David Martin’s Terra Group has canceled a $35 million offer for a group of 40 properties in the West Grove.
Yet, an attorney for Terra said at a bankruptcy hearing on Wednesday that the developer is still interested in buying the Coconut Grove land, which takes up the majority of six blocks from Elizabeth Street to Plaza Street, the Miami Herald reported. “Environmental concerns” killed the deal, attorneys said.
Terra’s interest in buying the properties, which are tied up in litigation, became public because two of the corporations that own the land filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Negotiations for a new contract will begin soon, with a hearing for the pending sale set for early January, the Herald reported.
The sale has been held up by infighting among partners Julio C. Marrero, Phillip Muskat, Orlando Benitez Jr. and others. Benitez, who reportedly stated that he brought Terra Group to the deal, tried to stop the sale in July. Marrero called him a “rogue stockholder,” the Herald previously reported.
Developer Peter Gardner had bid on the land in 2013, then asking $30 million, but the deal fell through. In July, the city of Miami sued the owners over poor living conditions and code violations at the dilapidated apartment buildings along Grand Avenue, Hibiscus Street and Florida Avenue.
If Terra ends up purchasing the properties, it would mark its first major foray into the West Grove. The Coconut Grove-based firm has developed and plans to develop more property on the east end of the Miami neighborhood. [Miami Herald] – Katherine Kallergis