Chunks of concrete are falling from balconies at the Ritz-Carlton Tower Residences in Coconut Grove, and the 129 condo owners who live there want the building's owner to pay for it.
The Tower Residences Condominium Association filed a lawsuit Aug. 15 in Miami-Dade Circuit Court against Gencom Group LLC, the building's current owner, and former owner Hersha Hospitality Trust, alleging breach of contract and negligence over years of deferred maintenance. Association president Martin Mann estimates repairs will cost $30 million to $40 million.
"We have concrete falling onto the sidewalks below our building," Mann told the Coconut Grove Spotlight.
The 21-story tower sits on SW 27th Avenue between Tigertail Avenue and South Bayshore Drive, overlooking Biscayne Bay. Units typically sell for $1 million or more. The building was completed in 2001 and is one of two Ritz-Carlton towers at the address; the second tower houses a hotel and is not part of the lawsuit.
What's falling apart
According to the complaint, the building's problems include water intrusion into balcony slabs, broken post-tension cables that hold up the balconies, cracking stucco and leaking generator oil that has damaged the parking garage roof. The City of Miami issued a notice of violation in February 2025, but conditions have worsened since then, the lawsuit states.
Building managers have closed a portion of the pool deck and a staircase below the building to protect residents and visitors from falling debris.
Murat Kiral, the building's director of residences, wrote in an Aug. 15 email to condo owners that the building's 25-year recertification report "memorializes many of the damages caused by maintenance failures." Kiral said the building's owner had failed to perform required maintenance for more than eight years despite repeated demands.
Under normal circumstances, unit owners would be responsible for 70% of repair costs. The lawsuit argues Gencom and Hersha should cover the increased expense because their neglect allowed the problems to grow. Mann said the association has already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars with little to show for it. Hersha completed repairs on two "test" balconies, but work stalled when crews discovered more severe damage underneath.
Third tower fight
The lawsuit also seeks to block Gencom from building a proposed eight-story third tower above the existing hotel ballroom. The complaint argues the project violates the property's master declaration and questions whether it complies with city zoning.
Gencom is relying on a City of Miami zoning ordinance, approved in September 2023 and since repealed, that briefly allowed developers to build three stories of bonus height on Grove properties in transit-oriented areas. A separate lawsuit filed in May 2026 challenges that same bonus-height provision as it applies to another Coconut Grove project, The WELL.
Gencom, a Miami-based investment firm founded by Karim Alibhai, reacquired a majority interest in the Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove hotel from Hersha in late December 2025, financing the deal with a $62 million loan from Banco Inbursa, according to The Real Deal. The firm also owns the recently reopened Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne following a $100 million renovation.
Neither Gencom nor Hersha had responded to the Coconut Grove Spotlight's request for comment as of Monday, Aug. 17.
The complaint alleges Gencom would rather devote resources to a new development than maintain the property it already owns. Gencom and Hersha must now respond to the lawsuit in court.
