The good times appear to be over at the Goodtime Hotel in Miami Beach, which counted famed music producer Pharrell Williams and Miami hospitality mogul David Grutman as partners, after the lender launched a $149.3 million foreclosure lawsuit.
CIM Group sued entities tied to the developer and owner of the 266-room property, Eric Birnbaum and Michael Fascitelli’s Imperial Companies, alleging that it stopped making interest payments in 2024.
The 205,680-square-foot hotel at 601 Washington Avenue opened in 2021 to much fanfare thanks to its celebrity backing, with Kim Kardashian and David and Victoria Beckham attending the opening bash of the seven-story establishment. The property’s day club, Strawberry Moon, hosted parties with chart-topping DJs.
In 2021, the L.A.-based lender supplied a $164 million refinancing loan, which was reduced to $152 million in 2023. Later that year, the parties entered into a forbearance agreement.
Now, the complaint, filed in the 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida, alleges the borrower failed to pay back the loan when it matured in 2024 and owes $149.3 million in principal as well as fees and interest.
A representative for Williams and Grutman told the Miami Herald, which first reported about the lawsuit, that they haven’t been involved with the Goodtime Hotel since 2024. Both Brian Miller of King & Spalding, who represents the hotel’s owners, and Jeffrey Gilbert of Greenspoon Marder, who represents the lender,did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
This isn’t the only lawsuit between CIM Group and Imperial Companies. Another foreclosure suit is underway in New York, where CIM is seeking to collect $10 million in personal guarantees from Fascitelli and Birnbaum, The Real Deal reported. The hotel operators contend that their lawyer made a drafting mistake.
Another lawsuit involves Link Hospitality, which sued the Goodtime Hotel’s owners in Miami-Dade County, claiming it’s owed just over $523,000 as part of staffing agreement. Birnbaum and Fascitelli have denied the allegation in subsequent filings.
The hotel, billed as a catalyst for revitalizing a seedier and boarded-up stretch of Washington Avenue in South Beach, has struggled operationally.
In 2022, L.A.’s popular Italian eatery Jon & Vinny’s had signed a lease to open its first Florida location on the ground floor, but backed out and eventually set up shop at the Rubell Museum. The Miami Beach Planning Board reviewed the hotel’s conditional use permit in 2021 after some residents complained about the property’s noise.
Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.
Leave a Reply