Chilean developer Claudio Fischer has secured a $65 million loan for a development site in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood. The financing was provided by Banco Santander and is backed by a 1-acre assemblage at 68, 82 and 84 Southwest 13th Street and 1399 Southwest First Avenue. The property includes a three-story office building that previously housed the Mexican consulate, which relocated to Coral Gables in 2023.
Fischer intends to demolish the existing structure and build a 41-story residential tower with 544 units, approximately 9,400 square feet of retail space, and 421 parking spaces. Miami-Dade County approved the Arquitectonica-designed project last year. It is not yet clear whether the planned units will be apartments or condominiums.
Records show that an entity managed by Fischer purchased the site for $53 million in 2020. This would be Fischer’s first high-rise development; he is known as a spec home developer and founder of Sun Dreams, an operator of casino resorts in Latin America.
However, according to public records, Fischer is under contract to sell the site to Key International, a Miami-based firm led by brothers Inigo and Diego Ardid. The purchase and sale agreement serves as collateral for the Banco Santander mortgage. It remains uncertain if the $65 million loan will fund construction of the proposed tower. Both Fischer and representatives from Key International did not respond to requests for comment.
Key International manages about 6,000 residential units, operates roughly 3,000 hotel rooms, and oversees $2 billion in assets. The company is also collaborating with Coconut Grove-based 13th Floor Investments on other projects in South Florida. Their joint venture recently obtained a $79.2 million construction loan for Skye, a planned apartment complex within the Parks at Delray mixed-use project in Delray Beach.
