A decade ago, when the Via Mizner project featuring the luxury Mandarin Oriental was first announced, it was said that the 2.3 million-square-foot complex would create an “urban oasis” in Boca Raton.
But the high-profile project has faced financial headaches, the latest being a December 2025 Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization filing for the unfinished hotel portion of the $1.5 billion project.
The hotel is part of Via Mizner, a three-tower project at the northeast corner of Federal Highway and Camino Real, in the heart of downtown Boca.
THE DETAILS: Owner of unfinished Mandarin hotel in Boca Raton files for Chapter 11
Since 2024, the 88-unit condo tower has been the subject of several Palm Beach County Circuit Court lawsuits from some pre-construction buyers fed up with the building’s delays. These buyers want their deposit money back on units costing millions of dollars each.
The Via Mizner entities are affiliated with Mark Gensheimer, the founder and president of Boca Raton-based Penn-Florida Companies, the project’s developer.
The unfinished Mandarin Oriental hotel in downtown Boca Raton. The hotel’s owner has filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.
In the past, Penn-Florida has blamed the condo’s construction delays on the COVID-19 pandemic and difficulties obtaining materials, even as several upscale condominiums nearby were announced and built.
The pandemic also is being blamed for delays in the hotel’s construction.
A 2022 report by The Palm Beach Post revealed another reason for the delay: a long-running lawsuit between the project’s partners that scared off lenders, according to court documents.
The unfinished Mandarin Oriental Residences condominium, left, and the hotel, right. The owner of the hotel property has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. The condo is expected to be completed in mid-2026. It’s not yet known when the hotel will be finished.
At one point in the litigation, a Gensheimer affiliate said the lawsuit had created doubts about his companies’ power over decision-making, finances and the “ability to raise capital to complete the Via Mizner project.”
The lawsuit, first filed in 2016, did not get resolved until 2023.
That same year, David Warne, Penn-Florida’s chief operating officer, said construction of the hotel and condo would wrap up by the end of 2023.
That didn’t happen. In July 2024, Albert Piazza, president of development for Penn-Florida, said the condo would be completed by the end of 2025, and the hotel a couple of months after that.
Rendering of the Via Mizner project in Boca, which will feature from left, the Mandarin Oriental residences and boutique hotel when completed. An apartment building, already built, is on the right.
Some pre-construction condo buyers are tired of waiting for their promised luxury Mandarin Oriental Residences.
Starting in mid-2024, a few began suing the developer to recoup deposits on units they said were supposed to be completed as far back as 2020.
The first Palm Beach County Circuit Court lawsuit was filed on July 8, 2024, by Michael and Elyse Filon, who sued the condo’s parent company, Via Mizner III LLC. The Highland Beach couple sought and ultimately received their $697,500 deposit on a $2.5 million unit.
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Other lawsuits by unhappy pre-construction buyers soon followed. But not all yielded the same result.
In 2024, three more lawsuits sought the return of deposits ranging from $1.3 million to $1.75 million, court records show.
Today there are eight pre-construction buyer lawsuits pending in Palm Beach County Circuit Court.
In an Aug. 2024 interview, Penn-Florida lawyer Robert Sweetapple said the company has a strong defense to assertions that the units’ closing date has come and gone.
More: Contractor lawsuits join condo buyer lawsuits on Mandarin Oriental in Boca Raton
More: Buyers sue to recoup Mandarin Oriental deposit on unfinished Boca Raton condo
Not only did the COVID pandemic cause delays, but the pandemic also created a shortage of critical materials, including concrete, Sweetapple said. In addition, a March 2020 COVID order by Gov. Ron DeSantis also resulted in delays, he said.
All these elements are part of the buyers’ contracts, Sweetapple said, “and we’ll sit down with each one of them and go over the facts and the law.”
Separately, the 101 Via Mizner apartment building recently resolved its own financial troubles.
In January, the property’s parent, Via Mizner Owner I LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. The filing staved off an effort by an affiliate of Blackstone, which had a $195 million mortgage, to seize the property’s equity.
Earlier this year, the property was recapitalized when it was sold to a group that includes real estate investor Grant Cardone.
Shraiberg, who also handled this filing, said all creditors were paid.
Alexandra Clough covers Business and Real Estate for The Palm Beach Post. She can be reached at aclough@pbpost.com
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Boca’s Via Mizner has been beset by delays, lawsuits, now a Chapter 11
