It took a year, but developer Mark Siffin has finally paid a prominent Miami real estate broker money tied to his failed bid to acquire land next to the Miami Herald headquarters.
Siffin paid $905,771 to an affiliate of broker Edie Laquer on the eve of a Jan. 26 final hearing to enforce a summary judgment against him, according to attorney Todd Levine. He represented Laquer Corporate Realty Group, which sued Siffin in February 2011.
The money included interest and Laquer Corporate's legal fees.
Lacquer Corporate loaned Siffin $700,000 in early February 2010 to help Siffin pay a non-refundable $6 million deposit to extend the land deal another year.
The loan gave Siffin "additional funds to use towards the deposit so he could get an extension on closing on the Herald property," said Levine, a founding member of Kluger Kaplan Silverman Katzen & Levine.
Siffin was seeking to buy the land from Citisquare Group, which had a $190 million contract to acquire a 10-acre site from Herald owner McClatchy. Siffin and Citisquare were unable to get financing to close the deal by Feb. 1, 2011. In May 2011, McClatchy announced it was selling the land and the Herald building for $263 million to Malaysia-based Genting Group. Genting, a casino operator, is proposing to build 10 million square feet of hotel, convention, entertainment and retail space.
After McClatchy terminated the Citisquare contract, Laquer Corporate sued Siffin and affiliate Maefield Holdings for its loan. Laquer Corporate obtained the summary judgment on Dec. 27.
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