Miami’s mayor is moving to forcibly acquire 10 acres of land on Fisher Island, one of the priciest ZIP codes in the US, from real estate developers who want to replace a maritime fuel facility with swanky new condominiums.
The site is home to the Port of Miami’s fuel depot, a vital piece of infrastructure for the bustling cargo and cruise hub. The depot’s previous owners sold the parcel last year for about $180 million to a group of developers including Jorge Perez, widely known as Miami’s “condo king.”
The group had planned to remove the depot and replace it with high-end, ultra-luxury condos. The proposal was welcomed by island residents who see the facility as an eyesore and a potential threat to their health, but caused alarm in the cruise industry over the availability of fuel.
The developers’ plans left Miami-Dade County, which owns and operates the port, reaching for a solution. County officials entered closed-door mediation with the group to buy back the land, and the group agreed in principle to sell the property to the county for a total of about $400 million, according to court documents in a related lawsuit.
However, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said in a statement on Friday that “the price was simply too high.”
The faceoff over the fuel depot was the latest sign of tension between South Florida’s emerging billionaire class — which has brought an insatiable demand for luxury condos to the area — and some of the region’s longstanding industries. Miami is the headquarters for most of the world’s largest cruise lines and has been a major cruise port for decades, drawing waves of tourists who help pump more tax revenue into local coffers.
After reviewing a final proposed settlement, Levine Cava determined that the county will seek to use its eminent domain powers to take over the land. The legal process allows governments to seize private property for public use in exchange for fair market value, as determined by a court.
“We pursued negotiations in good faith and carefully considered the proposal,” Levine Cava said. “We have a responsibility to be good stewards of public funds and protect the public interest. We remain committed to ensuring PortMiami has the reliable fuel supply it needs to continue its operations.”
Perez’s Related Group is in a joint venture on the project with Raycliff Capital, GFO Investments and HRP Group, a Chicago-based firm that redevelops industrial sites. Related Group declined to comment for this article.
HRP Group said in a statement that they will continue to pursue the project, calling it a “generational opportunity” to build a world-class development on the island. HRP accused Miami-Dade County of “incompetence” and said the previous owners had alerted local officials of the sale.
“Seizing private property is not the solution for public failure,” the company said in a statement. “We will defend against and defeat any attempt to condemn the property.”
The mayor’s move comes after months of feuding that has roiled the ultra-wealthy island, the developers and Miami-Dade County government. On Thursday, the mayor announced the imminent departure of the Port’s director, Hydi Webb, and her long-time deputy, Jimmy Morales.
Webb and Morales couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Last month, a Fisher Island resident group sued the developers, alleging that they backed out of their plan to remove the fuel facility in order to flip the property to the county for a profit. The island community association had worked with developers on the condo plan and overwhelmingly supported it.
The parcel is the last sliver of land available for development on the island, an exclusive enclave that can only be reached by boat with private beaches, marinas and a golf course and country club.
In November, the developers shared plans to build two 13-story ultra-luxury condo towers, where they expected to list penthouse units for $100 million. They said they expected the total sell-out for the project to be $2 billion, and that they’d already sold units in handshake deals.
Related Group is nearly done developing a condo building next to the fuel depot, where they sold a pair of penthouses for $150 million.
Jon Paul Perez, the company’s chief executive officer and Jorge Perez’s oldest son, said in an interview last year that the fuel-depot site would be “the last masterpiece to complete the island.”
Photo: Fisher Island (AdobeStock image)
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