Brian Tuttle loses Main Street dev site in $60M bankruptcy sale

After nearly two years of fighting to keep his development site, Brian Tuttle lost the Royal Palm Beach property this week in a $60 million bankruptcy sale. 

Miami-based Concord Wilshire Capital closed its purchase Wednesday of the 43 acres of land on the southwest corner of U.S. 441 and Southern Boulevard, according to court filings. Bankruptcy Judge Erik Kimball in West Palm Beach ordered that the deal close by Thursday, following a legal skirmish between Concord Wilshire and Tuttle in a case related to the bankruptcy proceeding for the site. 

The sale marks the end of the legal battle over the land and sets the stage for its new chapter. 

Concord Wilshire, a development firm led by president Nate Sirang, plans to rebrand the site from its previous moniker Main Street at Tuttle Royale. 

The development plan is for 401 apartments, a 125-key hotel, 426,800 square feet of retail and an 82,900-square-foot office building, according to Concord Wilshire’s news release that announced its site purchase. The firm also plans a park plaza with a sculpture garden, a canal-front park, retail promenade, rooftop amenities and the possibility to add an amphitheater. 

Concord Wilshire likely won’t do the project alone, with its news release saying it’s engaging with potential partners. 

Initial work on the project is expected to start soon after building permits are secured, the release says. 

Concord Wilshire’s development plan substantially mirrors what Tuttle wanted to build. 

But trouble arose for Tuttle in 2024 when Fort Lauderdale-based lender Fuse Group, led by Eyal Peretz, filed a $38.4 million foreclosure across three loans on the property. Although Fuse won a foreclosure judgement for $47.4 million, including interest, Tuttle’s affiliate Main Street at Tuttle Royale narrowly dodged a foreclosure auction by filing for Chapter 11 reorganization in September. 

Fuse initially fought to dismiss the filing, arguing Main Street had conducted a yearslong “exploitation” of the lender and its bankruptcy case was meant to keep Fuse “at bay for as long as possible” while trying to find a “white knight,” or another source of capital or partner, Fuse wrote in court filings. 

Kimball denied Fuse’s motion to dismiss. 

But at the time of Main Street’s Chapter 11 submission, it alleged it had lined up Atlanta-based The Ardent Companies to buyout the debt for $48 million and pay a $3 million non-refundable deposit. But Fuse allegedly “declined to accept the full cash payment” and honor the agreement, according to a news release issued at the time.

Last month, Kimball approved the Chapter 11 reorganization outlining two potential paths to resolve the default: The first track would be the $60 million sale to Concord Wilshire. If this deal doesn’t close, a track two sale to Ardent would kick in. 

Things took another turn this month when Concord Wilshire sued Tuttle and his affiliates Main Street at Tuttle Royale and TLH-26 Giles. Tuttle and his entities have been conspiring to try to “sabotage” Concord’s purchase and divert the sale to Arden,  because that deal would allow Tuttle to keep an equity interest in the land, according to the complaint.

Concord worked to close within the court-approved deadlines, even after it found out that one of its purchase partners, ECI Group –– which was actually partnering with Arden on the deal –– pulled out from the transaction altogether, according to the complaint. 

Yet, Main Street sent a letter alleging Concord had defaulted on the purchase, the suit claimed. 

Main Street’s bankruptcy attorney at the time called the allegations “ridiculous” and a “stall tactic” by Concord to delay the closing. 

Concord also this month filed an emergency motion to prevent Main Street from interfering with the bankruptcy sale. On April 3, Kimball approved this motion in part, prohibiting Main Street from enforcing any alleged default against Concord, terminating the purchase-and-sale agreement or selling the land to someone else. 

Concord and Tuttle and his affiliates appear to have been working on a settlement in this case, according to court filings. 

The two sides “have been working in good faith to resolve the issues raised,” and reached “a settlement in principle,” Main Street at Tuttle Royale wrote in a court filing. 

Tuttle said he won’t pursue legal action to try to claw back the site. 

“I wish them the best of luck,” Tuttle said. After the sale, “we paid the unsecured creditors and paid the bank [Fuse] and we are moving forward,” he said. 

Tuttle is a longtime Florida land assembler, who stitched vacant lots together, completed environmental remediation, entitled them for construction and then sold them to buildings for a profit. Main Street was supposed to be his transition into development, securing a steady cash flow for him, he previously told The Real Deal. He has done roughly 35 sales of land assemblages, he said. 

For now, he plans to continue as a land assembler, working to put together and entitle about 20 properties for roughly 2,500 homes in Florida’s Space Coast and Treasure Coast, he said. 

The 43-acre tract Concord purchased is part of the larger 200-acre Tuttle Royale mixed-use site Tuttle assembled and entitled for construction. Over the years, he sold portions of Tuttle Royale to other developers, who have completed residential projects.