An investor lost a civil case seeking to recoup his $1 million loss from the development of Three Hundred Collins, marking the end of a long legal saga involving the troubled Miami Beach condominium project completed seven years ago.
On June 16, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Valerie Manno Schurr entered a final judgment in favor of Dhruv Piplani, Three Hundred Collins‘ lead equity partner, and two entities tied to the 19-unit boutique condo project at 300 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach’s South of Fifth neighborhood. Manno Schurr dismissed all claims by plaintiff Hang Bae Lee, who sued Piplani and the two entities in 2019, court records show.
Three Hundred Collins was completed by Jason Halpern’s New York-based JMH Development in 2018, but that same year the firm was forced to relinquish its interest in the project in a separate lawsuit also won by Piplani. Construction of Three Hundred Collins was plagued by cost overruns and contractor disputes.
The dismissal of Lee’s complaint was the final battle in various court cases involving Three Hundred Collins, said Marko Cerenko, attorney for Piplani and the two entities, one of which was an investment arm for the project.
“This puts an end to the whole Three Hundred Collins saga and the various lawsuits that have surrounded it since 2018,” Cerenko said. “The judge determined that [Lee] made his investment with eyes wide open. Everybody who invested equity into the project lost money, including my client.”
Lee’s lawyer, Cory Mauro, did not respond to a request for comment.
In his 2019 lawsuit, Lee alleged that he was misled during pre-investment discussions primarily with Louis Buckworth, a partner in PSB Collins, the project’s investment entity. Buckworth allegedly handled the negotiations with Lee using project presentations and financial projections from the developer, the suit states.
Schurr issued her order a year after presiding over a three-day bench trial, her order states. The judge determined that Lee presented scant evidence showing Piplani was directly involved in Buckworth’s dealings with the investor. Schurr also found that Buckworth relied on marketing materials produced by Halpern’s JMH, not Piplani or the two entities.
“Mr. Lee was looking for a scapegoat to try and get his $1 million back,” Cerenko said. “I commend the judge for seeing through the charade and ruling in our favor.”
When Piplani took over the development entity in 2018, only one Three Hundred Collins unit remained unsold: a penthouse priced at $5.3 million. At the time, PSB Collins was also awarded the cash proceeds from the $1.6 million sale of a unit and any cash in the project’s bank accounts.
