A garden-style apartment complex near the Dania Beach Pier is heading back to workforce rentals after a botched attempt to turn it into condos. Prestige Companies and joint-venture partner MV Real Estate Holdings paid $27.3 million to reclaim 118 units at Atlantica, the 124-unit property at 624 Northeast Second Street that Prestige built just a few years ago and then sold off, only to watch the buyer's for-sale conversion plan collapse.
The reacquisition, first reported by The Real Deal, closed through a deed in lieu of foreclosure, a mechanism that lets a defaulting borrower hand title back to satisfy debt without going through a lengthy court foreclosure process, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Prestige originally started construction on Atlantica in 2022 after entering a 99-year ground lease with the land-owning entity in 2021, according to The Real Deal's report. In July 2024, Prestige sold the property to S2 Development for $36.7 million, or roughly $296,370 per unit, a deal that included the ground-lease rights S2 acquired rather than the land itself, according to reporting from The Real Deal.
A Condo Bet That Didn't Pay Off
S2 Development, headed by J. Claudio Stivelman, financed its purchase with a $30 million mortgage from Kawa Capital and set out to convert the apartments into for-sale residences, betting on South Florida's thin supply of newer condo inventory. Real estate advisory firm ISG World reported that only 3 percent of condo listings across Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties were under 10 years old as of late 2024, a scarcity that pushed developers toward rental-to-condo conversions, per the same account cited by CRE Daily. Stivelman and S2 co-principal Marc Schmulian had previously developed notable waterfront projects including the $210 million Artech community in Aventura and O Residences in Bay Harbor Islands, giving the firm a substantial luxury-condo track record heading into the Dania Beach bet.
When S2 launched condo sales at Atlantica in August 2024 under exclusive marketing by ISG World, units were listed from $500,000 to $765,000. But rising interest rates and buyer hesitation stalled the campaign, and county records show S2 managed to sell only six units before the plan unraveled. That left 118 residences unsold and the project in financial trouble, setting the stage for the reacquisition.
Deed in Lieu Closes the Loop
Prestige and MV Real Estate took back the remaining 118 units for $27.3 million, or about $231,355 per unit, according to a news release cited by The Real Deal. The purchase was financed through a new $22.1 million mortgage from CRE Lendco, an affiliate of the Hallandale Beach-based Kawa Capital that had issued S2's original acquisition loan. Shifting financing conditions and housing-market economics paved the way for the reacquisition, the release said.
MV Real Estate Holdings, founded in 2008 by Alex Mantecon and Guillermo Vadell, is Prestige's partner on the deal and is separately co-developing high-profile South Florida projects including the $350 million Riverside Wharf in Downtown Miami and Ludlam Trail Towers. Prestige, led by Marty Caparros Jr., describes itself as one of Florida's largest builders, with a portfolio exceeding $1.2 billion that includes more than 15,000 residential units, 200,000 square feet of commercial space and 1,000 acres of land, according to its website. The firm's other notable projects include the Trail Lofts in Miami, Flamingo Village in Hialeah and Amelia District in Hialeah.
Back to Workforce Rentals
Prestige plans to operate the reclaimed units as workforce-housing rentals, according to Alexander Ruiz. Atlantica spans six three-story buildings on a nearly 5-acre site, offering one- and two-bedroom units ranging from 700 to 1,160 square feet, along with a pool, clubhouse, fitness center, dog park and 237 parking spaces. The property sits close to the Dania Beach Pier and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Current rents at Atlantica range from $1,995 to $3,500 per month, according to Zillow.
The Atlantica saga also reflects a broader pattern across South Florida, where some developers shifted multifamily projects toward condo conversions as construction financing became more difficult, as Multi-Housing News has reported. Atlantica's residential buildings were designed by architect Albert O. Gonzalez, with common areas, the clubhouse and interior amenities handled by South Florida design firm Interiors by Steven G.
