T
he receiver responsible for managing the assets of the now-defunct company Location Ventures has requested permission to sell a development site in Miami Beach for $17.5 million. This request was made by Bernice Lee in a motion filed on Tuesday to U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga. The property in question is a 0.7-acre assemblage located at 1234 and 1260 Washington Avenue. According to court records, Pakman Miami Beach, a Fort Lauderdale entity managed by Prakash Patel, Andrew Beachler, and Richard Haestier, is the interested buyer. Bernice Lee declined to comment on this matter.

    Judge Altonaga is currently presiding over an ongoing civil case against Location Ventures, its affiliates, and the company's former founder Rishi Kapoor. In December 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a federal lawsuit against Kapoor, alleging that he defrauded more than 50 investors out of $93 million for his real estate projects, most of which did not materialize or were abandoned in the past two years.

    Kapoor had planned to redevelop two commercial buildings on the Miami Beach properties into Urbin Miami Beach, a low-rise condominium with 69 co-living units. However, in June of last year, the city of Miami Beach halted construction at the site due to unpermitted work. By then, six firms working on the project had filed liens for a combined $1.2 million in alleged unpaid work and services.

    Kapoor stepped down from Location Ventures in July of last year after his company faced numerous lawsuits, as well as civil investigations initiated by the SEC and criminal probes by other federal agencies and local authorities into his dealings with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who was being paid $10,000 a month as a private consultant by Location Ventures' subsidiary Urbin.

    In April, Lee was granted court approval to hire auctioneer Lamar Fisher and his eponymous firm to sell a commercial building at 1234 Washington Avenue and a vacant lot at 1260 Washington Avenue. Despite receiving 142 queries from interested buyers in 22 states, the firm did not receive any viable offers.

    Pakman Miami Beach has offered to buy the properties "as-is" for $17.5 million, provided that its purchase is not treated as a stalking horse bid subject to competition from better offers. The buyer also agrees to take the titles of 1234 and 1260 Washington free and clear of any outstanding liens.

    The majority of the proceeds would be used to pay off a lender, 1234 Washington Acquisition, an affiliate of Coral Gables-based Spectrum Mortgage Group, which has a pending foreclosure complaint against the Location Ventures affiliates that own the properties. The lender has agreed to accept $14.3 million of the $19.3 million that Location Ventures allegedly owes, and will drop the foreclosure case. The remaining sale proceeds would be used to pay $570,000 in past-due property taxes, $15,000 in past-due city utility bills, $125,000 in closing costs, and a $25,000 fee to Fisher.