Neighbors at war as offer stokes division at Edgewater condo building
A developer is seeking to gain control of at least 50 units in an Edgewater building in a blocking move that would give the developer veto power over others seeking to buy the aging waterfront property.
The deadline for condo owners to decide if they wanted to sell was 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 17. The results have yet to be revealed.
The Aman Group submitted offers Wednesday to residents of the 250-unit Bay Park Towers at 3301 NE Fifth Ave., according to a contract reviewed by the Miami Herald.
If enough owners say yes, it would give the firm a 20% stake in the 60-year-old building and, while not enough to purchase Bay Park Towers outright, Aman would effectively get a seat at the table for negotiations with any prospective buyers. That’s because, under Florida law, 95% of condo owners must agree on whom they will sell their units to in order for a sale to proceed.
With Aman on board, no one would be able to take possession of the building. And after months of bidding wars, residents say the developer’s latest offer has only caused further division and tension.
The first 50 unit owners to sign with the Miami-based firm would receive a cash deal by late December.
Aman had sought to buy the 13-story building in a financed deal for $150 million days ago, as first reported by The Real Deal. It bid against a $145 million offer by the Los Angeles-based Bomel Companies and a $130 million proposal by the Miami-based Beach Hill Capital Partners. Although Aman came in with the highest bid, several owners told the Herald that some residents were concerned about whether the firm would be able to close the deal because they found the financing unclear.
If Aman succeeds, who would ultimately develop the property remains unclear.
“It’s hard to say what the plans are,” said Vivian Dimond, a Brown Harris Stevens broker, investor and registered agent of the Aman Group, which has no affiliation with the luxury hospitality and residences developer Aman Resorts.
“Once we have the whole parcel then we would know what we are doing. It depends,” she added, declining to say whether she and Aman would develop Bay Park Towers or seek a deal with another developer. “We want to get our foot in the door and the rest will follow.”
The offer outlines how much each unit owner would receive, ranging from about $310,000 to $898,000.
Dimond was set to meet with residents Friday afternoon alongside a representative from Fort Partners, which owns the Four Seasons buildings in South Florida. A spokesperson for Fort Partners confirmed that the company is interested in redeveloping the site with Dimond if she is able to acquire the building, although they are not yet formally involved in any deal.
Unit owners agree on one thing — the divisive bidding war has damaged relationships among neighbors and unit owners.
“People want out. People are just confused with all of this stuff,” said 20-year Bay Park Towers resident Sandy Wayland, who was weighing the Aman and Bomel offers. “The general consensus is people don’t want to stay, because it has become a toxic environment — neighbor against neighbor. It’s unfortunate that we’re not united behind one person.”
As of Thursday evening, some owners had signed on with Aman and Dimond.
“I’ve known Vivian as a business woman, Realtor and broker,” said William Mathisen, who accepted the Aman offer. “I liked her more because she’s a more local participant. She wants to succeed locally.”
A condo resident near Legions Park in Miami’s Upper East Side, Mathisen bought in Bay Park Towers in 2002 for $108,000, according to property records. A real estate broker since the late 1980s, he purchased the unit as an investment.
“I knew the area would develop,” he said. “It was only a matter of time and here it is.”
Mark Hirt, a resident at Bay Park Towers, owns two adjacent units, according to property records. He has called the building home for decades but is ready to sell given looming concrete-restoration work and other improvements.
“It’s a great place to live,” Hirt said. “But it’s like owning an old car. If you do no maintenance, an old car falls apart.”
He declined to reveal if he had signed with Dimond but said, “Why would you wait around for someone who is waiting to get 95% of the community to sign with him [Bomel] when you have someone ready to give you the money now?”
Others are going with Bomel.
Former Related Group executive Carlos Rosso said he bought a unit in Bay Park Tower years ago as an investment. He signed a contract with Bomel since, he said, “They came to the meetings. They showed us who they were going to get the money from.”
Rosso told the Herald he feared that Dimond wouldn’t be able to come up with enough money to buy all of the units.
“We want to understand what her real motivation is — she wants to block the sale to Bomel group,” said Rosso, a real estate investor. “She’s doing a disservice to the owners if she doesn’t have the money to buy the units. We are all going to be affected, because nobody is going to consummate the sale without 95% of the units.”
Another unit owner and investor, Bob Green, said he’s leaning toward signing with Bomel. A resident of St. Louis, Green and his wife bought their unit about 20 years ago as a vacation home for when they visited family in South Florida.
“I don’t understand a developer who says they will start closing on 50 units if they can’t close on the full building,” Green said. “I’ve looked at both offers, and I feel that Bomel is likely to close.”
Some unit owners and residents said they want professional guidance before making a decision, said lawyer Elizabeth Schwartz.
A consultant could help put an end to the chaos, said Schwartz, who is married to fellow Bay Park Towers resident Lydia Martin, a former Miami Herald reporter.
“It would help to have a neutral, experienced professional qualify their [potential buyers’] finances, review their pro formas and bring order to the chaos,” Schwartz said in an email. “Maybe the answer is to bring in a broker or consultant to help evaluate these buyers and get the building united behind one to bring us across the finish line.”
This story was originally published September 17, 2021 at 6:58 AM.
