquisition while Genting explores its options. Five other bidders offered more than $1B for the site during the initial request for bids that ended in April.
Under the terms of the original deal, which was announced April 27, Smart City was given 60 days to conduct due diligence research on the site and another 60 days to close on the sale, the Miami Herald reported.
The site at 1431 North Bayshore Drive is the largest piece of undeveloped waterfront land in Downtown Miami. The Herald building was torn down in 2015.
Genting acquired the site for $263M in 2011 and had planned to build a waterfront casino there, along with high-rise residential buildings with a retail component. Genting sued Miami-Dade County in 2016 to try to force the approval of a casino on the site but was ultimately unsuccessful.
Avison Young’s capital markets team of Michael Fay, John Crotty, David Duckworth and Brian de la Fé are handling the sale on behalf of Genting.
Fay told Bisnow in November that the site can support up to 20M SF of development because it has “the most aggressive entitlements” allowable in the city.
