Weston lawyer negotiates $35 million lease-to-purchase deal for mall on U.S. 441 in
Hollywood
April 28, 2003
By: Tony Doris
Dealmaker: Attorney Roy Oppenheim
The Deal: Oppenheim's firm negotiated and closed a $35 million lease-to-purchase deal
for the Hollywood Super Mall (formerly Hollywood Fashion Mall), on U.S. 441 in Hollywood. The law firm represented Millennium Development
Enterprises of Weston in what was one of Broward County's biggest real estate transactions this year. The firm structured a 60-year lease
with the property owner Hollywood Fashion Mall Inc., giving Millennium the option to buy the property after the 10th year of the contract
for $33 million.
Details: The shopping center, once anchored by four department stores, closed in 1993.
The current owner bought it and renamed it, hoping to reopen it as an outlet shopping center, but the plans sunk into in a legal morass,
leading the owners to seek out a company to revive the property.
Millennium has developed shopping centers and office buildings in Weston and Parkland.
Chairman Ignacio Martinez's family also has run the three largest flea markets in Caracas, Venezuela. Millennium plans to redevelop the
1 million-square-foot property into an upscale discount center, subdivided into 2,000 booths, kiosks and shops.
According to Oppenheim, Millennium's plan for the mall include a family entertainment
area with a carousel and a 35,000-square-foot farmer's market. The first phase of the center, named The Millennium … Hollywood's City
Place, is scheduled to open Oct. 1.
Background: Oppenheim, a partner at Oppenheim Pilelsky in Weston, said the transaction
took 10 days to put together. Oppenheim said he completed it on his daughter's laptop computer while on vacation, between ski runs. Oppenheim
Pilelsky specializes in real estate, consumer litigation, business, insurance and Internet-related legal matters.
Quote: "I was hours from leaving for a family ski trip to Colorado when I got the
call from Ignacio," Oppenheim said. "A lot of my work was actually conducted from the top of the Vail gondola, where cellular
reception is remarkably clear."
<< Back
|
