Billionaires Vlad Doronin and Len Blavatnik’s delayed Aman Miami Beach is moving forward with new mezzanine financing.
Records show the developer secured $85 million in mezzanine debt for the property in early August from Aman Miami Beach Mezz LLC, which is an affiliate of New York-based GoldenTree Asset Management. This week, Doronin’s OKO and Blavatnik’s Access Industries announced the start of vertical construction at the oceanfront construction site at 3425 Collins Avenue.
The financing adds to the more than $277 million in debt provided by Little Rock, Arkansas-based Bank OZK in 2020 and 2023.
A spokesperson for OKO said the mezzanine loan “reflects OKO Group’s ability to secure strategic financing and to position the project for continued momentum as we move through key construction milestones.”
The condo component of the project, previously expected to be completed in 2024 and more recently, in 2026, is now expected to be completed in 2027, according to a press release. Complicated site work has held up vertical construction.
The general contractor, Suffolk Construction, is working to complete one floor every two weeks now that the foundation is completed, following “extensive below-grade piling, excavation work and construction,” according to the release. The work included building a two-story underground parking garage via deep soil and triple soil mixing.
Underground parking, especially on the oceanfront, is complex and expensive to develop.
The condo portion has been fully presold for years. The project will include a 22-unit Aman-branded condominium in a new 18-story building and the 56-key Aman hotel in the historic Versailles structure, which is currently a shell. The condo tower was designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma. Jean-Michel Gathy of Denniston, who has designed hotels for Aman, Four Seasons, Cheval Blanc and St. Regis, is designing restoration and redevelopment of the Versailles Hotel.
The condo portion sold out in 2021 for an average price of $5,000 per square foot, according to OKO’s spokesperson. The blended price per square foot marked a record at the time, but penthouses at existing and planned oceanfront condo projects now surpass that. In late July, a penthouse at Four Seasons Residences at the Surf Club sold for $6,700 per square foot, or a total price of $38.2 million. A penthouse at Witkoff and Monroe Capital’s Auberge-branded Shore Club development in Miami Beach is in contract to sell for more than $11,000 per square foot.
Aman Miami Beach marks the next phase within the Faena District in Miami Beach, and the first Aman property in Florida. Doronin is chairman and CEO of the Switzerland-based ultra-luxury hospitality group.
The condo and hotel project sits next to Faena House, a luxury condo building completed in 2015 that attracted billionaire buyers who included hedge fund manager Ken Griffin and Jamie Dinan. Backed by Blavatnik, Alan Faena developed Faena House, Faena Hotel and Faena Forum. He planned to develop the Versailles site, but that project was canceled in 2016 due to the condo market slowdown. Doronin joined Blavatnik in 2020. Even though Aman Miami Beach sold out early in the pandemic, the project is part of a wave of ultra-luxury condo and boutique hotel developments planned on the oceanfront on Collins Avenue, including the Shore Club and the Raleigh farther south. While Witkoff’s Shore Club has been performing well, developer Michael Shvo could lose the Raleigh to Nahla Capital.
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