Two Roads Development was ordered to restore the waterfront condo building in Miami’s Edgewater at the center of an epic lawsuit that has dragged on for years.
The ruling marks the latest blow to the developer. It means Two Roads, a Miami and West Palm Beach-based firm led by Taylor Collins and Reid Boren, will have to return the Biscayne 21 building to a habitable state, including repairs and restoring utilities such as air conditioning, water and electricity.
Miami-Dade Judge Thomas Rebull ruled in favor of a group of holdout condo owners who sued the developer and the developer-controlled condo association in 2023. The previous year, Two Roads paid about $150 million for the majority of units at the bayfront condo building, which was constructed in 1964.
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.
The case nearly made its way to Florida’s highest court, after an appeals court sided with the holdouts, affirming that the original condo declaration required unanimous consent for termination. Florida’s Supreme Court declined last year to consider a motion for rehearing, effectively ending Two Roads’ options to appeal.
The most recent court order, entered on Monday, requires that TRD Biscayne, the Two Roads entity:
- Take all steps to restore the condo association and have it comply with the previous condo declaration, including undoing the condo termination, and reinstate the deeds/condo folios to the individual owners.
- Within 30 days, file a report detailing obstacles to reinstating the association.
- Prevent the developer from seeking zoning approvals or demolition permits.
- Turn the utilities back on and repair and maintain the condo building, including its common elements, to the condition they were in when the lawsuit was filed in May 2023 at the developer’s expense.
- Within 45 days, hold an annual meeting where it will have to provide a report to the unit owners regarding the building’s status. The developer-controlled condo association will also have to provide the court with a report every 45 days.
Two Roads said in a statement that it “anticipated” the court order and that it will comply with all court orders.
“The building remains vacant and non-habitable, and any future reconstruction would require professional review and owner approval under the declaration. We will strictly follow Florida laws in this matter,” the statement reads.
Jeffrey Lam, an attorney for the eight holdout owners, said that it’s his understanding the building is still structurally sound. “The ultimate goal is that we get our clients back to their homes,” Lam said.
Glen Waldman, also representing the holdout owners, expects the developer’s cost to repair the building is “very substantial” but “it’s doable.”
“This is where a number of our clients wanted to live out the rest of their lives,” Waldman added.
Lam and Waldman said they plan to file an amended complaint that adds parties and claims to the litigation, including the developer’s lenders, principals and former board members.
Two Roads’ entity financed the 2022 bulk purchase with a $45 million mezzanine loan from Lionheart Strategic Management LLC, the asset management affiliate of Fisher Brothers, and a $105 million senior mortgage from Bank OZK.
Two Roads has been on the hook for mounting interest, in the millions of dollars, on loans tied to the 2022 acquisition. Two Roads launched sales of the first of three planned Edition towers, a 55-story, 185-unit tower, with unit prices starting at $1.7 million, months after the 2022 deal. Holdout owners Angelica Avila, Nicolas Bello, Maria Beatriz Gutierrez, Franah Vazir-Marino, Murphy, George Garcia, and two couples, Lazaro Fraga and Jacqueline S. Fraga, and Jeffrey Ulman and Shari Ulman, sued the following year.
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