CORAL GABLES, FL – Karlin Real Estate Lending has provided Miami-based real estate investment and advisory firm CGI Merchant Group LLC with a $22 million loan to fund the acquisition and lease up of 55 Miracle Mile, a 65,000-square-foot mixed-used project in Coral Gables. CGI acquired the asset from CF Miracle Mile, LLC in a transaction valued at $26.75 million.
The loan is secured by 40,000 square feet of ground floor retail space below two stories of Class A office space. The retail component is 100 percent leased to a variety of high-end retail and well-known regional restaurants including City Cellars, Tarpon Ben and Ocean One. 55 Miracle Mile was developed in 2005 as part of a larger mixed use development that included 184 multifamily unit which were later converted and sold as condominiums. The collateral also includes a shared parking structure that can accommodate more than 600 automobiles.
The acquisition financing is Karlin’s second with CGI in the past six months. Earlier this year, Karlin, the real estate lending arm of Karlin Asset Management, a Los Angeles-based family office with more than $1.5 billion under management, provided CGI and its strategic partner AFIN Developer Group with $11.58 million for the acquisition of a 192,000-square-foot office portfolio in Southeast Florida.
“With our financing, CGI was able to build upon its impressive portfolio on Southeast Florida and by acquiring a desirable asset with the potential for significant revenue growth,” said Karlin Real Estate Lending Managing Director Larry Grantham. “A portion of the loan proceeds will be used for tenant improvements and other capital expenditures in order to improve the existing rent rolls and take advantage of the revenue opportunities that exist with the parking structure.”
About Karlin Real Estate Lending
Karlin Real Estate Lending, a Los Angeles-based Bridge Lender backed by $1.5 billion in long-term equity capital, has deployed more than $275 million in senior and mezzanine financing for the acquisition and refinancing of opportunistic and transitional real estate assets throughout the United States.
About CGI Merchant Group
CGI Merchant Group, LLC (“CGI”) is a private equity alternative investment manager that undertakes commercial real estate and infrastructure investments, by using an entrepreneurial approach in building stakeholder value. Today, CGI is uniquely positioned to benefit from the current market environment by executing on investment considerations that may have been overlooked by others, and in the last six months, the Firm has deployed over 40 million dollars capital in acquiring 265,000 square feet of commercial real estate in Florida.