One of downtown Hollywood's splashiest mixed-use projects is suddenly on the financial ropes. The Circ, a tower at 1740–1776 Polk Street that combines a 111-key hotel, 386 residences, a 48,000-square-foot Publix and a rooftop Olivia restaurant, is now the focus of a foreclosure lawsuit seeking $121.4 million.
The complaint was filed on April 30 by ARCPE 15 LLC, an affiliate of Miami Beach-based Arc Asset Management, and aims to foreclose on the loan that backs the entire project, according to South Florida Business Journal. The suit names HC Real Property LLC, Circ Hotel LLC and Circ Residences LLC as defendants, and lists guarantors including developer Chip Abele, along with Peter Jago, Daniel McCarthy and Harish Mehta.
The Real Deal reports that Deutsche Bank provided a $133.4 million refinance in early 2024, when the developers shifted the residential portion of the building from rentals to condos. According to that coverage, the borrower then missed payments in June 2025 and failed to repay the loan when it hit maturity in February 2026. An affiliate of Arc Asset Management acquired the loan in December.
What the Lawsuit Seeks
Per the South Florida Business Journal, the complaint pegs the claimed amount at about $121.4 million and asks the court to foreclose on the loan collateral as a whole, rather than going after each individual condo unit. In the filing, the missed June 2025 payment and the unpaid February 2026 maturity are laid out as the immediate triggers that pushed the lender to court.
On the sales front, things have been sluggish. Since the condo conversion, only 32 units have sold, fewer than 10 percent of the Circ's 386 residences, according to The Real Deal. Those condos have been listed between roughly $450,000 and $1.3 million. Before the switch from rentals to for-sale units, the apartments were about 98 percent leased, with asking rents reported in the $2,300 to $5,100 range.
Local Stakes
Industry coverage notes that the foreclosure action is not aimed at individually owned condo units, which could soften the immediate blow for private buyers, even as the developer's ownership entities remain squarely in the crosshairs. That distinction matters for residents who may be more worried about whether their building keeps the lights on than who ultimately holds the mortgage.
The Circ's sizable ground-floor retail, including the 48,000-square-foot Publix, gives the case broader neighborhood implications. A potential change in ownership could ripple through downtown Hollywood's retail mix and leasing scene, according to roundups compiled by Hawkins Commercial Realty. For nearby businesses and local shoppers, stability at the tower is not just a real estate story, it is a day-to-day quality-of-life issue.
Legal Implications
The case is a judicial foreclosure, essentially a lender's civil lawsuit to enforce a mortgage, which can end in a court-ordered sale, a negotiated payoff or a long legal slog, depending on what defenses are raised and whether the parties cut a deal. Florida foreclosure procedures require formal notice and give defendants time to respond, and both timing and remedies can vary widely, according to a legal guide on state foreclosure procedures from Lawyers.com.
How fast things move from here will depend on the court docket and the willingness of both sides to negotiate. The case could race toward a sale or settle into a slower-paced restructuring fight. For now, the lawsuit puts one of downtown Hollywood's most visible recent projects back in the middle of an ongoing struggle over refinancing and condo sales that has been playing out since the 2024 conversion.
