Living in one of South Florida’s many aging, waterfront condo buildings comes with a nagging feeling: What if a developer closes on a bulk unit buyout, with plans to redevelop the site?

In some cases, it may be a blessing. Facing skyrocketing assessments due to stricter structural and electrical safety requirements imposed after the deadly Surfside collapse, homeowners can find a way out by selling their unit to a developer. But for many, it’s an ordeal. It means going through a termination of the condo governing structure and numerous back-and-forths over per unit offers with the buying developer –– plus put pressure on them to decide if they’re willing to part with the homes they’ve tended to and invested in over the years.

Just take a look at Biscayne 21. The 23-story, 192-unit building has been a longtime fixture framing Margaret Pace Park’s expansive greens in Miami’s Edgewater, but over the better part of the last five years it also became a cautionary tale of the boondoggle bulk condo buyouts can become. Biscayne 21, at 2121 North Bayshore Drive, was completed in 1964 and now sits vacant.

This week, a group of 10 holdout unit owners and Two Roads Development settled their three-year lawsuit, paving the way for the development firm to build the 55-story Edition Residences, which would mark the latest addition to Edgewater’s growing condo canyon. Two Roads will pay the holdouts a combined $50 million.

The holdout unit owners’ first sued Two Roads, led by Taylor Collins and Reid Boren, hinging their 2023 complaint on one main claim: After Two Roads closed on the purchase of the majority of units in 2022 for $150 million, gaining control of the association, it illegally amended Biscayne 21’s governing documents to lower the threshold for condo termination to 80 percent from 100 percent. They also alleged their neighbors were “manipulated, bullied, deceived and pressured” to sell in 2022.

Two Roads at the time responded that it adhered to “all proper protocols and spent months working closely with Biscayne 21’s residents” to work out a “seamless termination plan” that was approved by the state.

The case got tangled in court. First, a trial court issued an order in Two Roads’ favor, but then an appeals court overturned this. Neither the appeals court nor Florida’s Supreme Court wanted to hear Two Roads’ requested rehearing.

On Aug. 31, Two Roads and the holdouts settled.

But Robert Murphy, one of the holdouts, said all this could have been avoided. In 2021, as Two Roads was negotiating with Biscayne 21 unit owners, he had asked for about a third more than the $1.3 million the developer offered him at the time, but the developer blew him off, along with another unit owner with a similar request. If Two Roads had responded, Murphy, who is an attorney, wouldn’t have dug in, he said.

The holdouts and Two Roads agree on one thing: Florida lawmakers have to finally weigh in on bulk condo buyouts. Unit owners are calling for more protections for others targeted by developers, while Two Roads argues more clarity is needed on the process.

For years, condo owners across South Florida have been receiving offers by developers, but buyout offers skyrocketed after the deadly Surfside collapse in 2021 that led to stricter structural safety regulations, necessitating costly repairs. They are primarily targeting aging, waterfront buildings, which coincidentally face some of the most stringent repair mandates.

Perhaps lawmakers do need to weigh in. But history shows that’s not as simple. Since imposing stricter condo safety regulations, lawmakers have had to tweak these laws in subsequent years to address unforeseen problems from the initial legislation. Such was the case too with other major real estate items passed in recent years: Lawmakers also have gone back to tweak new laws on the Live Local Act and condo-hotels governance.

Biscayne 21’s unwinding took four years, multiple courts and $50 million to resolve. If that’s the blueprint for condo terminations, then Florida probably does need a new guidepost.

Also this week, Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s vow to freeze rates at rent-stabilized buildings now is in the hands of a judge. And while Chicago is dealing with its own divisive tenant-protection policy proposals, in Texas, embattled investor Nate Paul managed to keep some of his crumbling real estate holdings. Plus, plenty more.