Condo Developers Pay $64Mln for Stake in Fla. Apartments

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Jeff Mordock

An investor group has paid $64 million for a 20.5 percent stake in the Lincoln Pointe Apartments in Aventura, Fla., with plans to redevelop the 285-unit complex.

The partnership is controlled by Brian Stolar, president and chief executive officer of the Pinnacle Cos., a Chatham, N.J., developer. It bought the interest from a venture between Tarragon Corp. and Shefaor Development, which purchased the property in August 2004 for $41 million. Tarragon is a Fort. Lauderdale, Fla., developer, while Shefaor is a Miami firm whose principals are Gilbert Benhamou and Claudio Stivelman.

The Stolar group also received a three-month option to purchase an additional 61 percent ownership stake in Lincoln Pointe for $12 million. The Tarragon venture retained a $14 million preferred equity interest in the property, which the Stolar group must redeem within 18 months. Otherwise, full ownership in the property will revert back to the Tarragon group.

Stolar's group, which funded the acquisition with first mortgage financing from a New York lender, plans to redevelop the property into a 460-unit condominium tower. The Tarragon/Shefaor venture had already obtained preliminary approvals for condominium development.

Lincoln Pointe sits on a 9.1-acre waterfront parcel at 17900 N.E. 31^st Court, which is on a peninsula just northwest of the Williams Island Marina.

The Tarragon/Shefaor venture used about $39 million generated from this sale to pay off existing acquisition financing that was provided by Euro Hypo.