Florida Developer Ordered to Fix Leftover Miami Condo as Uninhabitable ‘Skeleton’ During Official Recovery
A Florida district court judge has ordered a developer to restore a waterfront condominium in Miami to livable condition after it was burned down during a years-long legal battle.
By order of Jan. 12, Miami-Dade Judge Thomas Rebull joins eight residents who sued to block the sale of the Biscayne 21 condo building, ordering the defendants—Two Roads Development and its affiliates—to restore the apartment tower and the plaintiffs’ units “to the condition they were in when the complaint was filed in May 2023,” according to a court filing obtained by Realtor.com.com.
A lawyerGlen H. Waldmanand law firm Armstrong Teasdale, which represents the owners of the closed condos, says that engineers who recently inspected the building found that the building remains intact and can be restored, but it is expected to cost the developer a “substantial” sum.
“But they shouldn’t have gone as far as they did before they were absolutely sure they had the right to do what they did,” Waldman told Realtor.com.
Without fully renovating the building to make it habitable again and replacing the plumbing and electrical lines to allow electrical services to resume—all at Two Roads’ expense with no financial contributions from residents—the developer is not allowed to break up the condominium, or seek zoning or demolition permits.
“The outside windows are gone, there’s no air conditioning in the building. … I mean, everything’s gone,” Waldman said. “They have to rebuild the building … It’s a skeleton.”
Realtor.com reached out to the attorneySusan Raffaellorepresentative of Two Roads Development, for comment.
Rebull’s order comes three months after the Florida Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal filed by the developer, allowing a July 2025 decision by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of Biscayne 21 owners who opposed the building’s demolition to stand.
How the Biscayne 21 saga began
Built in 1964, the 13-floor, 192-unit Biscayne 21, located at 2121 North Bayshore Drive, features tennis courts, a pool, a barbecue area, parking, and most importantly, over 830 feet of water frontage overlooking Biscayne Bay, the Port of Miami Beach, and Miami Beach.
In 2022, Two Roads Development began buying units in the building with the intention of dismantling the condominium, demolishing the aging tower, and replacing it with luxury apartments.
However, despite being pressured by the developer and real estate agents to sell, the eight owners—Angelica Avila, Nicolas Bello, Maria Beatriz Gutierrez, Franah Vazir-Marino, Robert Murphy, George Garcia, Lazaro and Jacqueline S. Fragaagain Jeffrey and Shari Ulman– he won’t move.
Waldman previously told Realtor.com that his clients were reluctant to sell in part because the compensation Two Roads was offering them was less than what they would need to buy similar properties with waterfront views.
The developer’s fatal stumbling block is that Biscayne 21’s condo rules, known as the declaration, require 100% of owners to approve the condo’s completion—a threshold that could not be met because of the opposition.
According to a lawsuit filed by Waldman on behalf of the shareholders in 2023, determined to move forward with the development project, Two Roads took over the condo board and illegally changed the language of the declaration, lowering the requirement for unanimous approval to 80% of the owners.
The lower court initially sided with the developer, prompting him to begin stripping the building in preparation for demolition, just as Waldman appealed to the higher court, which ultimately found in favor of his clients.
In a July 2025 opinion, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the trial court “erred” by failing to recognize that the developer had violated the voting rights of unit owners who refused to sell.
What’s next for the fixer-upper condo?
Monday’s court order does not set a deadline for Two Streets to restore 21 Biscayne to its original condition, but it does order that repair work on the building, which has no windows or air-conditioning, begin within 30 days.
Additionally, the developer must provide status updates on progress to the condo association and the court every 45 days.
“They have an obligation to start immediately, and they are expected to do it,” Waldman noted. “And we will hold their feet to the fire every step of the way.”
The plaintiffs’ attorney added that his clients are excited about the prospect of getting their homes back after all these years, and he hopes that, “somehow,” they will be healed.
“My clients never want to leave this building,” said Waldman. “They had every intention of living there for the rest of their lives. So when they were officially evicted without any legal basis to do it, it was obviously very bad. It completely destroyed them.”
