The Pérez family’s Related Group and David Martin’s Terra are negotiating a condo buyout with owners at a waterfront building on Miami’s Brickell Key, signaling the next wave of redevelopment for the man-made island, The Real Deal has learned.
A buyout of the 134-unit building at 800 Claughton Island Drive would likely exceed $1 million per unit, with one source pegging the price closer to $1.5 million per unit, or roughly $200 million for the entire building.
The two firms have been in talks with owners at the St. Louis for months, and a deal could close next year, sources told TRD. The property is next to the Swire Properties’ final development site on Brickell Key, where the Mandarin Oriental Hotel was imploded earlier this month. In its place, Swire plans a two-tower ultra luxury condo and hotel project, also under the Mandarin flag.
The implosion caused damage to nearby properties, including the St. Louis, where a unit owner told CBS News Miami that debris struck the lobby and destroyed a glass mirror. The cleanup, in the six figures, also cost owners. But owners at St. Louis have been considering a bulk sale for nearly two years following an unsolicited offer from another developer, another source said.
The 31-story building was completed in 1995, with units ranging from two to four bedrooms.
Related and Terra are working together on the buyout, sources said. Both firms declined to comment.
A group that makes up nearly 80 percent of owners is negotiating with the developers. Real estate attorney Robert Elias of the Elias Law Firm represents that group. Elias declined to comment.
The building’s condo declaration requires at least 80 percent of unit owners to approve a termination of the association, making a buyout easier than buildings with higher thresholds.
Terra and Related have experience working on condo buyouts. Last year, Related, Dezer Development and BH Group completed a nearly $132 million buyout of an oceanfront condo complex in Sunny Isles Beach. And both Related and Terra attempted buyouts of the Castle Beach Club, a mammoth condo building in Miami Beach that is still operating.
If the St. Louis buyout moves forward, it would mark the first redevelopment of an existing condo building on Brickell Key since the island was developed decades ago. Swire imploded the adjacent hotel, which was built in 2000, and has already presold two penthouses at the planned Mandarin Residences project for nearly $50 million each, or a record of $6,300 per square foot.
The Swire-controlled master association on Brickell Key is also planning a $42 million seawall replacement and baywalk improvement project on the island. Swire first bought a stake in the island in the late 1970s.
The Courvoisier Centre, a two-building Class A office development also on Brickell Key, underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation that was completed in 2024.