Biscayne 21’s halted teardown in Edgewater leaves Miami waterfront tower empty after pivotal court rulings

An unfinished demolition has turned a bayfront condominium into a court-controlled property

A 13-story waterfront condominium in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood, known as Biscayne 21, has been left empty and partially dismantled after a yearslong legal fight over whether the building could be terminated and redeveloped. The property, located at 2121 N. Bayshore Drive, was built in 1964 and contains 192 units.

Two Roads Development assembled control of most units beginning in 2022 as part of a plan to replace the existing building with a luxury residential project branded under the Edition name associated with Marriott. While most owners sold, a small group of remaining unit owners refused to accept buyout offers and challenged the process used to end the condominium.

What the courts decided—and why it matters

The central dispute focused on the condominium declaration and whether the threshold required to terminate the condominium could be lowered from unanimity to 80% without unanimous consent. In appellate rulings that ultimately remained in effect after the Florida Supreme Court declined to take up the case in October 2025, the holdout owners prevailed on the key legal point: lowering the termination threshold was treated as a change affecting owners’ voting rights, requiring unanimous approval under the building’s governing documents.

With the termination invalidated, the redevelopment plan has been effectively frozen. The building, however, is no longer in livable condition following demolition-related work carried out while litigation was ongoing.

The “zombie tower” problem: a building stripped of basic systems

By the time the legal pathway narrowed, much of Biscayne 21 had already been gutted. Work described in filings and reporting includes removal of interior finishes, plumbing components, windows, and building systems, along with interruptions to utilities and air conditioning. The result has been a vacant structure on one of the city’s more prominent bayfront corridors—physically standing, but functionally unusable.

The current impasse combines two outcomes that rarely coexist: a redevelopment that cannot proceed, and an existing building that cannot readily be occupied without major restoration.

A judge’s restoration order and the financial stakes

In January 2026, a Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge issued an order directing the developer and affiliated entities to restore the building and impacted units to their condition at the time the lawsuit was filed in May 2023. The order also imposed constraints tied to the property’s status while the underlying dispute continues through enforcement and related proceedings.

Estimates cited in project-related reporting have put restoration costs at roughly $65 million, in addition to significant sums associated with acquiring units and initiating demolition. The standoff also introduces uncertainty for prospective buyers tied to the planned replacement project, including purchasers who entered contracts during the preconstruction sales period.

Broader context: condo governance under heightened scrutiny

The Biscayne 21 litigation unfolded amid heightened statewide attention to condominium oversight following the June 24, 2021 Surfside collapse and subsequent reforms affecting building inspections, reserve funding, and long-term maintenance planning. While those safety changes are distinct from condominium termination disputes, together they have sharpened focus on how aging buildings are maintained, bought out, and redeveloped—particularly in high-value coastal markets such as Miami.

• Location: 2121 N. Bayshore Drive, Edgewater, Miami

• Building: 13 stories, 192 units, built in 1964

• Key dates: lawsuit filed May 2023; Florida Supreme Court declined review in October 2025; restoration order issued January 2026

For now, Biscayne 21 remains in legal and practical limbo: a prime waterfront parcel where redevelopment cannot advance as planned, and re-occupancy depends on costly restoration under court supervision.