A television recording studio near Doral is facing foreclosure

Cachita Universal Studios near Doral could begin its final filming season after a lender filed a foreclosure complaint against the owner of the television production facility.

Court records show a subsidiary of Miami-based Altamar Financial Group is suing Alain Piedra-Hernandez, president of HH Coffee Group, which owns the 81,765-square-foot building at 7355 Northwest 41st Street. The complaint filed last week in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court alleges that HH failed to repay a $4.8 million mortgage loan.

The lawsuit also names Cachita, the property’s anchor tenant who rents studio space and equipment for television production, as a defendant. Cachita School Principal Tony Cortes referred questions to Piedra-Hernandez, who did not respond to requests for comment.

Altamar and his attorney, Jennifer Hernandez, also did not respond to requests for comment.

Records show that in 2021, HH paid $9.6 million for the 2.6-acre industrial site. At that time, the company partially financed the purchase with a $4.8 million mortgage loan from Pacific National Bank.

According to a letter attached to the complaint, in January, Pacific National Bank notified HH of default after allegedly missing monthly payments in November, December and January totaling $132,432 and missing payments on an escrow account in the amount of $12,841.

In March, Altamar acquired the note, and HH continued to fail to make monthly payments, the lawsuit alleges.

It’s been a difficult year for some South Florida commercial property owners as the number of foreclosure proceedings increases. Recently, a subsidiary of Minneapolis-based global investment firm Värde Partners filed a $77 million foreclosure lawsuit against Affinius Capital, the owner of Columbus Center, an office complex in Coral Gables.

In August, Värde subsidiary Trimont sued Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania-based Alliance HP for allegedly failing to repay a $59.2 million mortgage loan secured by One Financial Plaza, a 28-story office tower in Fort Lauderdale. The pending foreclosure complaint was filed in Broward County Circuit Court.

That same month, lender Tig Romspen won a final summary judgment against entities managed by Miami developer Caroline Weiss that own a 7-acre complex in Miami’s Blue Lagoon district. Court records show the foreclosure auction scheduled for October 8 has been canceled. Tig Romspen alleges that Weiss’ entities failed to repay $13.1 million in mortgage debt, which rose to $17.9 million after accrued interest, unpaid property taxes and other fees. Also in August, Coconut Grove, Miami-based CGI Merchant, led by founder and CEO Raoul Thomas, lost the 129-key Gabriel Miami Downtown hotel in a foreclosure auction conducted by UCC. CGI allegedly defaulted on a $60.4 million loan from New York-based Madison Realty Capital.