MIAMI — A Miami-Dade Circuit judge on Thursday approved a sale agreement for the nearly 2-acre oceanside property where the 12-story Champlain Towers South condo collapsed in Surfside, killing 98 people.
If no higher bids are approved, the property at 8777 Collins Ave. will be sold for $120 million and turned over to billionaire real estate developer Hussain Sajwani by spring 2022 for the construction of a new luxury high-rise. Sajwani, who owns the Dubai-based DAMAC Properties, is currently the lone bidder for the land and has signed a contract requiring he pay a $16 million deposit.
Despite some objections from family members of the victims over the speed of the sale process, the judge overseeing the fate of the property as part of a class-action lawsuit has sought to sell the property as quickly as possible in order to compensate property owners who lost their homes and the families of those who died in the June 24 collapse.
The sale agreement approved Thursday by Judge Michael Hanzman outlines a timeline for inspections of the property the buyer can conduct, a deadline for other potential buyers to make bids and, if competing bids are submitted, the protocols for an auction where the court-appointed receiver for the Champlain Towers South Condominium Association will recommend what bid Hanzman should approve. The $16 million deposit becomes nonrefundable following the 60-day inspection period.
David Rodan, whose brother and three cousins died in the collapse, lamented Thursday that the sales process had been “expedited” while he and other grieving family members try to rally public support to build a memorial on the land rather than another condo tower.
The families have sent letters to local, state and federal lawmakers asking for government help to purchase the land for a memorial. They unsuccessfully lobbied the Surfside Commission to put a referendum on the March ballot asking voters if they would support a land-swap proposal to build a memorial and community center on the collapse site.
They have also held press conferences, including one in New York City on Thursday, calling for support to protect the land from being developed.
“It’s inhumane for whoever wants to buy that land to build there just for the sake of getting a profit,” Rodan said.
If the receiver, attorney Michael Goldberg, signs the contract Thursday, the deadline for competing bids would be in late January.
But how the proceeds from the sale of the property will be distributed remains to be seen.
The appraised value of the 136-unit building was listed as $95.6 million, well below the $120 million sales price. Goldberg said there is a total of $48 million of insurance coverage held by the condo association — $30 million for property damage and $18 million for personal injury.
Hanzman said once the sale is approved, he must decide whether to award all proceeds of the $120 million sale and the $30 million property insurance payout to the unit owners or award them just the appraised value of $95.6 million and use the remainder of the money to compensate victims’ families.
He instructed attorneys involved in the lawsuit to present their legal opinions to him at next Wednesday’s court hearing.
Some unit owners seemed displeased with the appraised value of the building. One owner asked Hanzman whether he can conduct a second appraisal and another said it was “terrible” she may not get back what she paid for her unit.
Hanzman said the appraisal measured the value of each unit as they were before the collapse, which he called less science than art, and that he would not order a second appraisal.
“The valuation is not going to be precise,” he said.
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