Take two: Mast sends out new offers for Miami Beach condo building tied up in litigation

Camilo Miguel Jr. is making another attempt at the buyout of an oceanfront condo building in Miami Beach that’s tangled in litigation, more than two and a half years after the developer first approached unit owners. 

An affiliate of Miguel’s firm, Coconut Grove-based Mast Capital, sent offers to a group of 28 owners to sell their units at Amethyst, an 11-story, 120-unit condominium at 5313 Collins Avenue. 

Mast is offering $750,000 per unit, sources told The Real Deal. The new contracts show Mast would close by mid-December of this year. It’s unclear whether the sellers will accept the terms of the contract or the price. 

Mast terminated an earlier agreement with the 28 owners late last year. The developer originally acquired the contracts from Canero Group. Those contracts were contingent on each other closing, meaning if Mast acquired one, it had to acquire all. That provision remains in effect for two years after the cancellation. 

Without that group, Mast can’t control 80 percent of the building, which is the minimum required for Mast to take over the property and redevelop it. 

Property records show the developer has closed on eight units so far. The most recent closing was in late June.  

Mast said in a statement that it is “working in good faith” with Amethyst unit owners and it expects to close on the remaining units by the end of the year. Unit owner Lucia Delgado said in a statement sent by a spokesperson for the developer that it is in the owners’ best interest to sell. A large assessment is coming up, she said.

Some owners at Amethyst have grown frustrated by the delays and lack of communication with Mast Capital, which was originally expected to close on the units last year. In July, a pair of sellers outside of the 28 sued the developer, alleging breach of contract and seeking declaratory relief over the enforceability of the contract and the language Mast used. The couple, Clifford and Maria Greenhouse, entered into a contract in April 2022 to sell their unit on the second floor for $650,0000, and have yet to close. 

Days after the Greenhouses sued, the condo association filed its own lawsuit against Mast over the deal. About the same time, David Martin’s Terra sent offers to unit owners of the building, saying the sales would close by the end of 2024. Martin is still interested in the deal, according to the company.

Mario Borda, the broker working with Mast Capital, said in a statement that Terra’s offer  “delayed our negotiations with other owners and confused owners who are under contract with Mast Capital.” 

Mast has or had signed contracts with 85 sellers — not including the 28 — according to a memo of understanding attached to the condo association’s complaint. That would give it just over 70 percent of the building. Mast’s offers range from $350,000 to $850,000. 

Mast’s partners on the deal to acquire and redevelop Amethyst are unknown. 

The firm is working with Barry Sternlicht’s Starwood Capital Group to develop The Perigon next door to Amethyst. The property is home to the La Costa condominium, and Mast acquired nearly 90 percent of the units at that building starting in 2021. This year, Mast was the winning bidder in the partition sale for the remaining ownership in the building, court records show. La Costa, which the city of Miami Beach declared unsafe following the deadly Surfside condo collapse in 2021, is still standing. 

Condo buyouts are notoriously difficult to complete, but developers continue to make offers despite challenging market conditions. 

Two years ago, Related Group and 13th Floor Investments bought out the Carlton Terrace property in Bal Harbour. Other developers had attempted the same buyout before, including Vlad Doronin, Bruce Eichner and One Thousand Museum developer Louis Birdman. Related and 13th Floor are now preselling Rivage Bal Harbour, a luxury condo building planned for the oceanfront site.  

Read more

South Florida

South Florida's condo buyout bonanza