Two Roads Development settled with the holdout condo owners at Biscayne 21, effectively ending a yearslong saga over the buyout and termination of the waterfront building in Miami’s Edgewater, The Real Deal has learned.
Two Roads, led by Taylor Collins and Reid Boren, reached an agreement with the owners who sued the developer in 2023 arguing the developer-controlled condo association acted illegally when it changed the rules to lower the threshold for ending the association from 100 percent of owners down to 80 percent.
Collins told TRD that he was relieved to have reached a settlement with the holdouts. “Two Roads and I are very happy to have this behind us and move forward,” he said, adding that it’s been “very emotional for both sides.”
The developer paid the holdouts for their units, Collins said, declining to disclose the combined purchase price. “The remaining owners now have certainty and can move forward with their lives, and we’re excited to turn our attention to moving the Edition project,” he said.
A source told TRD the developer paid about $50 million for the units.
Attorney Glen Waldman, who represents the holdout owners, was not immediately available for comment but confirmed the deal closed.
The resolution, which a court still has to sign off on, means that Two Roads can move forward with demolishing Biscayne 21, a bayfront 13-story, 192-unit building at 2121 North Bayshore Drive in Miami. The firm plans to develop Edition Residences on the site.
The holdout owners, Angelica Avila, Nicolas Bello, Maria Beatriz Gutierrez, Franah Vazir-Marino, Robert H. Murphy, George Garcia, and two couples, Lazaro Fraga and Jacqueline S. Fraga, and Jeffrey Ulman and Shari Ulman, took the issue to the state’s Third District Court of Appeal. The appellate court last year sided with the holdouts, and said the developer-controlled association’s amendment of the vote threshold altered the unit owners’ voting rights. That opinion reversed a lower court decision that had denied the holdout owners a temporary injunction in 2024.
In 2022, Two Roads paid about $150 million for the majority of units at Biscayne 21 and financed the deal with a loan from Bank OZK. Later that year, the developer launched sales of the first of three planned towers, rising 55 stories with 185 units and prices starting at $1.7 million.
The holdout owners sued the following year. After the appeals court sided with the holdouts, Two Roads asked Florida’s Supreme Court to hear the case, but the state’s highest court declined to do so in October of last year, leaving no further legal options for the developer.
Collins said the settlement doesn’t resolve “the much larger issue” facing condo owners across Florida, calling for the Florida Legislature to step in and “establish a clear, fair and predictable process for terminating condominium associations, particularly as so many buildings reach or exceed their useful life,” he said in a statement. “Florida needs a framework that protects owners while providing a practical path forward for aging buildings.”
Developers look to condo buyouts of waterfront buildings because little undeveloped land exists on the water. But completing these deals can take years, and the success rate varies dramatically, depending often on the price offered, makeup of owners and state of the buildings.
Florida law allows 5 percent of a building’s ownership to challenge condo terminations, which is why developers may look to secure just over 95 percent. One important thing to note is that Biscayne 21’s condo declaration lacked “Kaufman language”. That’s the inclusion of the legal term “as amended from time to time,” which applies changes in state law automatically to condo declarations. In order to lower the termination threshold from 100 percent to 80 percent, 100 percent of the unit owners at Biscayne 21 would have had to agree, according to the appeals court’s opinion last year.
The Biscayne 21 case took a number of twists and turns. The developer has been on the hook for millions of dollars in interest tied to its financing for the buyout, and the existing holdout owners lost access to their properties when the building became uninhabitable in 2023. They had not been paid for their units until the resolution closed on Monday.
In January, Miami-Dade Judge Thomas Rebull ordered that the developer restore the waterfront condo building to a habitable state, including repairs and restoring utilities such as air conditioning, water and electricity. The following month, the developer sued the holdout owners and asked the court for equitable relief, which included terminating the condo association.
Collins said the Edition Residences project will move forward as designed, with amenities that include a longevity and wellness component and expanded food and beverage offerings. He said presales have been slow, but that the developer plans to reopen the sales center in October or November. He expects the resolution of the litigation will propel buyers who have been on the sidelines.
Demolition of the existing building could begin in a few weeks, he said.
Read more
A win for holdouts: Appeals court sides with Biscayne 21 condo owners in battle with Two Roads tied to redevelopment
Edition Residences condo buyers sue Two Roads over stalled project
A win for holdouts: Appeals court sides with Biscayne 21 condo owners in battle with Two Roads tied to redevelopment
