Winn-Dixie-anchored center in Miramar faces foreclosure
By Brian BandellJul 15, 2011, 12:53pm EDT Updated Jul 19, 2011, 3:37pm EDT
Miramar Parkway Plaza, a 155,336-square-foot shopping center anchored by Winn-Dixie, has been targeted for foreclosure.
FirstBank Puerto Rico (NYSE: FBP) filed a foreclosure lawsuit July 11 against Abel Homes at Keys Winds, which is managed by Abel Amador. He was named as a guarantor in the complaint, along with Guillermo Perez.
The lawsuit is based on a mortgage last modified at $16.5 million in 2009. Since the loan was not scheduled to mature until 2018, that means the bank alleged that a default in the loan agreement occurred before the maturity date.
The shopping center was built in 1973 at 3301, 3190, 3306 and 3353 S. University Drive. The foreclosure targets everything at the southwest corner of University Drive and Miramar Parkway, except a gas station, which has a separate owner. It also targets the 2.1-acre vacant site, that has approvals for an additional 32,000 square feet behind the shopping center.
In addition to Winn-Dixie, recent tenants include McDonald’s, Family Dollar, Foot Locker, Little Caesars, AutoZone and Subway.
Abel Homes bought the property for $18.95 million in 2005.
Miami attorney Otto Berges, who represents FirstBank in the lawsuit, said the complaint lists $18.8 million as owed by the borrower, including default interest that is accumulating at $11,000 a day. The borrower stopped making payments and the bank gave them an opportunity to cure the problem, but it did not, Berges said.
“It is in our best interest to get a receiver in place right away and start sequestering the rents,” Berges said. “So, that way, they don’t make money from not paying the mortgage and pocketing the rents they are presumably collecting from tenants.”
