Masoud and Stephanie Shojaee’s Shoma Group secured nearly $30 million in financing for its planned North Bay Village condo project.
Coral Gables-based Shoma obtained a predevelopment loan from Forman Capital for Shoma Bay, according to a press release. The $29.9 million loan will be used to pay off an existing loan that’s backed by the property at 1872 79th Street Causeway.
Shoma Bay will be a 24-story, 333-unit luxury condo building with a 36,068-square-foot Publix Supermarket on the ground floor, as well as another 15,628 square feet of ground-floor retail.
The building is more than 30 percent presold with about $97 million in presales, according to the release. Units start in the $800,000s. Craig Studnicky’s ISG World is handling sales of the project.
Amenities will include a rooftop pool deck with cabanas and an outdoor kitchen; a golf simulator and virtual reality gaming; a fitness center and spa.
In July, Shoma Group CEO Masoud Shojaee received an extra month to secure a master building permit for Shoma Bay. Shoma now has until Halloween to secure the permit.
The deadline was previously set for Aug. 30. The commission voted 4 to 1 to amend the development agreement. Shoma wasn’t able to obtain a master permit due to millions of dollars in fees owed to the village, the South Florida Business Journal reported earlier this year.
Shoma’s attorney, Mario Garcia-Serra, suggested that the developer may seek another amendment to increase the project density by 53 units, from 119 units per acre to 150 units per acre. The height could increase about 40 feet, or four additional stories.
The Shojaees plan to live in one of the penthouses, according to a press release issued last year about the groundbreaking.
The units in the tower, as currently approved, range from 344-square-foot studios to 2,700-square-foot, three-bedroom condos, plus 10 townhouses.
Shoma paid about $16 million for the site in May 2022, with plans for a rental apartment tower and retail development anchored by Publix. North Bay Village approved the project that year.
But Shoma changed course to build condos instead of rentals, a strategy that a handful of other developers have deployed as multifamily projects have been too costly to build.
The project’s estimated completion date is now the end of 2027. It was previously the first quarter of 2027, Shojaee said at the July meeting.
Development is heating up in the village. At the same commission meeting last month, a joint venture between the Pérez family’s Related Group and Harry Macklowe Properties secured approval for their planned two-tower luxury condo development. It will include two 498-foot, 43-story waterfront buildings at 8000 East Drive and 7946 East Drive.
The Eichner family’s Continuum Company plans to redevelop the former Shuckers-anchored property, now called the Palm Tree Club, into more than 500 condos, 200 hotel rooms and a marina.
The largest planned development is the Ansin family’s phased project that includes land north and south of the 79th Street Causeway, which bisects the town.
