Eichner's Continuum, La Baia HOA Sue Suffolk in Bay Harbor Islands

Ian Bruce Eichner’s Continuum Company and the newly formed homeowners association at La Baia South have sued Suffolk Construction in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, according to the Miami-Dade Clerk of Courts docket reviewed by The American Developer. The complaint, filed July 27 as case number 2026-015096-CA-01, names Bay Harbor Islands Property Owner I LLC, Eichner’s ownership entity for the 68-unit bayfront condo tower, and La Baia Condominium Association, Inc. as co-plaintiffs against Suffolk Construction Company, Inc., the general contractor that built the project.

Why it matters

Suffolk is one of the largest general contractors working South Florida’s condo pipeline, with an active docket of construction disputes tied to towers across Miami-Dade. What sets this filing apart is who is suing together. The condo association, which only exists because unit owners have already closed, has joined the developer’s own entity against the builder rather than the more familiar pattern of an association suing its developer. For builders and developers reading the signal, a project that reportedly reached temporary certificate of occupancy is now generating litigation that pulls in the people who bought units, a reminder that delivery is not the same as closing the book on construction risk. The case is docketed as a Contract & Indebtedness matter, the standard circuit civil classification for breach-of-contract claims, not a construction-lien foreclosure.

The numbers

The case is assigned to Section CA27 before Judge William Thomas. Plaintiffs are represented by Kelly R. Melchiondo, Florida Bar No. 582603, of a Brickell Avenue firm. Court records show a $401 circuit civil filing fee paid July 29, the standard fee for a Miami-Dade circuit case, but the underlying claim amount was not visible in the free docket and could not be independently confirmed. La Baia South is an eight-story, 68-unit building at 9201 East Bay Harbor Drive that sold out its residences, with Suffolk serving as general contractor since a 2022 groundbreaking. The specific allegations in the complaint, whether they concern payment, change orders, delay or defects, are not detailed in the public docket entries and were not independently verified beyond the case filing itself.

What’s next

The case remains open with no hearing yet scheduled, according to the docket. Suffolk Construction has not filed a public response as of this writing. For South Florida developers and contractors, the case is worth watching for how it resolves and whether other Suffolk-built condo towers see similar association-and-developer complaints once units close and owners take over the board.