SOUTH BEACH, FL—Starwood Capital Group has secured financing to build a six-story, 144,000 square-foot mixed use building at 2340 Collins Ave. Construction is underway and expected to be completed in late 2021. Starwood continues a recent trend of financial firms finding the Miami area to their liking.

Carter McDowell, a partner with Miami-based law firm Bilzin Sumberg, counseled Starwood throughout the two-year approval process along with associate Carly Grimm. McDowell and partner John Chassen served as local counsel in securing $76 million in construction financing for the project from Citizens Bank, NA. Bilzin Sumberg was also involved in Starwood's initial acquisition of the property, with Chassen representing the seller in the transaction.

"Starwood was looking for a site on Miami Beach, and this particular location was an opportune site," McDowell tells GlobeSt.com. "There are very few vacant sites on Miami Beach and this location was ideal for office development, and the neighborhood offers a lot of great amenities."

The new headquarters building, designed by Gensler, will have 136,000 square feet of office space and 8,000 square feet of street-level retail and restaurant space. Upon completion, the building will be home to up to 300 Starwood employees.

Tenants will have access to a private courtyard and exterior corridors throughout the building. Other property features include a publicly-accessible pedestrian paseo surrounded by lush landscaping and water features on the south side of the property. Coastal Construction is serving as the project's general contractor, and the developer is Integra.

The deal's participants had to make adjustments as the coronavirus crisis deepened near its completion.

"We ended up having weekly and then near-daily 'all hands' calls once the coronavirus took hold and most businesses shifted to working remotely," Chassen tells GlobeSt.com. "There was some concern about execution, delivery and recording of loan documents. The Clerk's office was not 'open' for recording documents and was, and remains, only accepting documents via mail or via e-recording. Similarly, the local office of the title company, First American, which acted as closing agent was not open, and documents had to be sent to our contact who was working remotely. First American was incredibly accommodating and helped all the parties get the deal done on time."