Douglas Elliman is suing an affiliate of developer Ian Bruce Eichner’s firm for hiring two former Elliman agents to stay on the sales team for the Continuum-branded North Bay Village condo project.
The brokerage filed a lawsuit against 1755 JFK Owner LLC, Ruben Alvarez PA and Karla De La Torre in Miami-Dade Circuit Court in November. The lawsuit alleges that the developer violated the contract it had with Elliman after firing the brokerage by hiring Alvarez and De La Torre, who were both working on the project before.
The developer “agreed to refrain from hiring any member of [Douglas Elliman Florida’s] staff who participated in any way with the project, without obtaining written consent,” the lawsuit alleges. If that provision were to be breached, the developer would be on the hook for $200,000 per breach.
Elliman is seeking $400,000 in damages.
In April 2023, the developer hired Elliman’s development marketing arm to lead sales of the planned Continuum Club & Residences, a 32-story, 198-unit building at 1755 79th Street Causeway. Eichner’s firm and its partner, Aksoy Holding, launched sales at the end of 2023.
The Continuum Company terminated its contract with Elliman in October 2024 and launched Continuum Realty shortly after that to handle sales in-house.
The Continuum Company affiliate ended its contract with Elliman just over 18 months after it was executed, meaning Continuum was outside of a window that would have required it to pay Elliman the lesser of $200,000 or 1 percent of the value of all the unsold units, according to a copy of the contract included in the complaint.
“We are confident that both parties will reach a fair and amicable resolution in due course,” David Fischman, general counsel for the development firm, said in a statement.
The agents, De La Torre and Alvarez, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Elliman declined to comment.
The brokerage’s contract was terminated Oct. 16, a few days before Howard Lorber abruptly stepped down as chairman and CEO of Elliman on Oct 22, though the developer gave notice of the termination a month earlier. Lorber, who was reportedly pushed to resign early following an internal investigation into the company’s workplace culture, was replaced by board member Michael Liebowitz.
The contract also shows how much Elliman was earning. If the sales team handled both sides of a deal, the developer would pay the brokerage 4 percent. If an outside broker or an Elliman agent not working on the project was involved, Elliman would receive 2.5 percent.
The North Bay Village project marks the second Continuum-branded condo development for Eichner in South Florida, after completing the two-tower Continuum in Miami Beach more than two decades ago.
The developer paid $35 million for the 1.4-acre North Bay Village site in early 2023.
Last summer, Continuum Company expanded its holdings in the city with the $75 million acquisition of the popular Shuckers Waterfront Bar & Grill property and the adjacent Best Western in North Bay Village.