Jorge Pérez’s effort to unload a four-bedroom penthouse he owns at One Ocean in Miami Beach may have just gotten more complicated.
Miami’s condo king just chopped nearly 50 percent off his original three-year-old asking price of $20 million on the unit, in response to the oversupply of luxury condos. Now, One Ocean’s condominium association is alleging Pérez’s firm, the Related Group, along with seven companies involved in the project’s construction, did a defective job building the 50-unit project at 1 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach’s South-of-Fifth neighborhood.
The association filed a lawsuit late last month in in Miami-Dade Circuit Court against the Related-owned entity that developed One Ocean, as well as project architects Ten Arquitectos and Sieger Suarez, general contractor Plaza Construction of Florida, and four subcontractors, alleging negligence.
A spokesperson for Related and Perez declined comment. A spokesperson for Plaza said the firm was just notified about the lawsuit. “We feel we have meritorious defenses against it,” she said. Plaza had no further comment, she added.
Executives for the six other defendants, including Sieger Suarez principal Charles Sieger and Ten Arquitectos owner Enrique Norten, did not respond to phone messages and emails seeking comment. An attorney for the condo association declined comment.
Since Related turned over control of the building in 2016 after it was completed, the condo association discovered a litany of design and structural defects, the lawsuit alleges. For instance, the association alleges it found deficiencies in the mechanical, electrical, plumbing and life-safety components of One Ocean. Specific damages include corrosion on sliding glass doors; cracked stucco, walls, ceilings, balconies and masonry; and deteriorated and defective balcony railings.
The association wants Related and the seven companies to pay for repairs to the building. Pérez, Related’s chairman and CEO, paid $4.2 million for the 3,528-square-foot penthouse on May 24, 2016. The top floor unit features a wrap-around terrace that overlooks the pool. He is currently asking $10.95 million for it, about 45 percent less than what he listed it for three years ago.
According to a Douglas Elliman’s first quarter sales report, 70 luxury condos sold in Miami Beach and the barrier islands, a 2.8 percent drop from the same period last year. Listings averaged 195 days on the market, a 41 percent increase compared to 2018’s first quarter.