Chilean developer Claudio Fischer has secured a $65 million loan for a development site in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood. The financing was provided by Banco Santander and is backed by a 1-acre assemblage located at 68, 82 and 84 Southwest 13th Street and 1399 Southwest First Avenue. This property includes a three-story office building that previously housed the Mexican consulate, which relocated to Coral Gables in 2023.
Fischer’s plans for the site involve demolishing the existing structure to make way for a 41-story residential tower. The proposed building would feature 544 units, about 9,400 square feet of retail space, and parking for 421 vehicles. Miami-Dade County granted approval for the project last year. Arquitectonica designed the project, but it remains unclear whether the planned units will be apartments or condominiums.
Records show that Fischer acquired the property assemblage in 2020 for $53 million. If built, this would be Fischer’s first high-rise development; he is known as a spec home developer and founder of Sun Dreams, an operator of casino resorts in Latin America.
Despite securing financing, Fischer is under contract to sell the Brickell site to Key International, a Miami-based firm led by brothers Inigo and Diego Ardid. According to public records, the purchase and sale agreement serves as collateral for the Banco Santander mortgage. It is not clear if the $65 million loan will fund construction of the project. Both Fischer and representatives from Key International declined to comment on details.
Key International manages around 6,000 residential units and 3,000 hotel rooms with total managed assets of approximately $2 billion, according to its website (https://keyint.com/). The company has partnered with Coconut Grove-based 13th Floor Investments—led by Arnaud Karsenti—to develop a Nobu-branded condominium tower in Brickell. That project will stand at 74 stories with about 300 units on a separate site spanning over two acres.
Additionally, Key International and 13th Floor Investments secured $79.2 million in construction financing last November for Skye, an apartment complex planned within the Parks at Delray mixed-use development in Delray Beach (https://therealdeal.com/miami/2023/11/20/key-international-13th-floor-score-79m-loan-for-delray-beach-apartments/).
