Marcia Langley and Bruce Rosetto of Greenberg Traurig/courtesy photos.

The Via Mizner mixed-use project that promises to prompt more growth in Boca Raton obtained the last of the financing it needs with a $225 million loan, the biggest deal of its kind this year in Palm Beach County.

Greenberg Traurig shareholders Marcia Langley and Bruce Rosetto, both based in Boca Raton, closed the transaction, the second loan they obtained for the project.

In 2017, they secured $398 million for the second phase of Via Mizner, the biggest loan of its kind that year in south Palm Beach County.

The latest deal for the third phase is the biggest real estate financing transaction so far this year in Palm Beach County. The deal closed July 3.

Other Greenberg Traurig attorneys who worked on the deal are shareholder Jonathan Lessner in Delaware, associate Bracha Pollack in Boca Raton and associate Charles Abrams in West Palm Beach. Seyfarth Shaw attorneys served as co-counsel.

Developer Penn-Florida Cos., based in Boca Raton, will use the funds to complete construction of the 92-unit Residences at Mandarin Oriental condominium building.

It will rise on the north side of the 7-acre Via Mizner site on the northeast corner of Federal Highway and Camino Real. The middle building will be the 164-room Mandarin Oriental Hotel and the southernmost building is the completed 366-unit 101 Via Mizner luxury apartment building.

The hotel and condo towers are on tap to open in less than two years.

The project includes the existing Via Mizner Golf & City Club at 6200 Boca Del Mar Drive, which was  renovated and rebranded once it became part of Via Mizner. The golf course is being remade as a Jack Nicklaus course.

The Shoppes at Via Mizner retail segment will be on the ground floors of the three buildings.

“It will have an appearance of a unified shopping area. … Above the level of the shopping is where you get to use the hotel, condos and the apartments,” Langley said. “It's a true mixed-use project with interconnecting facilities, entry, access and amenities.”

Madison Realty Capital, a New York-based commercial real estate investment manager that focuses on debt and equity investment strategies, issued the loan.

The financing breaks down to a $10 million mezzanine loan and a $215 million construction loan.

Madison is new to the Via Mizner project, which created some of the challenges to closing the deal. It was like introducing a new player late in the game.

“There was a multiplicity of parties and interest, including protecting the existing apartment owners, the new hotel occupants and the condo unit owners,” Langley said.

“All of their interests are not necessarily aligned,” Rosetto added. “It made for the negotiations to be more complex and more interesting if you will. Now we had to have everybody play nicely in the sandbox.”

One issue the attorneys needed to smooth out was shared parking in the three buildings on land divided into three parcels. The attorneys had to work through the easement issues, Langley said. For instance, the hotel is entitled to a certain number of spots but needs more for events.

The previous loan in 2017 was issued in part by Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies, a New York-based real estate investor. Some of the funding came from EB-5 visa funds, the federal program that allows foreigners to obtain green cards for themselves and their families if they make a minimum investment in a job-creating U.S. enterprise.

The project carries the Mandarin Oriental brand, a Hong Kong-based hotel group that's a member of the Jardine Matheson Group, which distinguishes itself with unique designs reflecting the company's Asian roots.

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Greenberg Traurig Team Overcomes Hurdles to Secure $398M for Boca Raton Mixed-Use Project