A Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge ruled on April 3 that Adler Group must pay $1.2 million to Incitatus Real Estate after a dispute over an unpaid finder’s fee related to a downtown Miami apartment development.
The judgment comes after Incitatus alleged it was not paid for introducing equity partner CrossHarbor Capital Partners to Adler for the Modera Riverside project, a 36-story tower completed last year with 345 apartments and ground-floor retail. The final sum includes accrued interest, attorneys’ fees, and costs.
Judge Lisa Walsh found that Adler failed to pay Incitatus $913,802, which represented 1.5 percent of the equity capital obtained from Boston-based CrossHarbor in 2021. “We are evaluating our options and are likely to appeal,” said Alejandro Miyar, a partner with Berger Singerman representing Adler.
According to the lawsuit filed by Incitatus, the brokerage signed a finance placing agreement in 2020 with Adler’s development entity at the site located at 230 Southwest Third Street and 300 Southwest Second Avenue. The agreement retained Incitatus as a finder responsible for sourcing debt and equity for both current and future phases of the project.
Incitatus claimed it fulfilled its obligations by introducing CrossHarbor to Adler, organizing calls between parties, circulating materials, securing a non-disclosure agreement, and helping sustain negotiations over several months. When initial funding was delivered following a jointly executed financing agreement—terms that triggered payment under their contract—Incitatus invoiced Adler first for $855,000 before updating its claim based on final figures.
The case also involved questions about whether Incitatus’s role was as a finder or as part of real estate brokerage activities—a distinction highlighted because another firm had already been paid $250,000 in commission for handling the sale itself. The lawsuit further accused Adler of acting in bad faith by attempting to terminate their agreement after the fee dispute began and calling Incitatus’s invoice false.
David Adler acknowledged in court documents that “Incitatus had ‘brought the equity'” while confirming CrossHarbor held a majority stake alongside smaller interests from Mill Creek Residential and Adler itself. As next steps unfold—including possible appeals—the ruling underscores ongoing complexities around compensation agreements in major real estate deals.
