"This case could be a cautionary tale for all other prospective developers that really need to look at the documents to see whether they are permitted to do what they are trying to do," Glen H. Waldman, a partner at Armstrong Teasdale, alleged in an interview.

  • Eight-unit owners are standing firm against Biscayne 21 and a developer that intends to construct three waterside opulent towers in Edgewater, a Miami-Dade County neighborhood.
  • The unit owners alleged the defendants made a power play to amend the condo declaration, but failed to comply with a 1974 version of a Florida law in effect since the condo’s inception.
  • The defendants pushed back, arguing that a relevant agency blessed the plan and thereby satisfied the legal requirement under the statute.

The owners of eight condo units in Miami sued two companies, whose investors are identified as largely international speculators, under a Sunshine State statute, in a lawsuit “unlike any condominium termination case yet litigated in the Florida courts,” according to their Am Law 200 firm attorney.

And Glen H. Waldman, an Armstrong Teasdale partner in Coral Gables who represents the 10 plaintiffs who own eight units at Biscayne 21 Condominium Inc., a defendant, said, “South Florida is ground zero for these disputes because developers have run out of developable land that is not occupied.”

The plaintiffs alleged that the international speculators “bullied, deceived and pressured other unit owners to sell their respective units to developer TRD Biscayne LLC,” a second defendant, and have asserted they played a role in amending the condominium’s declaration in the process.

But in doing so, the defendants failed to abide by the 1974 version of Florida’s Condominium Act, Chapter 711, Fla. Statutes, Waldman claimed.

“These developers have set their sights on older condominium buildings with some momentum because of what happened with the Champlain Towers,” Waldman alleged. “They’re saying, ‘That’s a great site. If I could take over that building, I could build a billion-dollar project, make half a billion dollars, and laugh my way to the bank.’ It’s the natural progression of things here.”

Biscayne 21 Condominium in Edgewater.


Meanwhile, a TRE spokesperson said in a statement that plans for the Edition Residences in Miami are moving forward, following “the successful termination of the Biscayne 21 condominium,” after months in which they worked closely with residents and the condominium association to facilitate a termination plan.

The spokesperson said that the Florida Division of Condominiums, Timeshares and Mobile Homes blessed the plan, “thereby satisfying the requirements outlined in Florida State Statute.” TRE has proposed that the three towers, two at 56 stories and one at 55 stories, will stand at the maximum height permitted by local aviation rules, 649 feet above sea level.
  

“Ultimately, 95% of the building’s unit owners accepted our purchase offer, which represented a significant premium on the per-unit value,” the spokesperson added. “TRD Biscayne LLC is now the sole owner of the property. The Edition Residences will be a one-of-a-kind development and we look forward to unveiling more details about our plans in the months ahead.”

Now, the six-count complaint, seeking declaratory judgment and injunctive relief, will go before Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey.

The dispute is centered around Biscayne 21, which is a 13-story residential condo with 192 units located on approximately 3.5 acres in the Edgewater neighborhood of Miami-Dade County. Biscayne 21 sits along the water with unobstructed panoramas of Biscayne Bay, Miami Beach and aquatic life, such as manatees and dolphins, according to the lawsuit.


The plaintiffs noted in the lawsuit that following the collapse two years ago of the Champlain Towers South building in Surfside, engineers determined in various reports to the Building Department of the City of Miami that the condo was “in good condition” and that it had “decades of useful life ahead of it.”

Two Roads Development three luxury towers with 750 units that would replace the Biscayne 21 Condominium building in Edgewater.


Yet, the plaintiffs claimed in court documents that TRE gained control of the association with a four-part plan: First, terminate the condo form of ownership; second, evict any dissenters; third, demolish the building; and fourth, redevelop the waterfront site into massive ultra-luxury condos, including “branded residences” using the “Edition” marque of Marriott International, with a “sell-out value of approximately $1.5 [billion to] $2.5 billion.”

To achieve those ends, TRD is alleged in the lawsuit to have amended the Biscayne 21 declaration to allow termination, without unanimous consent. The plaintiffs have argued that despite TRD’s best efforts, the new provisions are still inconsistent with the 1974 version of Florida’s Condominium Act, in effect since Biscayne 21′s inception.

But after the defendants moved forward by submitting the plan of termination to the relevant agencies, the plaintiffs alleged that they timely contested the plan administratively and still faced threats of imminent eviction, leading to the unit-owners filing the lawsuit.

Waldman said: “This case could be a cautionary tale for all other prospective developers that really need to look at the documents to see whether they are permitted to do what they are trying to do.”


CLICK HERE TO READ THE COMPLAINT