Torrealba's MG Developer Sells North Bay Village Stake to Prosper
The eighth creditor suit against MG Developer surfaced the sale price for the North Bay Village site, as Alirio Torrealba's firm exits its own condo project.
Alirio Torrealba is selling his stake in a North Bay Village condo site to Prosper Group, the Miami Beach firm he had lined up to partner with on the tower, as lenders keep piling lawsuits onto his Coral Gables-based MG Developer. Records attached to the eighth creditor suit against MG show the entity behind the deal, MG NBV, signing a $20 million membership interest purchase agreement in January with a Prosper affiliate managed by Jay Roberts.
Why it matters
MG and Prosper had planned to build a 30-story, 147-unit condo tower at 1681 and 1725 North Bay Causeway. Torrealba is now walking away from his own project rather than the debt catching up with it first, a rare instance of a sponsor selling out of a deal before a lender forces the issue. A Prosper spokesperson confirmed the firm is buying out MG’s interest and said another joint venture partner may still come in, but declined to name one or confirm the $20 million price. Track the rest of Miami’s distress pipeline at our South Florida hub.
The numbers
The latest suit comes from BHI Lending, tied to Maurice and Iris Egozi, which claims MG NBV defaulted on a $2.5 million loan issued in April at 24.99 percent annual interest, plus $500,000 owed under a side agreement that pledged BHI a cut of the North Bay Village sale proceeds as collateral. That brings the total to eight suits and $21.4 million in claims, all breach-of-note actions filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, none seeking foreclosure. MG said in a statement it is in “good-faith discussions” with the “vast majority” of its lenders and has reached verbal understandings with some, adding its focus is “resolving the remaining outstanding matters” and putting the litigation “behind us in a responsible and constructive manner.”
What’s next
The North Bay Village sale would be the first concrete asset move MG has made since the suits began in August, and a test of whether Torrealba can raise cash by selling out of projects rather than losing them in court. Watch for a recorded deed transferring MG NBV’s interest, and for whether the identity of Prosper’s rumored second joint venture partner surfaces before the remaining seven suits reach a resolution. This story is part of our ongoing coverage of the MG Developer creditor lawsuits.