Edgardo Defortuna lands $43 million backer for 77-story Brickell condo

Miami developer Edgardo Defortuna has found an equity partner for his biggest Brickell bet. Romanian developer One United Properties has invested $43 million in ORA by Casa Tua, the 77-story, 533-unit condominium tower that Defortuna's Fortune International Group plans at 1210 Brickell Avenue, Commercial Observer reported on Tuesday. Construction is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2027.

The deal matters because it moves a long-marketed tower closer to shovels. Fortune launched condo sales three years ago and bought the 1-acre site, across the street from its own headquarters near Southeast 13th Street, for $30 million in 2024. Since 2025 the firm has also been raising money through the EB-5 program, which offers U.S. residency to foreign investors. A representative for the developer did not disclose current sales figures, so the equity check is the clearest public sign of outside confidence in the project.

The partner is an unusual one for Miami. One United Properties was founded in 2007 and went public on the Bucharest Stock Exchange in 2021, and it has a market capitalization of about $780 million, according to Commercial Observer. Its U.S. managing partner, David Flusberg, said the firm spent months analyzing deals before choosing ORA for its location, approved plans and presales. "ORA stood out for its prime Brickell location, approved development plans, strong pre-sales and world-class partners," he said in a statement.

The tower is also a first for its brand. ORA is the first branded residential project for Casa Tua, the Italian hospitality concept founded by married couple Micky and Leticia Grendene, and its units will be delivered fully furnished. Branded condos have become a favorite tool for South Florida developers trying to command premium prices, and Defortuna has leaned into the model across several projects.

The equity investment caps an unusually busy stretch for Fortune. Less than two weeks ago, Fortune and partner KAR Properties closed an $817 million construction loan from Adi Chugh's Tyko Capital for Faena Residences Miami, a pair of 68-story towers on the Miami River with 217 units each, Commercial Observer reported. It was the largest construction loan in Florida's history, topping Stephen Ross's $772 million loan for two West Palm Beach office buildings. Fortune also secured a $463 million loan to finish the St. Regis Residences in Sunny Isles Beach and a $220 million predevelopment loan for a waterfront project on Key Biscayne.

The Faena project shows what lenders want to see before they write big checks. It had generated more than $500 million in sales, including a $30 million penthouse, and is expected to be completed in early 2030, Multi-Housing News reported. Defortuna bought into that Downtown Miami site in 2022 for $58.8 million, after KAR's earlier condo plan there never started construction. A $38 million Bank OZK loan in 2023 covered marketing and site work, and the towers are the first standalone condo project for Faena, the hotel brand founded by Alan Faena and billionaire Len Blavatnik in 2000. The loan "demonstrates the depth of confidence in the project and the continued global appetite for best-in-class real estate in Miami," Defortuna said at the time.

That appetite is the thread running through Fortune's recent deals. Despite higher interest rates, lenders are still funneling large construction loans to luxury condo projects in South Florida, typically after strong presales, Commercial Observer reported. Foreign money is a big part of the story, from EB-5 investors to a Romanian developer taking its first stake in a Brickell tower.

South Florida's development boom is not limited to condos. Related Group recently lined up financing to build apartments on the former Office Depot headquarters site in Boca Raton, as we reported this week. For Defortuna, the next milestone is the start of ORA's construction planned for early 2027, and whether the presales that won over One United hold up once the cranes arrive. Follow the deals in our Real Estate Sector.