Miami developer Caroline Weiss dies at 88

Caroline Weiss, CEO of Weiss Group of Companies, died Friday at Doctors Hospital in Miami after a three-day hospitalization. She was 88. 

The Miami developer was born in Palestine and moved to Jamaica in 1950. In 1963, she married her late husband, Jack Weiss, also a developer, and relocated to Miami, where she and Jack built a real estate business and raised their two daughters. 

Weiss had led Weiss Group of Companies since its founding by her husband in 1974. Many of her projects were clustered in Little Havana and the area near Miami International Airport, the South Florida Business Journal reported. 

Weiss is survived by her daughters, Alitza Weiss and Adeena Weiss Ortiz, and three grandchildren. Alitza Weiss became a senior executive at Weiss Group of Companies, while Adeena Weiss Ortiz was also involved in the family business and later became embroiled in a decade-long legal dispute with her mother over ownership of a Blue Lagoon development site.

The family has owned that roughly 7-acre site at 4865, 4875 and 4885 Northwest Seventh Street since the 1970s, with most recent plans calling for 829 apartments, 410 hotel rooms and 1,380 parking spaces, The Real Deal previously reported. The entity that controls the property, 7 at Blue Lagoon, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year. 

The property’s future was unresolved at the time of Weiss’ death. A $50 million winning bid at a bankruptcy auction fell through, leaving a backup bidder potentially in line to acquire the property. A sales hearing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court scheduled for Oct. 2 was changed to a status conference. The judge extended his condolences to the Weiss family. 

Weiss was also active in philanthropy, supporting the Diabetes Research Institute alongside her daughter Alitza. They were top sponsors at the organization’s Love & Hope High Rollers Night in 2019.

Weiss was a larger-than-life figure who loved to negotiate and entertain, according to the Miami Herald. She often held large gatherings and parties at her Coconut Grove home, where a celebration of life is scheduled for Oct. 3.

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