Holding a Ritz-Carlton Residences, South Beach home in a trust or an entity: what to arrange first

The Ritz-Carlton Residences, South Beach is a 30-residence pre-construction project at 1671 Collins Avenue in South Beach, with delivery planned for 2027. Many of its buyers will hold title through a trust, an LLC, or another entity. The mechanics are straightforward, but the order matters: the structure is arranged before the purchase agreement is signed, the developer approves the named buyer, and counsel confirms the documents allow it. This guide lays out the sequence. Here is how it works; the desk connects you with the right professional for each step. This is information, not legal or tax advice.

The reasons are personal and vary: estate planning, privacy, liability structure, or the way a family holds assets across jurisdictions. At the level of this 30-residence oceanfront building, entity buyers are common enough that the process is routine. The sales team at Douglas Elliman Development Marketing has seen it before. Routine does not mean automatic. It means there is a known sequence, and the buyer follows it.

#### Step 1: Decide the structure with counsel, before you reserve

The trust or entity should exist, or be in formation with a clear timeline, before the buyer signs a purchase agreement. The purchase agreement names a buyer. If the named buyer later changes, that is an assignment, and assignments are governed by the developer's terms, which may include consent requirements and fees.

The clean path: counsel forms or confirms the entity, and the entity signs the purchase agreement as the buyer from day one. The expensive path: an individual signs, then asks to assign to an entity later, and discovers the developer's consent terms. Step one is a conversation with your own counsel, not with the sales team.

#### Step 2: Confirm the developer accepts entity buyers

Most South Florida developers accept entity and trust buyers as a matter of course, and the offering documents address it. The buyer confirms two things: that the developer will contract with the entity directly, and what identification and authorization the developer requires. Typically this means the entity's formation documents and a resolution or authorization showing who signs for it.

The desk's current file on the building tracks the developer's stated position. Counsel confirms it in the documents. If the developer requires the individual behind the entity to guarantee the purchase agreement personally, that is disclosed and negotiated at this stage, not at closing.

#### Step 3: Align the deposit and escrow mechanics

Pre-construction deposits are staged across the construction period and held by the developer's escrow agent. When the buyer is an entity, the deposits must come from the entity's accounts, with a clean paper trail from formation through funding. Counsel and the buyer's bank coordinate this.

The buyer also confirms the escrow agreement names the entity correctly and that the refund and default provisions apply to the entity as buyer. These are counsel questions, answered in the purchase agreement and escrow documents before signing.

#### Step 4: Plan for financing, if any

Many entity buyers pay cash. If the purchase will be financed, the lender's requirements come early, not late. Lenders underwrite entity borrowers differently from individual borrowers: they will want the entity's documents, the operating agreement or trust instrument, and often personal guarantees from the principals.

For a pre-construction purchase with delivery planned for 2027, financing is typically arranged closer to closing, but the structure decision happens now. A lender that will not lend to the entity is a fact the buyer wants in year one, not in the closing month. The buyer's mortgage broker or bank confirms the entity lending terms during diligence.

#### Step 5: Confirm closing mechanics with the title company

At closing, the title company insures title in the entity's name. The buyer confirms early that the title company will insure the entity, what affidavits or documents it requires, and how transfer taxes and recording are handled for an entity buyer. Florida documentary stamp taxes apply to the deed regardless of the buyer type; counsel confirms the treatment.

The FIRPTA question also belongs here for non-U.S. buyers. If the seller is a foreign person, withholding rules apply; if the buyer is a foreign entity, reporting and structuring questions apply. These are tax counsel questions, raised early, not closing-week surprises.

The condominium documents govern what the association needs to know about the owner. Some associations require disclosure of the individuals behind an entity owner. Some restrict leasing, which matters if the entity's purpose includes rental use. The buyer reads the declaration and rules with counsel before signing, with three questions: does the association require beneficial-owner disclosure, what are the leasing and guest rules, and are there any restrictions on entity ownership itself?

For this building specifically, the buyer also notes the brand license structure: the residences are not owned, developed, or sold by The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, and Sobe Sky Development, LLC uses the marks under license. Counsel confirms whether any of the licensed services or owner benefits carry owner-eligibility terms that touch the buying entity.

Delivery is planned for 2027, which gives the entity buyer something cash buyers of resale rarely get: time. Time to form the entity properly, fund it cleanly, align the deposit trail, and arrange financing terms without a 30-day closing clock. The buyer uses that time. The structure is finished long before the closing date approaches.

Entity purchase mechanics are largely the same across new developments, and the comparison buildings work the same way. The Shore Club Private Collection in South Beach and The Perigon in Mid-Beach both sell to trust and entity buyers through the same Florida condominium framework, with developer consent and document review as the gating steps. The differences are in each developer's specific assignment and consent terms, which is why counsel reads each project's documents separately.

The broader South Beach condo market is accustomed to entity buyers; no part of this process is unusual for the district. What is unusual is doing it out of order. The order is the whole discipline.

Verify with counsel that the entity or trust is formed and funded before the purchase agreement names it. Verify the developer accepts the entity as buyer and note any guarantee or consent terms. Verify the deposit trail will run through the entity's accounts. Verify financing terms for entity borrowers if financing is planned. Verify the association's disclosure, leasing, and guest rules in the declaration. And verify the title company's requirements for insuring the entity at closing. Structure first, signature second. Never the reverse.

The desk keeps the current file on The Ritz-Carlton Residences, South Beach: plans, pricing, and availability as the developer releases them. If you want the private file, ask.