CLIENT NEWS: Adam Neumann’s Flow nabs $51M loan for $71M El Portal site purchase, partners with Canada Global on mixed-use development
March 19, 2025Adam Neumann’s Flow nabbed a $51 million acquisition loan and is partnering with Canada Global for a planned mixed-use project on an El Portal development site.
New York-based Ladder Capital provided the mortgage to a Delaware entity with ties to Flow that paid $71.5 million for a 16-acre former trailer park at 8500 Biscayne Boulevard, records show.
Canada Global, an Israeli real estate firm led by Assaf Tuchmair and Barak Rosen, came on board as a majority partner shortly after Miami-based Flow won a January court auction for the vacant property, a source familiar with the joint venture told The Real Deal. In November, the two firms also partnered to purchase an Aventura office complex for $116.2 million.
On the El Portal site, the joint venture is planning to build 2,380-plus apartments with commercial space and a school, the source said. Approved for a 3 million-square-foot mixed-use project with 150 units per acre, a developer can build up to roughly 2,400 apartments.
The site, previously known as the Little Farm trailer park, has sat empty since 2016 when 45 residents settled a lawsuit with the village of El Portal and the previous ownership entity, led by Fu Jing “Leo” Wu. The Village and Wu’s entity agreed to pay the residents $8,000 each for relocation costs. Wu also managed an entity that owned a former federal immigration building at 7880 Biscayne Boulevard in Miami.
The trailer park site and the immigration building landed in court receivership as a result of a 2020 Miami-Dade civil lawsuit alleging Wu’s entities misappropriated funds from EB-5 visa investors. The federal program grants permanent residency to foreign investors who finance business and real estate development projects in the U.S., as well as their immediate family members.
In 2023, receiver Michael Goldberg entered into a settlement agreement with Wu that allowed the sale of the properties to move forward without Wu’s objections. Upon both deals closing, Wu will receive $5 million from the sale proceeds. In 2023, Miami-based B Group Capital Management bought the immigration building for $23 million, but abandoned plans to also buy Little Farm.
In October, Miami-based Melo Group submitted a $35 million stalking horse bid for the 16-acre trailer park. During the court auction two months ago, Melo lost a bidding war to Flow by $400,000.
