{"id":4243,"date":"2026-06-01T17:06:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T17:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/06\/01\/how-miami-taxpayers-could-be-left-holding-a-400m-bill-for-luxury-real-estate\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T17:06:02","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T17:06:02","slug":"how-miami-taxpayers-could-be-left-holding-a-400m-bill-for-luxury-real-estate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=4243","title":{"rendered":"How Miami taxpayers could be left holding a $400m bill for luxury real estate"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"border-color:var(--article-border);background-color:var(--article-inner-background)\" class=\"dcr-wqti5a\">\n<div class=\"dcr-2zxs1v\">\n<div style=\"--grid-area:media\" data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tr9ye5\">\n<figure id=\"50abf332-f542-4c07-af4a-6857ca7e8002\" class=\"dcr-142siv7\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"residential buildings on an island\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/ae0c910e8e61570ad50708714d48d21970d548e5\/0_0_5328_3552\/master\/5328.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"310\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><span class=\"dcr-v822l1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-gup2gr\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fntg6k\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-1xgwz8b\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1os51wo\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">The Fisher Island neighborhood in Miami, Florida.<\/span> Photograph: Eva Marie Uzcategui\/Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"50abf332-f542-4c07-af4a-6857ca7e8002\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-n4pnam\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1hdkqum\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">The Fisher Island neighborhood in Miami, Florida.<\/span> Photograph: Eva Marie Uzcategui\/Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:border\" data-gu-name=\"border\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:headline\" data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1aqe7zu\">\n<div class=\"dcr-13sure5\">\n<div class=\"dcr-47lvke\"><a href=\"\/tone\/analysis\" class=\"dcr-epjkf7\">Analysis<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h1 class=\"dcr-1k1a1x\">How Miami taxpayers could be left holding a $400m bill for luxury real estate<\/h1>\n<div class=\"dcr-isvq2p\">\n<div class=\"dcr-f3dx7u\"><a rel=\"author\" data-link-name=\"auto tag link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/profile\/joseph-contreras\">Joseph Contreras<\/a><span> in Miami<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:standfirst\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1b20i6h\">\n<p>Miami-Dade county officials agreed to pay HRP Group more than double the price for land on Fisher Island to protect fuel depot used by the cruise industry<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:body\" data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-kn9unn\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1a4fred\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-ydnaza\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-1c9t5u6\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">A three-way tug-of-war erupted in recent months over ownership of a property on Fisher Island \u2013 one of the wealthiest zip codes in the United States \u2013 that sits in Biscayne Bay opposite the skyline of downtown <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/miami\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Miami<\/a>. When TransMontaigne Partners, a Denver-based global energy company, put the parcel on the market in May 2024, interest ran high because that land represented the last remaining piece of real estate available for development on the island.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The eventual winner of the bidding war was a Chicago-based developer called the HRP Group, which purchased the property for $180m in late September last year. The developer then announced ambitious plans to build condominium towers on the property at an estimated cost of $2bn.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">After a series of events that unfolded over the past eight months, most of which occurred quietly and behind closed doors, the HRP Group <a href=\"https:\/\/therealdeal.com\/miami\/2026\/05\/28\/fisher-island-association-club-sue-over-fuel-depot-deal\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">reportedly<\/a> struck an agreement in principle to sell the property to Miami-Dade county for $400m. The developer stands to reap a windfall <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bizjournals.com\/southflorida\/news\/2026\/05\/28\/related-group-raycliff-capital-fisher-island-condo.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">$220m in profit<\/a> without ever breaking ground on the site \u2013 and the county\u2019s taxpayers will have no choice but to foot the bill.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"7fef2ceb-6ba0-4638-ba92-8a9066c5ec14\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-47fhrn\">\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" data-link-name=\"rich-link-3 | 3\" data-component=\"rich-link\" data-name=\"placeholder\" class=\"dcr-1kyw41h\">\n<div data-format-theme=\"5\" data-format-design=\"0\" data-format-display=\"0\" class=\"dcr-ak3j0c\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/14\/trump-presidential-library-miami-lawsuit\" class=\"dcr-1m887w9\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-ut4tvs\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1h5b6rb\">\n<div class=\"dcr-169d7yv\">Miami residents sue over land for Trump presidential library<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-eurq8n\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fkf7vq\">Read more<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">There was always one catch to the purchase of the property located at 1 Fisher Island Drive. The site is host to a Depression-era fuel depot that services Miami\u2019s cruise line industry, and its squat, unsightly fuel tanks have a way of ruining the otherwise spectacular views of some Fisher Island swells. Those vital pieces of infrastructure would have to go \u2013 and under the terms of sale, the HRP Group agreed to demolish the fueling facility and undertake whatever environmental cleanup would be necessary before construction of the envisioned condominium towers would commence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">As word began to spread last summer that the much-coveted property might be changing hands soon, senior officials of Miami-Dade county went into panic mode. Miami is host to the busiest cruise line port in the world, and the loss of the fuel depot would deal a major blow to industry titans such as Royal Caribbean and Carnival. The nearest fueling terminal is 22 miles away at Fort Lauderdale\u2019s Port Everglades \u2013 and if several high-profile cruise companies ever decided to abandon the Port of Miami as their main point of departure in the US, it could mean the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs for the local economy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">An emergency meeting of the 13-member board of the county commissioners was scheduled for 18 September to address the emerging imbroglio over the fuel depot site. The members who attended the meeting voted narrowly in favor of a resolution asking Daniella Levine Cava, the county mayor, to instruct the county attorney\u2019s office to initiate legal proceedings aimed at halting the handover of the land parcel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The obvious option available to officials was to assert Miami-Dade county\u2019s right to take over the fuel terminal site on the grounds of eminent domain, a legal doctrine that gives government entities the right to take over land deemed to be in the public interest in exchange for providing fair market value compensation to the property\u2019s private owners.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">That sent alarm bells ringing across Fisher Island, which is only accessible by ferry or helicopter to preserve its residents\u2019 privacy and exclusivity. It also mobilized the board members of the Fisher Island Community Association (Fica), Inc, a not-for-profit corporation representing more than 800 property owners, and in January this year Fica and its sister body, the Fisher Island Club (FIC), filed a lawsuit seeking to disqualify as unconstitutional any attempt by the county to seize the property on the basis of eminent domain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In March, the county countered with a motion to dismiss the Fica\/FIC complaint. The legal wrangling suddenly entered a new and unexpected phase last Thursday when HRP cut a deal with the county to unload the parcel of land for a sum more than twice what it had paid less than a year ago.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cThe only people that have been screwed here are the citizens of Miami-Dade county,\u201d said Joe Garcia, a former congressman and prominent community leader. \u201cThere are only three explanations for this. Massive incompetence, criminal negligence or corruption. Knowing Miami-Dade county, all three are more than possible at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Also crying foul were the grandees of Fica. The terms of HRP Group\u2019s original purchase in September 2025 required the Chicago-based developer to hand over four acres of the land parcel to Fica.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">That sweetheart deal will be null and void if the agreement the county has apparently reached with the Chicago-based developer holds up in court.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Cava said through a spokesperson that she was declining to comment. Hydi Webb, the Port of Miami director, also declined to comment. Requests for an interview with the HRP Group\u2019s chief executive officer or a spokesperson went unanswered.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In light of that possibility, the leadership of Fica and FIC filed a lawsuit on Thursday morning that seeks to torpedo the newly concluded agreement between HRP and the county.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cHRP came to Fisher Island promising to clean up a century-old hazard and build a residential community,\u201d said James L Ferraro, the Fica chairman, in a written statement that divulged the existence of the HRP-county accord. \u201cInstead, they saw a pile of taxpayer cash, sold out our residents, and decided to leave a dangerous fuel farm sitting right next to our homes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">As the dust settled by the end of this week, some longtime residents voiced outrage. \u201cYou can\u2019t have a port without a fuel depot, and everyone involved here knew this was an indispensable asset,\u201d noted Garcia. \u201cWe\u2019re paying someone $220m for something that we couldn\u2019t have lived without. Anywhere else but Miami-Dade county, that would be a criminal act.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-qxqnsy\"><span class=\"dcr-1rq3vad\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1dzx48f\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-1rrvs2w\">\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/florida\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Florida<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/miami\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Miami<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/business\/realestate\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Real estate<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/tone\/analysis\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">analysis<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-nu129i\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=How%20Miami%20taxpayers%20could%20be%20left%20holding%20a%20%24400m%20bill%20for%20luxury%20real%20estate&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jun\/01\/miami-dade-fisher-island-dispute?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-125qj9d\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-zhx6xs\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fjun%2F01%2Fmiami-dade-fisher-island-dispute&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/jun\/01\/miami-dade-fisher-island-dispute\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-14rjinq\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:right-column\" data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1h2hraq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tn16h9\">\n<section class=\"dcr-1hko8ef\"><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Fisher Island neighborhood in Miami, Florida. Photograph: Eva Marie Uzcategui\/Bloomberg via Getty Images View image in fullscreen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}