Developer Caroline Weiss could lose a waterfront development site in Miami’s Blue Lagoon to foreclosure.
Lender TIG Romspen filed a foreclosure lawsuit last week in Miami-Dade Circuit Court against Weiss and entities that own the 7-acre assemblage on Northwest 7th Street and Northwest 48th Avenue. TIG Romspen alleges Weiss failed to pay off a $13.1 million mortgage debt that matured in October of last year, and allegedly failed to pay property taxes in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Lee Mackson, a lawyer for TIG Romspen, declined comment.
Via email, Weiss’ attorney Michael Schlesinger said that TIG Romspen’s lawsuit “has not and will not deter her efforts” to develop the property, find a lender for construction financing “and/or joint venturing [for] this highly valued and unique development opportunity.”
In 2020, TIG Romspen provided a $21.3 million bridge loan to the Weiss entities holding title to the assemblage. At the time, her firm, Weiss Group of Companies, had received city of Miami approval for a mixed-use project with 882 apartments and two hotels with a combined 433 rooms. The city also agreed to increase the maximum height of the proposed buildings from eight to 16 stories.
The TIG Romspen loan became a focal point of a long-running legal dispute between Weiss and her eldest daughter, Adeena Weiss Ortiz, over the ownership of the 7 acres.
In a complaint filed in April of last year, Weiss Ortiz alleged her mother fraudulently obtained the loan, and sought to have it nullified. Weiss Ortiz claimed that her mother allegedly illegally transferred ownership of the assemblage, eliminating her interest in the property. In August of last year, a Miami-Dade Judge dismissed Weiss Ortiz’s lawsuit.
Also last year, Weiss Ortiz lost a separate eight-year-old lawsuit against her mother and the entities that own the Blue Lagoon assemblage.
TIG Romspen is aware that the daughter’s lawsuits have delayed the project, and that Weiss believes the litigation with the lender will be quickly resolved, Schlesinger said. The lender also withheld about $7 million left on the loan after disbursing roughly $14 million to Weiss, he added.
TIG Romspen “refused to allow her access to the balance of the loan to pay expenses incurred, such as her legal fees defending these lawsuits on the property,” Schlesinger said.
In November, Weiss and her other daughter, Alitza Weiss, listed a 1.3-acre vacant portion of their waterfront Coconut Grove estate for $59 million. In March, the listing was taken down and the property was placed back on the market within 24 hours for $49.9 million, according to Zillow.