The 300 room, $225 million luxury resort was all the rage back in 2004, when developer WCI Communities claimed to have sold 87% of the building’s units to high-profile buyers.  The high didn’t last long.  In May 2006, three construction workers died when a concrete wall collapsed, and allegations of structural problems and massive flooding have been plaguing the building ever since.  WCI filed for bankruptcy in 2008, and an unlikely duo (a Virginia lumber mogul and a Colombian businessman) Tom Sullivan and Jorge Arevalo swooped in to save the day.  Or so they thought. Long story short, problems arose between Arevalo and both the residential and the hotel associations, then came a seriously detailed and damaging audit report, followed by a hell of a lot of construction defect lawsuits. And here we are!

Opening price is set at $13 million, with Stoneleigh Capital acting as stalking-horse bidder.  Elcom is hoping for an auction before the end of the year, and we’re all hoping someone can get this mess in order before the building starts to look dated. Oh wait, too late. —Margina Demmer · One Bal Harbour trustee seeks bankruptcy auction [SFBJ] · One Bal Harbour: Swanky high-rise address or big condo hotel mess [SFBJ] · One Bal Harbour coverage [Curbed Miami]