Enter the Twilight Zone: The IconBrickell Case and Mixed-Use Condominiums

Mixed-use developments in Florida are becoming more common, with buildings that have a lot of different uses in one place. For example, the Four Seasons in downtown Miami has offices, a hotel, a gym, and residential units all in one building. But, there can be challenges with figuring out who is responsible for maintaining shared areas like the lobby. If a branded hotel is part of the building, they have specific rules about how things should look and be taken care of, and this can cause problems for the rest of the building. To solve this, developers have been taking out parts of the building that would usually be shared by everyone. The government used to say this was against the law, but they changed their minds when they realized that mixed-use buildings wouldn’t work without these changes. A condo association in Miami was sued by a resident for including parts of the building in the hotel unit. The resident claimed it violated the law. The association argued that the lawsuit didn’t make sense, the time limit for filing it was over, and they didn’t do anything wrong. The court didn’t agree and said the lawsuit can continue. But because the owner of the hotel unit wasn’t involved in the lawsuit, the case might not be fair. The trial court said the condo declaration violated the law in seven ways. The appeals court agreed with the trial court, but their opinion was a bit confusing. The appeals court based its decision on a law that defines common elements in a condo. The court ruled that the common elements in the statutory provision cannot be recharacterized as something else, such as shared facilities. The court also questioned whether the statutory provision should be seen as a mandate or just a default provision. They pointed out that the language used in the provision does not clearly indicate it as a mandate. This has led to confusion in the legal field about how to interpret and apply this provision. The appellate court looked at the law for condos and said that things like the lobby, elevators, and trash facilities are supposed to be shared by all the condo units. But then, they said they didn’t want to make a broad ruling about what counts as shared stuff. Some people think the court only talked about utility lines, but they actually mentioned other shared things too. So, it seems like the court was saying that the condo owners were doing a lot of things wrong in their condo agreement. The Third DCA didn’t address important questions about property rights and reformation in a condo dispute. They didn’t explain how the court could change the condo rules without involving all the affected owners, or whether there’s a time limit for challenging the rules. These are big legal issues that the court didn’t talk about. This case is about a group of residential unit owners who were forced to pay for facilities they had no control over, and a court ruled in their favor. But the original contract clearly stated the lack of control by the unit owners, so it’s not a case of a mistake. Also, none of the other unit owners supported the lawsuit.

Imagine if you bought a car and the contract said it was old and might not work well, but then the engine stopped and the buyer sued and won the purchase price back. Is that fair?

People who buy units in a hotel or mixed-use project expect professional management to maintain their investment’s value. Allowing individual owners to control operations could lower the standard and hurt everyone’s investment. So, the court’s decision might not be fair to all the owners in the long run. The court’s decision about the mixed-use buildings could cause problems for hotel condominiums in Florida. The court didn’t seem to understand how these buildings operate. This decision might lead to more lawsuits and problems for developers and owners. As Florida cities grow, it’s important to find fair ways to manage and maintain mixed-use buildings. If an important party is left out of a court case and no one brings it up in the lower court, it can’t be brought up later. The declaration of condominium says that most common areas are part of the hotel unit. Martin A. Schwartz is a lawyer who specializes in real estate law. He is part of a law firm in Miami and is involved in the condo practice. This information comes from the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section. This section of the law aims to teach lawyers about duty and serving the public, improving justice, and advancing the law.

Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/enter-the-twilight-zone-the-iconbrickell-case-and-mixed-use-condominiums/