SLS Residence
Hallandale Beach, FL
$100,000,000
Loan Amount
$400,000
Loan Per Unit
122
Acre
Ground-Up: Construction Financing
Lotus arranged $100 million of ground-up construction financing for the first phase of a 122-acre master-planned resort and residences in Hallandale Beach, FL. Upon closing, Lotus had successfully secured leverage of $400,000 per unit, the 2nd highest leveraged loan for South Florida multifamily.
Challenges:
Our Client acquired the historic Diplomat Golf and Tennis Club in late 2017 with plans to redevelop the site into a multi-phased 5-star resort and luxury residences featuring a Greg Norman Signature Golf Course and Club, 10 tennis courts, and a 38-slip marina. The first phase consisted of a 250-unit luxury, multifamily tower, followed by a 290-key hotel inclusive of 50 condo-hotel units in Phase II - all uniquely branded by SLS. Many lenders possessed preconceived notions of Hallandale Beach as an underdeveloped tertiary market to the likes of Miami and Fort Lauderdale, where a 5-star resort and residences would not make sense. Many more lenders were unfamiliar with the market and required education on the area. The land basis was also marked-up to a very high number, inconsistent to lender underwriting due to a lack of comparables in the area.
Solutions:
Lotus impactfully ‘sold the story’ of Hallandale Beach to the capital markets, making a convincing argument as the next up-and-coming South Florida metro, and providing lenders with the comparable market data they needed to underwrite the financing. In doing so, Lotus was able to establish a competitive bidding environment where several lenders were willing to provide construction financing, became comfortable with a high mark-up for the land, and provided credit for the implied value. Lotus was also able to negotiate no GMP at closing by facilitating a 3rd party guarantor, all while achieving other favorable terms for the borrower.