Pacaso Launches Innovative Luxury Second Home Co-Ownership Platform in Miami and Fort Lauderdale

Pacaso, the leading real estate platform that helps people buy and co-own a luxury second home, today announced its expansion to Miami and Fort Lauderdale. With this launch, Pacaso's modern, tech-focused approach to co-ownership is now available to aspiring second home buyers in South Florida.

"Pacaso buyer demand for homes in Miami and Fort Lauderdale has been incredibly strong, and it's clear that our model, which helps to create new inventory in a tight market, is an ideal fit for South Florida," said Pacaso CEO and Co-founder Austin Allison. "South Florida boasts some of the nation's most epic waterfront homes with top amenities. It's no surprise that this is one of the hottest second home destinations in the country. We've been doubling down on local hiring, and I couldn't be more excited about the South Florida team we've built. We're also thrilled to be part of this community and to work with local businesses and service providers."

"Pacaso provides a truly innovative approach to second home ownership," said Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. "Pacaso owners invest in the community for the long-term. And I appreciate how Pacaso helps make more efficient use of homes. As Miami continues to attract tech talent and investment from around the world, along with demand for new housing options, I'm pleased to see innovative companies like Pacaso look to Miami as an early expansion market."

Josh Dotoli, a Pacaso partner agent in South Florida, is a founding Compass broker in Fort Lauderdale and leads one of the top-producing sales teams in the Southeast Region. A luxury real estate expert and advisor, Dotoli has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Bloomberg as well as local news outlets.

"Pacaso is going to change the game in South Florida," said Dotoli. "We work with a lot of buyers who want to be able to buy property in the area, but whether they are priced out or dealing with limited inventory, many have traditionally not been able to enter into this very competitive market. With Pacaso, they can do so. I'm so pleased to be able to offer this new model of co-ownership to buyers in the region."

Pacaso partners with all real estate agents and brokerages. Real estate agents representing buyers who purchase a share of a Pacaso home receive a 3% commission in addition to 500 RSUs of Pacaso stock as a referral equity bonus. Agents in Miami and Fort Lauderdale who are interested in working with Pacaso can learn more on the company's website.

Pacaso now has listings in South Florida, including this striking modern waterfront home in the tree-lined Fairhaven neighborhood of Miami, and this sleek Fort Lauderdale listing with its own private dock and lush courtyard just minutes away from Las Olas shopping and dining.

To support its revenue and market expansion, Pacaso has hired a seasoned team of industry leaders including Sara Anissipour as Vice President of Sales. In her current role, Anissipour is responsible for driving revenue growth and overseeing the Pacaso sales organization. As a distinguished business leader with more than 15 years of experience, Anissipour has a proven track record of growing and leading highly successful sales organizations. Previously, she built and led the Enterprise Sales and Partnerships business units at Zillow Group and oversaw the US New Business Ad Sales organization at Google.

"I'd previously worked with many of my current team members prior to joining Pacaso and jumped at the opportunity to collaborate with them again," said Anissipour. "The opportunity to build a foundation for our sales organization that will help the company continue to scale both across the U.S. and internationally was incredibly exciting to me. Building and growing this team in the early stages of Pacaso's expansion has already been nothing short of successful, and we're excited to expand our sales organization quickly."

Earlier this week Pacaso announced $125M in Series C funding led by SoftBank, bringing the company's total valuation to $1.5 billion and total equity funding to more than $215 million. Additional funding was provided by Fifth Wall and Gaingels. Pacaso's permanently distributed workforce of more than 120 employees spanning 20 states has increased 364% since January 2021. Additionally, the company announced that it will commence European expansion in Spain by the end of the year. Pacaso is actively recruiting a dedicated local team to support global efforts, and plans to expand swiftly into other European markets.

Pacaso® (pronounced like "Picasso") modernizes the decades-old practice of co-ownership by creating a marketplace that makes buying, owning, and selling a luxury second home easy. From curating the best listings in top second home markets to offering integrated financing and sales from as little as ⅛ to as much as ½ ownership; upscale interior design; and professional property management, Pacaso provides owners with all the benefits of owning a second home with less hassle. After purchase, Pacaso manages the home on an ongoing basis and supports a frictionless resale process in partnership with a licensed real estate professional.

Pacaso was co-founded by former Zillow executives Austin Allison and Spencer Rascoff.

Images via Pacaso

WeWork Leaves Lincoln Road Location As Landlord Seeks $19.5 Million In Unpaid Rent

WeWork’s trouble’s due to COVID-19 continue as the landlord of their 350 Lincoln Road location has sued the co-working giant in Miami-Dade Circuit Court. SML 350 Lincoln Inc., an entity controlled by Shaul Levy and Meir Levy, alleges that WeWork breached their lease by failure to pay rent in April, May and June while occupying the 40,000 square foot space and now owes in-excess of $19.5 million in back-rent and legal fees. WeWork said in a statement that the lawsuit is without merit and will continue to work with the landlord to resolve the situation in a mutually beneficial fashion. WeWork’s 16-year lease at 350 Lincoln Road began in November 2014 and runs through October 2030.

WeWork will close the Lincoln Road location on August 14 and has also moved to consolidate its Miami Beach members to 429 Lenox Avenue. Last month we reported that Goddard Investment Group has moved to evict WeWork from the Lenox Avenue location, but the two parties were reportedly able to resolve their differences.

WeWork, which is now led by CEO Sandeep Mathrani, still has locations in Downtown Miami, Brickell and Coral Gables. Times have not been good to WeWork following its failed IPO in 2019. The coworking giant recently announced that it will being closing its first location to ever open in New York City and saw its valuation slashed from over $47 billion to $2.9 billion.

In May 2020, a group of WeWork’s members moved toward suing the co-working giant demanding that WeWork cease collecting rental fees. Many tenants had already requested rent relief, cancelled their leases or stopped paying, which put over $5.5 billion of CMBS loans backed by WeWork occupied properties at risk. Some of the CMBS loans back WeWork flagship locations in New York and San Francisco. WeWork has retained Newmark Knight Frank and JLL to try to renegotiate leases and negotiate concessions from landlords at some of their properties as the firm try to stave off a potential bankruptcy.

WeWork’s problems do not end there. Former CEO and co-founder Adam Neumann is reportedly under investigation for self-dealing by the New York State Attorney General. In addition, the Tokyo-based SoftBank led by Masayoshi Son and a special committee of WeWork board members have been locked in a legal battle after Softbank walked away from a $3 billion tender offer in April 2020 which was part of the $9.5 billion bailout package SoftBank signed with WeWork following WeWork’s failed IPO.

Goddard Investment Group Moves To Evict WeWork From South of Fifth Location

WeWork’s landlord at 429 Lenox Avenue, Goddard Investment Group, has moved to evict WeWork from their South of Fifth location at 429 Lenox Avenue in South Beach. The 43,500 SF building is fully leased by WeWork who skipped out on rent payments for April, May and June. An eviction notice reportedly alleges WeWork behind in excess of $650,000 in unpaid rent which must be paid by today or WeWork must vacate the property (July 7, 2020). WeWork first opened the South of Fifth location in early 2016 and is committed to the NNN lease until 2031. Goddard Investment Group financed 429 Lenox Ave. with a $23 million floating-rate loan issued by Granite Point Mortgage Trust, Inc. In Miami WeWork has other locations at 350 Lincoln Road, Brickell, Downtown Miami and Coral Gables.

Times have not been good to WeWork following its failed IPO in 2019. The coworking giant recently announced that it will being closing its first location to ever open in New York City and saw its valuation slashed from over $47 billion to $2.9 billion.

In May 2020, a group of WeWork’s members moved toward suing the co-working giant demanding that WeWork cease collecting rental fees. Many tenants had already requested rent relief, cancelled their leases or stopped paying, which put over $5.5 billion of CMBS loans backed by WeWork occupied properties at risk. Some of the CMBS loans back WeWork flagship locations in New York and San Francisco. WeWork has retained Newmark Knight Frank and JLL to try to renegotiate leases and negotiate concessions from landlords at some of their properties as the firm try to stave off a potential bankruptcy.

WeWork’s problems do not end there. Former CEO and co-founder Adam Neumann is reportedly under investigation for self-dealing by the New York State Attorney General. In addition, the Tokyo-based SoftBank led by Masayoshi Son and a special committee of WeWork board members have been locked in a legal battle after Softbank walked away from a $3 billion tender offer in April 2020 which was part of the $9.5 billion bailout package SoftBank signed with WeWork following WeWork’s failed IPO.

WeWork Lawsuit-Threat By Tenants Requesting Rent Relief Sends Shudders Through $5.5 Billion Of CMBS Debt

A group of WeWork’s members have moved toward suing the co-working giant in a letter sent by Walden Macht & Haran demanding that WeWork cease collecting rental fees. Many tenants have already requested rent relief, cancellation of their leases or stopped paying, which has put over $5.5 billion of CMBS loans backed by WeWork occupied properties at risk. Some of the CMBS loans back WeWork flagship locations in New York and San Francisco. WeWork, who was previously valued at $47 billion before dropping to a pre-covid valuation of $8 billion, has been working to renegotiate leases and has even skipped out to rent at some of their properties. This has in turn caused the price of bonds backed by payments from WeWork to fall drastically.

WeWork has made an effort to keep their locations open during the COVID-19 pandemic, but many of their tenants have expressed that they think WeWork should have shut their locations. Should WeWork not, Jim Walden of Walden Macht & Haran, threatened to start an arbitration process for WeWork members if the company continues to collect the fees in his letter to the company.

“State and local authorities around the country have directed businesses to cease operation and have prohibited workers, including our clients, from using their workplaces,” said Jim Walden. “As long as this pandemic prohibits our clients from using their WeWork office spaces, the purpose of their membership agreements is frustrated, thus excusing their obligation to pay membership fees.”

Tenants have accused WeWork of turning their backs on small business by continuing to collect fees. Due to WeWork’s short term lease model, the co-working giant is more at risk than the standard office landlord as many of WeWork’s tenants have elected not to renew and can be more flexible about actually going to an office as opposed to working from home. Many of WeWork’s tenants do not want to take the risk of going to their WeWork office location during the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic with 1.37 million confirmed cases in the US. Walden claims that the way the leases are structured are closer to that of gym memberships as opposed to true office leases, meaning that under New York law members are not liable for payments if they cannot physically access the space.

“Our clients have no legal obligation to pay their membership fees while the purpose of their membership agreements remains frustrated by the COVD-19 pandemic,” Walden wrote. “Ignoring this fact, WeWork continues charging these members full monthly fees and refuses to offer concessions or compromise.”

WeWork’s problems do not end there. Former CEO and co-founder Adam Neumann is reportedly under investigation for self-dealing by the New York State Attorney General. Additionally, one of WeWork’s major financial backers, the Tokyo-based SoftBank led by Masayoshi Son, walked away from a $3 billion tender offer in April 2020 which was part of the $9.5 billion bailout package SoftBank signed with WeWork in October 2019 following WeWork’s failed IPO. In May 2020 a special committee of WeWork board members filed a motion in Delaware to prevent SoftBank from disbanding the company as they purse legal action against the majority owner SoftBank Group Corp. WeWork’s special committee also represents minority shareholders including co-founder Adam Neumann. SoftBank and the SoftBank Vision Fund, which is a tech-focused venture capital fund with includes capital from the Saudi Arabian and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth funds, Apple, Qualcomm, Foxconn and Sharp, have invested $14.25 billion into WeWork.