The construction site of the distressed Mercedes-Benz Places condo project has been stalled for more than a year now. Crews were entering vertical construction after multiple basement floors had been completed, before work abruptly stopped early last year and left the supersized development frozen in place.
The stoppage has opened JDS to a suite of new problems, including foreclosure proceedings, but the developer has spent the past several months working on a way out. New financing and a joint development partner could give the project the capital and backing needed to restart, potentially putting an end to a difficult chapter for one of Miami’s most ambitious developments. Just recently, that deal appears to be finally coming together, bringing the project closer to a construction restart than it has been in more than a year.
The first inklings of such a deal emerged this summer, when The Real Deal reported that JDS was looking to bring Fontainebleau Development into the project as a partner while securing more than $1 billion in financing for the distressed site. The new capital would replenish the project’s depleted financing while also resolving litigation with the existing lender, clearing two of the biggest obstacles standing in the way of a restart.
J.P. Morgan would lead the $1.11 billion financing package, providing an $860 million construction loan, while Nuveen Green Capital would finance the remaining $250 million through C-PACE financing. According to new reporting by Commercial Observer, term sheets have now been signed, with the deal expected to close by the end of the year. If it closes as planned, the financing could allow construction to resume before 2027.
J.P. Morgan would reportedly be collateralized by the entire Mercedes-Benz Places project, which is valued at approximately $2 billion upon completion. Nuveen, meanwhile, would be collateralized by the commercial component alone, giving the lenders separate positions across the project’s residential and commercial uses.
Once completed, now expected in 2029, Mercedes-Benz Places would include 850 residential units, 791 of which would be branded Mercedes-Benz condominiums. The development would also feature 200 luxury hotel rooms, 881 parking spaces, 139,032 square feet of wellness and restaurant space, and 153,211 square feet of office space. The project received full approval from Miami-Dade County in mid-2025, meaning the development is not waiting on a major new entitlement to move forward.
The project’s scale also extends beyond its private components. As part of its approved program, the development is required to construct a new fire station on the ground floor, as well as restore and redesign Southside Park. Additional public benefits include payments toward a dedicated fund, adding a substantial civic component to the project’s already extensive program.
Designed by SHoP Architects, the tower would rise 64 floors and reach 764 feet. Its stacked and offset volumes give the building a distinctive silhouette, drawing some visual comparisons to the nearby Waldorf Astoria, which uses a similar stacked-box approach on a much larger scale.
For more than a year, all of that has existed largely on paper and behind construction fencing. Now, with term sheets signed, more than $1 billion in financing lined up, and Fontainebleau poised to join JDS, Mercedes-Benz Places may finally be approaching the moment when the long-stalled development begins rising again.