Jorge Ramos Wins Blue Lagoon MIA Site for $50M in Bankruptcy Auction

Jorge Ramos bid $50 million to win a bankruptcy auction for an entitled 6.9-acre site at 4865, 4875 and 4885 NW 7th Street in Blue Lagoon, the vacant parcel just west of Miami International Airport that has carried city approval for a mixed-use project since 2019.

Why it matters

The site landed in Chapter 11 after lender TIG Romspen sued to foreclose on entities tied to developer Caroline Weiss of Weiss Group Cos., alleging a $13.2 million mortgage went unpaid past its October 2022 maturity along with three years of property taxes. Court records show the debtors filed as two related entities, 7 At Blue Lagoon (1), LLC and 7 At Blue Lagoon (2), LLC, both landing before Judge Robert Mark in the Southern District of Florida bankruptcy court. For developers pricing entitled dirt in the South Florida airport corridor, a $50 million clearing price on fully approved land, against a $23.9 million runner-up bid, is the clearest signal yet of how wide the gap still runs between what a confident buyer will pay and what a backup bidder considers fair value for the same site.

The numbers

Ramos qualified to bid by posting a $600,000 deposit and showing proof of more than $50 million on hand. His winning offer topped the backup bid from RIC (Blue Lagoon) LLC, which came in at $23.9 million, more than half below the winning number. The site carried initial 2019 approval for 888 apartments and 294 hotel rooms across six buildings with 1,412 parking spaces, according to the city record cited at the time of the foreclosure ruling; more recent plans on the property have called for 410 hotel rooms and 829 apartments. Recent appraisals had put the property’s value above $100 million.

What’s next

Auction results go before the bankruptcy court for confirmation, and once a sale is confirmed, Ramos has a 15-day window to close. If the deal funds, it hands an airport-adjacent, fully entitled assemblage to a buyer who cleared the bankruptcy process at less than half the site’s recent appraised value, a discount that other distressed landowners near MIA will now have to explain if they expect a higher number.