“It’s not as easy as people think to do these big projects. Which is why, when you really distill it down, there’s only a handful of people who do it at all.” - Michael Stern

Michael Stern has 2 branded-condo moonshots going on simultaneously in Miami’s hot Brickell neighborhood: On the first, Mercedes-Benz Places, he’s brought on Jeff Soffer's Fontainebleau and the partnership appears near the finish line on a mammoth $1B+ construction-loan package. On the second though, the Dolce & Gabbana supertall at 888 Brickell, things remain murky: Stern still needs to lock in an equity partner, and the sr. loan was recently taken over by the Reuben Brothers, the bare-knuckle billionaire Brits who have a penchant for playing in the nethers of notable capstacks. That’s the context you need to understand the latest news, which is that Newmark is now courting investors for the project, per materials reviewed by The Promote. 👇

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Sources familiar w/ the process said the half-acre of dirt is being valued at just north of $100M, in the $90s/bsf. One source involved in the process said Stern does not intend to sell the site outright; instead, he’s looking to find an equity partner who’d give him the ability to finalize a $600M+ construction financing. The marketing materials cite the current development plan: 259 condos, w/ blended pricing at $2,100/ 🦶.

There have been numerous lawsuits at this project, including w/ the brokerage formerly handling condo sales and w/ building contractors. But the most intriguing bit rn is the status of the sr. loan: Until this summer, it was held by G4 Capital (See: From trucks to bucks), a lender that JDS has worked with previously, including on the Walker Tower in NYC (good nugget on that one here for Insiders 🔒 ). At some point, the G4 loan went nonperforming, and debt investors incl. Beach Hill Capital looked to snap it up. But in August, the $35.7M note was reassigned to 888 Brickell Holdco LLC, which is controlled by Mailstop RB, and shares an address w/ the W South Beach. That hotel is, of course, owned by the Reuben Brothers. A source familiar w/ the project confirmed that the Reubens now hold the note. The billionaire Brits made their initial fortune in the Russian metals market, and in more recent years have made U.S. capstack-sniping an extreme sport - we took a look at their business on the pod recently.

Full transparency: When we broke the news of the incoming mammoth JPM-led financing at Mercedes-Benz Places, we had reported that Jeff Soffer’s Fontainebleau Development, his partner on MBP, was also on board here at D&G. That might have been premature – as of now at least, Soffer is not officially involved at D&G, though that could of c change. (By nature of what we do, which is get the juice freshly squeezed 🍊 rather than wait for a press release, some details can be off/can change – just trust that we do all we can to provide the most accurate info at the time, and correct anything that needs correcting.)

Condo collabs w/ luxury brands are becoming an increasing share of the global new dev market - there are now ≈1K branded resi projects worldwide, up from 323 in ‘15, per Savills. They’re usually structured as a brand-license deal, with initial 10-20Y terms. Developers cough up a cut of sales – anywhere from 1.5-2.5%. The brand also gets a greater (negotiated in advance) cut above the baseline ppsf (i.e. what comp unbranded product would go for). The two markets which have gone into branded-condo overdrive are Miami & Dubai, simpatico in many ways: Both cater to wealthy second-home buyers who love flash and hate income taxes, and both are overrun w/ new developments. Having a brand attached to your building can serve as a shorthand for quality to such buyers.

Some developers, though, feel that play is getting saturated. At 1250 West Ave in Miami Beach, for e.g., a partnership led by David Martin’s Terra Group is putting up a 106-unit waterfront condo sans brand, and has just landed a $507M construction loan from (who else?) Adi Chugh’s Tyko Capital for the project, per CO. Remarkably for South Florida, the financing came in prior to pre-sales, which are traditionally the lubricant for Miami’s capital markets. Martin’s fast becoming the guy people call on hairy projects - 1250 West was initially a JDS deal, Martin entered in summer ‘25 to help Stern complete the condo buyout, and then bought Stern out earlier this year.

Side context: An arbitrator recently issued a $47M award against Stern & JDS in its dispute w/ Silverstein at Brooklyn Tower

This week on the pod, we dive into the CRE deal of the year – arguably, of any year: Ken Griffin is bringing Carnegie Mellon to Miami, a transformative gift for the 305 in so many ways. We focus primarily on 2 guys – Paul Darrah, who's responsible for making it happen for KG, and Moishe Mana, the idiosyncratic mogul who’s just pulled off the most spectacular assemblage exit in the history of that town. Next, we travel to another port city: Bain Capital is in talks to do a rescue recap of a Hong Kong development dynasty, New World. And finally, we consult the French dictionary as Force Majeure surfaces its ugly head in the capital-intensive world of data centers- Oracle’s telling Blue Owl it doesn’t really feel like making rent. Plus, our Punch List rundown of the newsiest industry happenings: Interest-rate volatility; Hines; Manhattan record rents; GGP refi; the AI buildout equation. Listen: Spotify, YouTube, Apple.

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Late Thursday night, we published a story looking at a potential deal for triple-threat agency lender Lument to head back to the Hunt family.