A Florida developer forced to spend millions renovating a Miami apartment building has filed a lawsuit against its residents.
Last month, a Florida court judge ordered developers to restore Biscayne 21, a Miami beachfront condominium that was destroyed during a yearlong legal battle, to a habitable condition.
If the developer succeeds in its lawsuit, the company could avoid costly repairs and move forward with plans to demolish Edgewater Towers and replace it with luxury apartments.
new lawsuit
TRD Biscayne LLC, a subsidiary of Florida developer Two Roads Development, filed the new lawsuit on Jan. 30 in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.
In its complaint, the company asked a judge to dissolve the building’s condominium association, arguing it was no longer financially feasible to rehabilitate the property.
According to the lawsuit, the cost to return the building to habitable condition is approximately $61 million.
TRD Biscayne owns 183 of the building’s 192 units. The remaining units are held by residents who refuse to sell.
If the court grants the termination request, those owners who are holding out may be forced to accept a buyout offer from the developer.
The company is seeking what Florida law calls an “economic termination,” a legal mechanism that allows for the dissolution of a condominium association when a building has sustained significant damage and repairs no longer make economic sense.
In a statement to Two Roads Development Managing Partner Realtor.com® Tyler Collins “We will continue to fully comply with all orders of the court and follow the governing documents. The equitable termination petition asks the court to address the current condition of this building, which has suffered from decades of deferred maintenance and systemic failing infrastructure. An independent assessment has shown that repairs will require significant investment well beyond the value of the building itself. We believe that a fair process allows the court to reach a fair and realistic resolution.”
Meanwhile, the Miami Herald reports that residents of Biscayne 21 filed a separate amended complaint earlier this week seeking at least $100 million in damages from the banks that financed the project, companies associated with the developer and individuals involved in the attempted takeover.
Details of previous rulings
In a Jan. 12 order, a Miami-Dade County judge Thomas Rebull According to a court filing obtained by Realtor.com, the company is supporting eight residents in a lawsuit to block the sale of the Biscayne 21 apartment building, directing the defendants (Two Roads Development and its affiliated entities) to restore the apartment building and the plaintiffs’ units to “the condition they were in when the complaint was filed in May 2023.”
After January ruling, lawyers Glenn H. WaldmanLaw firm Armstrong Teasdale, which represents the owners of the boycotting apartments, told Realtor.com that engineers who recently assessed the building found that the building is still structurally sound and can be repaired, but the developer is expected to lose a “significant” amount of money.
“But until they’re absolutely sure they have the right to do what they did, they shouldn’t go ahead and get over the snowboard like they did before,” Waldman said.
Under the January ruling, the developer is not allowed to terminate the condominium, or seek any zoning approvals or demolition permits, other than to fully rehabilitate the building to make it habitable again and restore pipes and electrical wiring to restore utility service — all at Two-Way’s expense, without requiring any financial contributions from residents.
“The windows outside are gone, the building has no air conditioning system… I mean, everything is gone,” Waldman said. “This is a skeleton.”
Three months ago, the Florida Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal filed by the developers, allowing a July 2025 ruling by the Third District Court of Appeals in favor of Biscayne 21 owners’ opposition to demolition of the building to stand. Three months later, the judge issued the January order.
Realtor.com contacted an attorney. Susan RafanelloLawyers representing Two Roads Development Corporation and apartment residents commented.
How the Biscayne 21 legend began
A Florida judge ordered developers to restore the Biscayne 21 condominiums in Miami, Florida, to a habitable condition. (Felix Mizioznikov/Adobe Stock)
Built in 1964, the 13-story, 192-unit Biscayne 21 is located at 2121 North Bay Shore Drive and features tennis courts, a swimming pool, barbecue areas, parking and, best of all, more than 830 feet of oceanfront overlooking Biscayne Bay, PortMiami and Miami Beach.
In 2022, Two Roads Development began purchasing units in the building with the goal of dismantling the condominiums, demolishing the aging towers and replacing them with luxury condo towers.
However, despite pressure from developers and real estate agents, the eight owners –Angelica Avila, Nicholas Bello, Maria Beatrice Gutierrez, Frana Wazir Marino, Robert Murphy, Jorge Garcia, Lazaro and Jacqueline Fragaand Jeffrey Ullman and Sally Ullman——Refuse to give in.
Waldman previously told Realtor.com that his clients were reluctant to sell in part because Two Roads offered them less compensation than they would have needed to purchase a similar property with an oceanfront view.
Biscayne 21 in Miami is an oceanfront condominium with sweeping views of Biscayne Bay and Port of Miami. (Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court, Miami-Dade County, Florida)
The developer’s stumbling block is that Biscayne 21’s condominium rules, known as declarations, require 100% of owners to approve the termination of a condominium – a threshold that cannot be met due to dissent.
Determined to move forward with the redevelopment project, Two Roads took over the condo board and illegally changed the language of the statement, lowering the termination requirement from unanimous consent to unanimous consent of 80 percent of the owners, according to a 2023 lawsuit Waldman filed on behalf of the holdouts.
Lower courts initially sided with the developer, prompting the developer to begin tearing down the building in preparation for demolition, although Waldman appealed to a higher court, ultimately finding in his client’s favor.
In a July 2025 opinion, the Third District Court of Appeal ruled that the trial court “erred” in failing to recognize that the developer violated the voting rights of unit owners who refused to sell.
“My clients never want to leave this building,” Waldman previously told Realtor.com. “They’re hell-bent on spending the rest of their lives there. So when they’re ceremoniously kicked out without any legal basis, obviously, it’s horrific. It’s devastating for them.”
Two Roads Development plans to replace aging apartments with these three gleaming towers. (Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court, Miami-Dade County, Florida)