Ugo Colombo Completes Vita at Grove Isle Condo Project

Ugo Colombo’s firm brought Vita at Grove Isle to life, despite a decade of nearby property owners raising hell over the seven-story ultra-luxury condo building in Miami’s Biscayne Bay.

CMC Group delivered the 65-unit project recently with 85 percent of units presold, according to a news release. Ten units are left for sale, ranging from $6.5 million to a penthouse asking $22 million.

Cervera Real Estate and CMC Real Estate leading sales and marketing of the project.

A CMC affiliate secured $239 million in financing from Bank OZK two years ago. The completion is a clincher in a 10-year legal battle that’s still playing out in court.

Nearby residents re-filed a lawsuit against the city of Miami in January, when the project was well under construction, claiming the development is illegal because the city improperly granted development permits without required land platting on the private island.

A previous developer demolished a residents’ club with a hotel, restaurant, pool and tennis courts to build the condominium, and the lawsuit claimed homeowners were stripped of their use of the club, which they were required to join. Settlements related to that claim in 2020 helped the developer move forward.

CMC rebuilt the club as Grove Isle Racquet & Yacht Club, offering tennis, a fitness center and spa, poolside bar and lounge, and La Sponda, a restaurant from Gioia Hospitality Group, opening next year.

The third complaint from neighbors was that the development pushes the number of residential units on Grove Isle to 589, exceeding the 575-unit cap established in a 1977 covenant signed by the island’s original developers, the lawsuit claimed.

Loss of some unobstructed bay views and fear of property value loss for Grove Isle homeowners are at the heart of the backlash. David Winker, attorney for the homeowners, told Coconut Grove Spotlight in February that the project lacks “setbacks or other elements that would come along with platting.”

However, Coconut Grove home prices are going nowhere but up, while ultra-luxury real estate doesn’t always retain its values in the flyover states.

The development is the only luxury condo building delivered in Coconut Grove this year, according to the release. The homes are attracting domestic buyers, including residents of nearby estate homes who are downsizing to low-maintenance properties, the release said.

The project’s large floorplans and finishouts chosen under the eye of Colombo himself are among the selling points, the release said.

Colombo’s condo development work started in the early 1990s with Bristol Tower and Santa Maria in Brickell. His firm is known for projects including Porto Vita, Grovenor House, Epic Hotel & Residences and Brickell Flatiron.

The firm only develops two projects at a time, and the next one is the nearby Four Seasons Private Residences Coconut Grove, in partnership with Fort Partners.