MIAMI-Many closings come down to the wire, but a recent deal Bilzin Sumberg handled gives new meaning to the concept. The contract terms between the seller and the lender were so inflexible that Adam Lustig, a real estate practice group partner at the firm, had to get creative to close the sale.

Lustig represented Isram Residential Monterey Lakes LLC in connection with the acquisition of Monterey Lakes Apartments, a 324-unit complex in Largo. The asset traded for $23.4 million. As part of the closing, the Bilzin Sumberg team helped secure a $15.8 million loan from Grandbridge Real Estate Capital through its Freddie Mac program.

“The seller’s documents provided that the loan could only be paid off on the first day of the month, period,” Lustig tells GlobeSt.com. “There was no flexibility of closing on the second or the third. It was an absolutely prohibition. We had to have all funds from the buyer and the lender funded into escrow with the title company by no later than 10 a.m. on the first.”

As a result of this restriction, the team had to work swiftly to have all documents finalized and executed, as well as the borrower's and lender's funds disbursed to the title company to ensure the payoff deadline was met. Lustig says it was literally a race against time.