Kushner Companies has initiated legal action against Harvey Hernandez, claiming nonpayment of a $22.9 million loan related to a Fort Lauderdale development site. The lawsuit was filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, naming Hernandez as the personal guarantor for the loan.
Kushner, based in New York and led by Laurent Morali and Nicole Kushner Meyer, has also filed a foreclosure complaint in Broward County Circuit Court against an affiliate of Hernandez’s Miami-based Newgard Development Group. This affiliate owns the 1-acre property at 200 West Broward Boulevard near Fort Lauderdale’s Brightline station. The planned project on this site is Natiivo Fort Lauderdale, a proposed 40-story condominium with 384 units intended for short-term rentals.
According to court documents, Newgard acquired the site from Kushner and Aimco for $31.2 million in 2023. That same year, Kushner provided Newgard with a $21.2 million mortgage that was not repaid in full by its June 15 maturity date. The total amount allegedly owed now stands at $22.9 million, including fees and interest.
The foreclosure complaint notes that Newgard pledged all its equity interest in the development entity as collateral for the mortgage. In its Miami-Dade complaint, Kushner claims Hernandez “absolutely and irrevocably guaranteed and promised to pay the lender, among other things, for any losses, costs, judgments, awards, court costs and legal or other expenses.”
Kushner is also seeking a court order requiring Newgard’s affiliate to turn over $23,471 in monthly rent collected from operating the site as a parking lot.
Sales efforts for Natiivo Fort Lauderdale began last year with Cervera Real Estate handling initial marketing before One Sotheby’s International Realty took over in December. Construction on the project has not yet started.
Newgard’s other major projects are being developed through a partnership with Two Roads Development of Miami. Their joint ventures include Lofty Brickell and Standard Residences—two condominium towers along the Miami River in Brickell—which secured $513 million in construction financing this September.
Hernandez did not respond to requests for comment about the lawsuits. An attorney representing Kushner also declined to comment.