Aloft Miami Brickell Resort Proprietor Recordsdata For Chapter

Pedro Villar of Sunview Companies with the hotel (Marriott, LinkedIn via Villar)

To fend off an “aggressive foreclosure” by its Park Avenue lender, the owner of the Aloft Miami Brickell hotel has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

In a statement that is part of the bankruptcy filing, hotel developer Pedro Villar said that New York City Torchlight investors wrongly attempted to seize Aloft Miami Brickell’s earnings and impose a multi-million dollar prepayment fee.

“During the pandemic, the hotel retained its value of over $ 30 million and is completely unencumbered except for its $ 17.8 million mortgage,” Villar wrote. “Torchlight is and always has not been willing to negotiate to get a workout.”[thepandemicthehotelmaintaineditsvalueinexcessofmillionandisentirelyunencumberedbutforits8millionmortgage”Villarwrote“Torchlightisandhasalwaysbeenunwillingtoengageinnegotiationstoachieveaworkout”[thepandemicthehotelmaintaineditsvalueinexcessofmillionandisentirelyunencumberedbutforits8millionmortgage”Villarwrote“Torchlightisandhasalwaysbeenunwillingtoengageinnegotiationstoachieveaworkout”

Villar and his lawyer Joseph Pack declined to comment. flashlight and attorneys representing the real estate investment firm in the foreclosure lawsuit did not respond to requests for comment.

The 160-room hotel on 1001 Southwest Second Avenue is owned by Mary Brickell Village Hotel LLC, which is run by Villar, president of the Miami-based Sunview Companies.

Completed in 2013, the hotel has $ 34 million in assets and $ 18 million in liabilities, according to a filing for bankruptcy. Its largest creditor is a subsidiary of Torchlight, which granted the $ 17.8 million loan. The largest unsecured claim is $ 252,098 owed to the Miami-Dade County tax collector.

Villar’s company is the second Miami hotel owner to be searched in the past few weeks bankruptcy Protection after overcoming the pandemic-induced economic downturn. The owner of the Holiday Inn at 340 Biscayne Boulevard in downtown Miami also filed for Chapter 11, which allows a company to restructure its debt while satisfying creditors.

“Last year the hotel faced its biggest challenge since opening in summer 2013: the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on
Companies, especially in the hospitality sector, ”Villar wrote in his statement. “When COVID-19 hit in March 2020, the loan was backed by hundreds of thousands of dollars in reserves.”

The hotel owner didn’t miss a single loan payment prior to the pandemic and reached out to Wells Fargo, who serviced the mortgage, to put in place a contingency plan in the event of missed payments while Covid-19 restrictions remained in place, Villar wrote.

Months later he learned that a flashlight The subsidiary has taken over the servicing of the loan and will not support the hotel ownership company in making changes, claimed Villar. He claimed that the hotel was unable to function and that communicating with Torchlight was “next to impossible”.

Instead, Torchlight began charging default interest, special service fees, and legal fees, which Villars’ company denied, the statement said. In March, Torchlight filed a foreclosure lawsuit against the hotel owner.

“Torchlight had no serious interest in good negotiations and decided early on to seize the hotel,” claimed Villar. “Mary Brickell Village Hotel has made no progress in negotiating with Torchlight and believes that Torchlight’s legal positions are not legally sound and may even expose a nefarious business model.”

Contact Francisco Alvarado