Dubai Billionaire Bids $120M for Surfside Property Where the Champlain Towers South Condo Collapsed

Edited by: TJVNews.com

A Miami judge has approved the contingent sale of the Surfside, Florida, property where the 12-story Champlain Towers South condominium building on Collins Avenue collapsed in June, killing 98 people, according an October 5^th report on the InsuranceJournal.com

According to a September report on The Real Deal web site, Damac Properties, a Dubai-based developer, is the stalking horse bidder for the Surfside collapse site. Damac, founded by billionaire Hussain Sajwani, calls itself a luxury developer that has shaped the Middle East real estate market with projects throughout the United Arab Emirates, as was reported by the Real Deal.

The insurancejournal.com website reported that Sajwani bid $120 million for the Surfside property through East Oceanside Development LLC, a Delaware corporation tied to publicly traded Damac.  The Real Deal reported that it was they who signed a contract to pay $120 million for the oceanfront property. The company’s identity was disclosed in a motion to approve the sales contract, filed with the court.

The Real Deal reported that the stalking horse bidder made its offer in August, setting the minimum price for the property at 8777 Collins Avenue.

Other bidders will be able to submit their offers at an auction that is expected to occur between late February and March, according to attorney Michael Goldberg, the appointed receiver for the condominium association.

Prior to the sale, Avison Young had continued to market the nearly 1.9-acre property, after releasing an offering memorandum. Court filings show that information has been provided to more than 160 interested buyers, according to the Real Deal web site.

Most of the proceeds of the sale are expected to go to families of victims of the collapse of Champlain Towers South, which has been called the deadliest structural failure in U.S. history. Another $50 million is expected to come from insurance coverage.

Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman at a recent hearing counseled family members of the victims and surviving owners not to squabble over how the proceeds are distributed.

“We have 98 people who perished in this. If the choice I have is to give unit owners more, or take the excess and give it to relatives of family members who died, I’m going to go with the latter,” Hanzman said, as was reported on the insurancejournal.com web site. “These decisions are difficult. It’s going to be sad, in my view, if we see unit owners going up against each other on this issue,” he added.

According to a Miami Herald report, Judge Hanzman with input from the victims of the condo tower collapse and lawyers involved in a class-action negligence case, will have final say over which developer prevails in the bidding competition. The judge’s decision is likely to come in the spring.

The proposed sale agreement does not mention a memorial that some victims’ family members have lobbied for at the site. The sale will have to be signed off on by Michael Goldberg.