Developer of Condo on Surfside Collapse Site Plans Relaunch

Damac Properties, the Dubai developer that acquired the site of the deadly Surfside condo collapse, hasn’t sold a single unit at the planned project, The Real Deal has learned.

Damac, led by founder Hussain Sajwani, launched sales of the project in early 2025. The 12-story, 37-unit oceanfront building, called the Delmore, is expected to rise on the site of the former Champlain Towers South at 8777 Collins Avenue in Surfside.

Jeffrey Rossely, senior vice president of development at Damac, confirmed that no contracts have been signed at the project. Rossely said that the initial sales launch was likely rushed, and that the firm faced delays in completing the sales center.

“The initial soft launch we did in January 2025 was premature. We debated that with the sales team. We thought we would have the sales gallery finished in February [2025]. We also thought the market would pick up after the inauguration of the President,” Rossely said.

Damac paid $120 million for the 1.8-acre property in 2022, about a year after Champlain Towers South pancaked overnight, killing 98 people the previous summer.

Damac purchased the site as the sole bidder via a court-ordered auction of the property, with the proceeds of the sale allocated toward unit owners, including the families of victims who died in the collapse.

The sale and planned redevelopment of the property has been controversial, as many wanted the property to be turned into a memorial for the victims. Local developers and brokerages largely stayed away from the property because of the stigma associated with the tragedy.

Damac tapped Zaha Hadid Architects to design the luxury condo building and hired Douglas Elliman to lead sales and marketing. The sales team includes Tara West and Farid Moussalem. The units start at $15 million but average between $35 million and $40 million, with penthouses that could hit the market for more than $150 million, Rossely said.

Damac has been close to striking deals, but they’ve fallen through, Rossely said. That included issuing contracts to a buyer for more than $200 million worth of units. But there were “question marks over the source of the funding” and the developer decided to not proceed with that deal.

The most successful new luxury development in Surfside in recent years is Fort Partners’ Four Seasons-branded condo and hotel project at the Surf Club, where a penthouse sold last summer for more than $6,700 per square foot.

Rossely also acknowledged that Damac doesn’t have a track record of developing ultra luxury condos in the U.S. “There’s a degree of reasonable skepticism so we needed to prove this was going to happen,” Rossely said.

Sajwani, who is worth more than $15 billion, according to Forbes, has developed tens of thousands of residential units, mostly in the Middle East and London. Sajwani has also been referred to as the “Donald Trump of Dubai.”

Sources told TRD that Damac is in talks to joint venture with another developer on the Delmore.

“A number of parties have approached us, and we are having discussions to see whether we go down that route but under no circumstances would we be leaving the project,” Rossely said.

The developer is resubmitting its master building permit and working on securing insurance and a general contractor to move the project forward. It plans to relaunch sales toward the end of this year, Rossely said.