Residents of Grove Isle are back in court once again seeking to shut down a luxury condominium development that has provoked ire on the private island in Coconut Grove for more than a decade.
Construction workers in September topped off the final floors of Vita at Grove Isle – a seven-story, horseshoe-shaped building sandwiched between Biscayne Bay and one of the three original Grove Isle condominium towers.
The new building with 65 waterfront residences wraps the northern tip of the island, fully obstructing the idyllic views once enjoyed by residents of Tower Three. Instead of panoramic sunrises, residents now awaken to the sight of glass and concrete.
As developer CMC Group puts the finishing touches on the project, a group of neighborhood-advocacy groups say Vita should be barred from opening.
Protect Grove Isle, Tigertail Association, and the Coconut Grove Civic Association recently re-filed a lawsuit requesting an injunction to revoke permits and city approval for the nearly completed project.
The plaintiffs argue that the City of Miami granted permits for Vita in the absence of required platting to divide the building site from the rest of the island.
It’s the second time in three years that Grove Isle advocates have re-filed the case, which names the City of Miami as the sole defendant.
“Because there has been no replatting, the permits issued by the city in connection with the building are illegal,” according to the lawsuit, which was refiled on January 23.
David Winker, attorney for the plaintiffs, says platting is an essential process to divide land so that property development and sales, along with the delegation of utility service, can proceed in an organized, lawful manner.
The island is listed in county records as a single plot of land – one that Winker says should be under the purview of the owners of the original Grove Isle condos.
“It’s so cramped and strange,” Winker says of Vita. “There are no setbacks or other elements that would come along with platting.”
The lawsuit also argues that Grove Isle condominium owners were improperly stripped of their access to club amenities when the onsite hotel, restaurant, pool, spa, and banquet hall were demolished to make way for the new building.
Club membership was mandatory for residents of Grove Isle for decades, and many had been assured at the time of purchase that they’d have lifetime access to the club, Winker says.
Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that upon completion, Vita will bring the total number of residential units on the island to 589, in violation of a 1977 covenant signed by the island’s original developers that capped the number of units on Grove Isle at 575.
Winker says he refiled the injunction request as a new court action so that he could include additional advocacy groups as plaintiffs. (Tigertail was already listed as a plaintiff in the previous case.)
The city has not responded to a request for comment.
An investment group led by Eduardo Avila, a prominent Miami developer, bought the Grove Isle club and hotel businesses on the northeast side of the 20-acre island for $24 million in 2013.
Plans for a new condominium on the island have been entangled in litigation ever since, with developers maintaining that they’re entitled to build new structures pursuant to property interests conveyed through Avila’s purchase.
The city moved to dismiss a previous incarnation of the lawsuit on the grounds that a 2020 settlement between Avila and the island’s condominium association amounted to the final word on grievances brought by residents over the project.
“The fact that the governing condominium association has already litigated and settled plaintiffs’ alleged grievances in its representative capacity forecloses plaintiffs from re-litigating their claims before this court,” the city argued.
The 2020 agreement between Grove Isle Condominium Association, which manages the three original towers, and Avila’s Grove Isle Associates allowed construction to move forward.
Under the terms of the deal, the development group agreed to cover a portion of infrastructure costs on the island, and Grove Isle residents would no longer have to pay mandatory club membership dues for new club facilities.
Many residents still view that settlement as a betrayal, including Elizabeth Tamayo, who tells the Spotlight the deal enabled “the disaster” she’s now experiencing.
Tamayo watched Vita’s construction climb floor by floor until the building blocked off the view of Biscayne Bay from her 2,614-square-foot condominium.
She says she and other unit owners on her side of Grove Isle Tower Three have seen their property values drop precipitously as the Vita structure inched upwards.
Tamayo recalls how her eighth-floor balcony’s now-obstructed vista used to give her a sense of serenity.
“I was shopping for a place in Miami, and when I opened the door to this unit and saw the view, I said, ‘Don’t show me anything else. This is where I want to grow old.’ It was so beautiful, so peaceful,” she remembers.
Tamayo, who bought her unit in 2007, says she believes residents can prevail in court in spite of the 2020 settlement and the fact that Vita is nearly complete.
Tamayo is one of several residents previously listed as plaintiffs in the litigation who have since been removed as individual parties.
“I haven’t lost hope yet. It sounds extreme, but if it was illegal in the first place, maybe they should just tear it back down,” Tamayo says. “It would set a dangerous precedent if the city will not do anything when a developer doesn’t comply with the law.”
The City of Miami at one point was in step with residents’ argument that the failure to replat the land rendered permits for the development invalid.
In a January 2019 letter, the Miami City Attorney’s office wrote that “the division of land between the club parcel and condominium parcel was unrecognized and does not meet an exception to platting” under city code.
The city subsequently issued a short-lived, island-wide freeze on permits, which affected not only the new development but also routine permits for existing Grove Isle condos.
The freeze was rescinded after the Grove Isles Condominium Association threatened to sue for $500 million. The change in the city’s stance then paved the way for the 2020 settlement.
Vita at Grove Isle is slated to have units ranging from 2,500 to 5,000 square feet with large outdoor terraces. The project has 12 two-level penthouses ranging from 3,400 to 6,600 square feet with expansive outdoor features including swimming pools and outdoor kitchens.
Units are priced from $4 million and up, according to local real estate agency websites.
The main selling point highlighted by CMC Group’s marketing materials?
“Unparalleled water views.”
POP QUIZ for Spotlight Readers: ASSUME that a replat of the property was required, and that this required the City to do that as a prerequisite before any permit could go forward, regardless of any later “settlement agreement” with the Grove Isle Condominium Association.
QUESTION: Is the fact that developer CMC Group has now been allowed to build this project due to:
A. Incompetence by Miami building officials?
B. Lack of timely vigilance by Grove Isle residents?
C. Business as usual in the Magic City?
D. All of the above?
Thank you, Mr. Parrish! I look forward to someone from the city answering these questions.