Hyde Midtown condo association alleges construction defects galore

The Hyde-branded condo-hotel at Midtown Miami is plagued by a litany of construction defects, according to a recently filed Miami-Dade civil lawsuit.

The Hyde Midtown Condominium Association last week sued the 31-story high-rise’s development entity PRH Midtown 3, Fort Lauderdale-based general contractor Moss & Associates, Miami-based design firm Arquitectonica and more than a dozen subcontractors.

Completed in 2018, the 411-unit condominium and 60-room hotel were developed by a joint venture involving Coconut Grove-based Related Group, led by the firm’s chairman, Jorge Pérez; and Sunny Isles Beach-based Dezer Development, led by the company’s president, Gil Dezer.

Phillip Joseph, the attorney for the Hyde Midtown condo association, and spokespeople for the developers, Moss and Arquitectonica did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

The lawsuit does not cite the hotel component. In 2018, Related and Dezer sold Hyde Midtown’s hotel for $21.8 million to an entity led by Haim Yehezkel, who heads Elysee Investments, a commercial investment firm in Miami Beach and New York.

In its suit, Hyde Midtown’s condo association alleges shoddy construction work throughout the building. For instance, improper installation of materials on the roof is causing water to seep down several levels, and the balcony railings for some condo units were improperly installed, the lawsuit alleges. The complaint lists 163 alleged defects. 

The condo association became aware of the defects only after the developers turned the building’s maintenance over to the association, and after the condo board hired expert consultants to perform inspections, the lawsuit states. 

The Related-Dezer joint venture built Hyde Midtown with a $114.7 million construction loan from New York-based lending firm Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies. 

Related is one of the most active condo and multifamily developers in South Florida. In January, the firm and its partners, Two Roads Development and Rockpoint, launched sales for Rivage, a planned 24-story, 61-unit luxury condominium in Bal Harbour. The same month, Related joined Tate Capital and Rok Enterprises to co-develop the Bahia Mar mixed-use project in Fort Lauderdale. 

And this month, Related and Aventura-based BH Group submitted a site plan application to build a 38-story condominium with 350 units, and a 43-story condo-hotel with 500 units adjacent to the Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood.

Meanwhile, Dezer is currently developing the world’s first Bentley-branded luxury condominium in Sunny Isles Beach.