Robert Murphy, one of the holdout owners at Biscayne 21, said the developer "could have avoided everything that happened by paying me and my neighbor a combined total of $600,000 to $700,000 above the bulk sale price," as he told The Real Deal. Instead the fight lasted more than three years. It ended on August 31, 2026, when Two Roads paid the holdouts about $50 million combined.
The gap between those two numbers came mostly from one provision in a 1964 condominium declaration. In Edgewater, older waterfront buildings sit on land that developers value more than the buildings themselves. At Biscayne 21, that provision became central to the fight over the site.
One Sentence in a 1964 Declaration
Biscayne 21 sits at 2121 North Bayshore Drive. Biscayne Times describes it as a 13-story building from 1964 with about 800 feet of linear water frontage, roughly 1,000 feet from Margaret Pace Park. Two Roads started buying units in 2019. By May 2022 an affiliate had spent $150 million on a bulk purchase that brought in every residence except eight.
Biscayne 21's declaration required a 100 percent vote to dissolve the association. Later in 2022, the board, now controlled by Two Roads, amended the declaration so that an 80 percent vote could terminate it, citing a 2007 Florida statute. In March 2024, the Third District Court of Appeal held that the 100 percent threshold was a binding contract. It could not be amended without the consent of every owner.
The appeals court's ruling meant eight residences were enough to stop a 55-story Edition Residences tower designed by Arquitectonica's Bernardo Fort-Brescia.
How Long a Unanimity Clause Can Hold a Waterfront Site
The holdouts' leverage grew with each year of delay.
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| May 2022 | Two Roads affiliate closes the $150 million bulk purchase |
| September 2022 | Edition Residences sales launch, with units starting at $1.7 million |
| May 2023 | Ten owners sue over the termination |
| March 2024 | Third District Court of Appeal sides with the holdouts |
| July 2025 | Appeals court denies the developer's rehearing motion |
| October 2025 | Florida Supreme Court declines to hear the case |
| January 2026 | Circuit Judge Thomas Rebull declares the 2022 termination null and void and orders the building restored |
| August 31, 2026 | Settlement of about $50 million is reached and funded |
The January 2026 restoration order set the stakes. According to Biscayne Times, estimates for returning the partially gutted building to its pre-May 2023 condition ran from $60 million to $65 million. Against that number, about $50 million to the holdouts was the cheaper path. The Real Deal calculated that it works out to roughly $6.3 million per owner if each of the two couples counts as one owner. That compares with the nearly $1.3 million Two Roads offered Murphy in early 2021.
Calls for Clearer Rules
The history note on the statute's official page lists 2025 as the year of its most recent amendment. Both sides of the Biscayne 21 case have asked lawmakers for clearer rules, so further changes are possible. Two Roads' Taylor Collins told The Real Deal that Florida needs "a clear, fair and predictable process for terminating condominium associations."
Why the Calls Keep Coming Along the Bay
Bulk buyouts follow from demand for land. Ana Bozovic of Analytics Miami explained Edgewater's appeal to Biscayne Times: "If you combine waterfront with proximity to the urban core, where all the Class A offices are, then that's a winning combination." The same article cites a Miami Association of Realtors report released September 24, 2026. It found sales of condos priced above $1 million up 17.6 percent from a year earlier, and 60 percent of million-dollar sales of all property types paid in cash. Biscayne Times connects that demand to developer interest in older condos, because waterfront land suitable for luxury towers is scarce.
Glen Waldman of Armstrong Teasdale represented the holdouts. "There is a lot of this going on all over the place," he told Biscayne Times. He said his office hears from concerned condo owners at least once a week.
Other bayfront and beachfront deals have followed different paths:
- Bayshore Park, 2545 South Bayshore Drive, Coconut Grove. Mast Capital and BH Group bought 32 of the 1967 building's 39 units in 2025. They completed the buyout in 2026 with the last seven, for about $28 million in total consideration, according to The Real Deal.
- The Mutiny on the Bay, Coconut Grove. This 170-unit, 12-story condo-hotel received a $160 million offer in early 2025, and its board said at the time that owners had not approved a deal. By March 2026, The Real Deal reported that BH Group was pursuing a buyout at the same figure.
- Amethyst, 5313 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach. As of January 2025, Mast Capital's buyout of the 120-unit oceanfront building remained incomplete after a court ruling. At that point 32 units had closed.
Delay Also Reaches the Pre-Construction Side
The termination clause affects more than the owners of the old building. It also changes the timeline for anyone buying into the tower planned to replace it. The Real Deal reports that Edition presale contracts signed in spring 2023 expected completion by summer 2028. In April 2026, three buyers sued to recover about $2.5 million in deposits. The Miami Herald has since reported that Two Roads expected to start construction in September 2026 and finish in September 2029.
As of early October, Collins told Biscayne Times that demolition would begin "in the coming weeks." Two Roads had earlier said it planned to reopen the Edition sales center in October or November. For a buyer comparing Edgewater pre-construction projects, a site that still has to go through termination carries different schedule risk from a vacant parcel.
Questions About a Building
For a buyer weighing an older Edgewater bayfront building against a newer tower, these questions bear on buyout activity:
- Recent amendments. Has the declaration been changed in recent years, and who controlled the board when it was?
- Ownership concentration. Does one buyer, or a group of related entities, already hold a large share of units?
- Board minutes and owner correspondence. Have unsolicited bulk offers or termination discussions come up?
This post is general information and not legal, tax or financial advice. A real estate attorney should review the declaration and any termination provisions for the specific unit you are considering.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Biscayne 21 already demolished? As of early October 2026, Two Roads said demolition would start in the coming weeks, ahead of the planned 55-story Edition Residences, Miami Edgewater.
If you own in one of Edgewater's older bayfront towers and want to know how recent buyout activity affects your unit's value, request a free home valuation from Marcelo Steinmander.
