From left, Bilzin Sumberg partner Carter McDowell and senior counsel Jon Chassen in Miami. Courtesy photos

Starwood Capital Group secured a $76 million construction loan for its new Miami Beach headquarters after its attorneys overcame deal hurdles posed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Starwood Capital, led by billionaire co-founder Barry Sternlicht, plans to move into a 144,000-square-foot, six-story office building on an acre at 2340 Collins Ave.

The investment company has been based in South Beach since 2018 when it moved to 1602 Washington Ave. from Greenwich, Connecticut.

The new Gensler-designed building will have 136,000 square feet of office space, 8,000 square feet of ground floor retail, including restaurants, and more than 300 parking places. Construction is underway.

Starwood Capital secured the financing from Citizens Bank NA in New York on March 31.

Bilzin Sumberg senior counsel Jon Chassen in Miami secured the loan on behalf of Starwood.

He worked remotely for at least part of the deal after COVID-19 prompted social distancing mandates. Records were submitted digitally to the Miami-Dade clerk's office, the closing agent and title company First American, Chassen said.

"We ended up having weekly and then near-daily all-hands calls once the coronavirus took hold and most businesses shifted to working remotely," he added. "There was some concern about execution, delivery and recording of loan documents."

Bilzin's work on the project extended beyond the loan as Bilzin partner Carter McDowell and associate Carly Grimm, also in Miami, counseled Starwood through the development approval process.

Chassen also represented seller when the site changed hands in September 2018. Starwood paid $19.5 million for the property, according to Miami-Dade property records.

The Starwood move is an example of South Florida as a top relocation destination for financial firms from the Northeast. Another notable move was by publicly traded investment conglomerate Icahn Enterprises, founded and led by Carl Icahn, relocating to Sunny Isles Beach's new Milton Office Tower.

The region has failed to attract big corporations that will add thousands of employees. Financial service firms such as hedge funds bring a small number of staff members, typically in the hundreds.

Starwood's headquarters will have 300 employees. This is the first Class A office building to be built in Miami Beach for several years.

It's "a significant symbol of the domestic inbound investment we are seeing in South Florida," McDowell said in a news release. "Beyond creating a new corporate headquarters that will attract talent and new investment to Miami Beach, the project will create an economic boost and new amenities for residents and visitors."

Starwood, which has $60 billion of assets under management, has subsidiaries that focus on different types of investments. They include retail investment arm Starwood Retail Partners and publicly listed Starwood Real Estate Income Trust Inc.