Battle for Bay Park Towers: Miami developer comes up short in Edgewater but it’s not over
Realtor Vivian Dimond says she has fallen short in her publicly announced goal of reaching 50 signed deals in her effort to eventually win control of Bay Park Towers, leading to a standoff between her and a California-based developer over the fate of the aging Edgewater condo building.
Dimond submitted offers last month to residents of the 250-unit property at 3301 NE Fifth Ave. and gave them three days to respond. The managing broker at Brown Harris Stevens and developer committed to paying cash by December to the first 50 owners who signed by the deadline, according to a contract reviewed by The Miami Herald.
She had stayed silent publicly for weeks on the results. This week, Dimond told the Herald that she received 43 contracts by her self-imposed deadline and will close using her own financing on all of them by December. She said she plans to pursue more agreements with unit owners with the goal of trying to take possession of the 61-year-old property.
Dimond and Irvine, California-based developer Bomel are now locked in a standoff, with each having enough stake to block the other from securing the property but neither having sufficient support to take full control of the building. Under Florida law, 95% of condo owners must agree on whom they will sell their units to in order for a building sale to proceed.
Bomel representative and Douglas Elliman Director of Investment Sales Colin Rockson said late last month the firm had about 80 contracts, meaning that each of the competing developers has more than the 5 percent needed to stymie the other. On Friday, a source close to the company said Bomel now has 130 signed contracts with unit owners.
“I was working on this far before this gentleman arrived,” Dimond said, referring to Robert Rechnitz, the founder of Bomel. “Just because he came in, doesn’t mean that I have to get scared and run away.
“I am very patient,” she added. “We have to see what happens.”
This story was originally published October 8, 2021 at 5:52 PM.
