When Emelia Arencibia moved to Brickell Key in 2016, she thought that her one-bedroom condo would mark her final home. Then, she had to cover her share of a large assessment to pay for upgrades and repairs to her building after the deadly Surfside condo collapse in 2021.
Arencibia’s share of the assessment at Brickell Key Two in Miami was about $47,000, and she was able to secure a zero-interest loan for which she will have to start making payments next year.
The financing, she said, “saved my life, and saves a lot of people’s lives on this island.”
The 75-year-old is among many owners on fixed incomes on Brickell Key who now have to worry about paying for the next big project: a multimillion-dollar replacement of the seawall that surrounds the man-made island. The Brickell Key Master Association, of which Swire Properties has a controlling vote, is spearheading the project.
Brickell Key, formerly called Claughton Island, was developed beginning in 1982 with the completion of Brickell Key One. The island consists of 11 condo buildings, ground-floor retail space, and the Courvoisier Centre office buildings. Swire first bought a stake in the island in the late 1970s.
An estimate that the master association included in a Sept. 10 presentation pegs the total cost of the seawall replacement at $33.6 million, with construction potentially starting in 2026.
Unit owners at Brickell Key’s nearly 3,000 condos could pay via a lump sum, quarterly for 3.5 years, or with a seven-year loan, according to the presentation.
The cost per unit will depend on which payment option owners select, from about $6 per square foot to more than $8 per square foot. That ranges in total from a $3,581 lump sum for a 600-square-foot unit to $5,565 for the same sized unit. Larger condos of 2,500 square feet would pay $14,921 (lump sum) to $20,319 if financed.
Some unit owners allege that Swire Properties’ U.S. arm, led by President Henry Bott, is pushing the project through now because it also plans to replace the seawall where the Mandarin Residences luxury condo development will be built. Swire controls the master association even though it only controls that site.
The Mandarin project surpassed $1 billion in presales earlier this year. Remaining units start at about $5 million.
Swire has an application pending with the city of Miami to demolish the existing Mandarin hotel at 500 Brickell Key Drive via implosion, likely next year. It plans to then build the two-tower, 228-unit luxury condo and hotel project with additional hotel rooms and condo-hotel units.
Owners from six condo associations — Brickell Key One, Brickell Key Two, Isola, the St. Louis, Corvoisier Courts and Carbonell — hired an attorney to engage with the master association and Swire regarding the seawall replacement and planned renovation of the baywalk. In a letter sent to Brickell Key condo owners in September, attorney Carl Goldfarb wrote that Swire and the master association have ignored the condo associations’ requests to meet face to face to discuss the seawall and baywalk projects.
“This work conveniently coincides with the timing of Swire’s plans for development of the Residences at the Mandarin Oriental, even though the August 6, 2024 seawall inspection report commissioned by the BKMA concluded, ‘No immediate structural repairs are required at this time,’” the letter from Goldfarb states.
The August 2024 seawall inspection report states that “no significant settlement of the seawall structure was observed during the inspection,” and that significant seawall deterioration was not noted compared to 2023. “However, in comparison with prior years, dating back to the first such inspection in 2014, the progression of deterioration is noted, outside of the 2018 repair project,” the letter states.
A spokesperson for Swire said the company has been transparent with Brickell Key residents, and hosted more than 10 town hall meetings with residents in recent months.
The seawall is required to be maintained to provide protection against a 100-year flood. An annual inspection is also required, records show.
Some owners on Brickell Key and across the waterway off of Brickell Avenue are also concerned that the proposed implosion of the Mandarin hotel and the construction of the new towers will impact the existing seawall, which was built in 1973. A geotechnical report completed in early 2024 states that “construction-related vibrations could impact the seawall as well.” But the damage caused to adjacent structures are “typically cosmetic in nature” the report states.
Swire plans to pay for roughly 20 percent of the estimated $33.6 million cost of the seawall project, according to a presentation made by BKMA’s General Manager Anna Brautigam in April, which sources confirmed. That represents the 1,300-linear-foot portion of the seawall that fronts the Mandarin Residences project site. BKMA would be responsible for the remaining 4,600 linear feet.
However, the Brickell Key Master Association’s governing documents would require only a 1.8 percent contribution from Swire. The association was formed in 1982. Swire’s voting majority still exists because the company still owns land on the island. Until it completes the Mandarin Residences project, sells the units and turns control over to the unit owners, it will retain the same amount of control as it currently has.
Swire’s planned contribution “exceeds its pro-rata share according to the governing documents,” the spokesperson said.
Unit owners’ contributions will be calculated based on their interior square footage and 50 percent of their balcony space. BKMA plans to begin collecting payments sometime during the first quarter of next year, Brautigam said during the April presentation. BKMA will offer unit owners financing and has term sheets from Banco Popular and BankUnited.
Confusion and disputes over responsibility for payment have spread to other issues.
A decade ago, the Miami City Commission voted to amend the 1975 development order for Brickell Key. The amendment requires Swire to “dedicate, develop, and perpetually maintain 2.5-acre linear waterfront park and an additional 0.25 acre public park on Brickell Key, design and location to be determined by Swire,” according to the 2015 approval. The amendment increased the number of residential units and decreased the commercial space that could be built on the island.
Todd Worthe, who owns a three-bedroom condo at Carbonell on Brickell Key, believes that Swire should reimburse unit owners for the cost of maintenance and security for the park over the past 10 years.
“Swire agreed to maintain the public park in perpetuity,” Worthe said. “It’s been the residents, not Swire, who have been assessed and paying for the maintenance and security. And it’s open to the public. If we’re going to pay for it, shouldn’t it be privatized?”
The Swire spokesperson said the 1975 development order and the 2015 amendment “do not impose any obligations of operating expenses to Swire Properties.”
For the seawall project, two buildings, St. Louis and Isola, may be in a different situation than the other buildings. St. Louis and Isola control their seawalls, but they are subject to BKMA’s seawall covenant, Brautigam said in a letter.
“Choosing to replace their seawalls separately could present several challenges for these associations, and we believe both buildings stand to benefit greatly from being part of the larger project,” she wrote.
Arencibia said she’s spoken to neighbors who believe they had to pay their shares by Oct. 1. Others haven’t yet received estimates of their share of the seawall project.
The years of construction and additional cost could force Arencibia to sell her condo, where she expected to live the rest of her years.
“At the end of the day, I cannot pay the amount or ask for another loan,” she said. “I feel very insecure about it.”
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