Two Roads Development sued the holdout owners at Biscayne 21, adding another twist to the saga.
The developer has been locked in litigation with the holdout owners of the bayfront condo building in Miami’s Edgewater since 2023. A year earlier, Two Roads paid about $150 million for the majority of units at the building, which was constructed in 1964. The developer then launched sales of an Edition-branded condo project.
Last year, as part of the holdout owners’ suit, the developer-controlled condo association was found to have illegally amended the condo declaration to lower the requirement for a condo termination to 80 percent of owners, from 100 percent. A condo termination is required to eventually redevelop the site.
In January of this year, Two Roads was ordered to restore the building to a habitable state, including repairs and restoring utilities such as air conditioning, water and electricity.
But now, Two Roads is on the offense.
Two Roads’ affiliate, TRD Biscayne, is asking the court for equitable relief, which includes terminating the condo association. In its complaint filed at the end of January, Two Roads alleges that the unit owners are blaming the developer for issues that existed before Two Roads entered the picture. The tower “stands vacant, uninhabitable, and condemned resulting from decades of lack of maintenance deferred by its former owners, including the individual unit owners,” the lawsuit states.
Taylor Collins, a managing partner at Two Roads, said the same in an interview last week. The cost to return the building to a habitable condition is about $61 million, according to the complaint.
“It’s not worth it to repair it,” he said. If the court rules in favor of the developer, Collins said that the property could go to a court-ordered partition sale. That means Two Roads could buy out the rest of the owners or a new developer could purchase the property.
“I hope this comes to closure faster than that,” he said.
More to come on Monday.
What we’re thinking about: Will we see more lawsuits similar to the one filed by the condo association at Aston Martin Residences against the developer, Germán Coto? The complaint alleges that Coto ran “an immense shell game” to defraud the association before unit owners took over the board. Send me a note at kk@therealdeal.com.
CLOSING TIME
Residential: Anthony Lomangino, a waste management magnate and Trump appointee, and his wife, Lynda Lomangino, paid $76.7 million for the oceanfront mansion at 260 North Ocean Boulevard in Palm Beach. Harvey Kinzelberg, the founder of Sequel Capital, and his wife Mary Ann sold the property.
Commercial: An LLC tied to Roizman Development, Related Companies and Related Group sold the low-income apartment complex at 201 Racquet Club Road in Weston for $50.5 million. Spria Equity Partners, a Canadian real estate investment firm, and the Foundation for Affordable Housing sold the 300-unit complex.
— Research by Mary Diduch
NEW TO THE MARKET The waterfront mansion at 255 Ocean Boulevard in Golden Beach hit the market for $88.5 million. The seven-bedroom, 12-and-a-half-bathroom home, on a 0.7-acre property, is listed with Douglas Elliman’s Dina Goldentayer. The newly built mansion is decked out with amenities, including a fitness studio, massage room, sauna, cold plunge, a lap pool, theater, office and guest house, according to the listing. A group of developers, including Ricardo Halfen and architect Stephanie Halfen, paid $10.7 million for the property in 2021.
A thing we’ve learned
Florida seized nearly 2,200 vapes as part of an effort to protect minors and crack down on the black market for illegal e-cigarettes. State law bans the sale, gift or possession of nicotine vapes to people under the age of 21.