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LONGTIME residents of a condo complex have fought back against developers demanding that they vacate their units.
Biscayne 21, a Miami apartment building with waterfront views, was bought by Two Roads Development in December 2022.
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The company plans to replace the 59-year-old building with a new, larger condo complex in conjunction with the hotel company Marriott International, The South Florida Business Journal reported.
Although most of the residents have left the building, a few holdouts were still refusing to vacate their units earlier this month.
Ten plaintiffs representing eight units in the building filed a lawsuit against the developer in May.
They claim Two Roads “manipulated, bullied, deceived and pressured” them into selling their units, according to a copy of the motion obtained by WFOR.
A judge denied their motion to terminate the vacation of the building earlier this month but didn’t quash the lawsuit itself.
“My property is not for sale,” condo owner Jackline Fraga told the outlet.
“I never put my property on the market, I came to this apartment in my wedding dress with my husband, I made my children in this unit, and I want to come and retire here.”
Franah Marino, another resident, was heartbroken over the situation.
“There is so much pain, anguish, and attachment,” she said.
“It’s just heart-wrenching because if they can take that, they can take anything.”
Two Roads first notified residents they would need to leave in March.
“The building is in need of significant deferred maintenance which precedes TRD Biscayne LLC’s completed acquisition of the property,” the company said in a note sent to the condo owners.
Since then, 184 units have been vacated. Earlier this month, just six were still occupied.
The new owner called these holdouts “unlawful inhabitants of the property.”
Two Roads demanded that the remaining residents leave by 5pm on September 8.
It’s not clear if any of them are still living in the building.
The company did not immediately respond to The U.S. Sun’s request for comment.
Two Roads plans to build 705 condo units on the site in three different phases.
They bought Biscayne 21 for $143 million or $795,812 per unit, which was more than triple their market value at the time.
