Centennial Bank closes $145M loan for Miami River Dream Hotel

Driftwood Capital, in partnership with MV Real Estate Holdings and Merrimac Ventures, closed a $145 million construction loan from Centennial Bank for Riverside Wharf, a $350 million hotel and entertainment complex on the Miami River.

The development is expected to include a 167-key Dream Hotel and span roughly 200,000 square feet at 114 Southwest North River Drive, Connect CRE reported. The plan also includes a 30,000-square-foot nightclub, a rooftop pool day club, a 12,000-square-foot event hall and 16,000 square feet of restaurant space, plus an expanded Wharf Miami, a publicly accessible riverwalk, a seawall and a pop-up for Garcia's Fish Market.

For advisors holding hotel credit in client portfolios, the $145 million loan is about 41% of the $350 million project figure Connect CRE cites. The remaining $205 million would come from sponsor equity or another capital layer, and the report does not break down that stack or disclose an interest rate, a maturity or a sponsor equity figure.

Elsewhere in South Florida construction debt, Madison Realty wrote a $127 million takeout retiring Centennial's construction debt on a 502-unit Fort Lauderdale apartment project, as Private Wealth Daily previously reported. The Riverside Wharf loan is $18 million larger than that takeout.

Moss Construction is the general contractor and Jon Cardello of CUBE 3 Architects designed the project. The financing supports vertical construction of the nine-story, two-tower building, with completion slated for fall 2028.