The City of Miami is moving toward legal action against the developer of Mercedes-Benz Places at One Southside Park after it failed to deliver a new Fire Station No. 4 required under a 2023 public benefits agreement tied to the high-profile Brickell project.

The Miami City Commission voted unanimously April 23 to authorize the city attorney to take all legal action needed to enforce the agreement with developer 191 SW 12 Owner LLC, an affiliate of JDS Development Group led by Michael Stern. The move comes after the city’s three-year deadline for completion expired March 15 without a finished station, followed by a notice of default issued April 3 and no permanent facility in place.

In February 2020, JDS Development Group bought downtown city-owned property along Southwest Second Avenue for $23 million to develop One Southside Park, a 67-story mixed-use tower planned to include condominiums, a boutique hotel, office space and public amenities as part of a broader redevelopment of Southside Park, including a modernized two-acre public green space. In early 2024, JDS Development announced a partnership with Mercedes-Benz to brand 791 condominium units within the tower.

The property included the site of City of Miami Fire Station No. 4 at 1111 SW Second Ave., which became part of a broader public benefits agreement between the city and the developer tied to the project’s approval.

Under that agreement, the developer was required to finance and construct a replacement Fire Station No. 4 at an estimated cost of $8 million, along with $2.2 million for fire trucks and other public benefits, in exchange for development rights at the site. The agreement called for the new station to occupy about 32,000 square feet within the ground level of the development and be transferred to the city upon completion, while the city would convey the existing fire station parcel for redevelopment.

A 2023 amendment to the agreement later allowed the developer to demolish the existing station and proceed with construction of its replacement, based on assurances it would be completed expeditiously. Fire-rescue personnel were relocated to a temporary station at Southside Park during construction.

Construction on the replacement station began around March 15, 2023, triggering a 36-month completion deadline that expired last month. In the interim, the developer also secured additional development rights through a covenant and easement agreement allowing work on portions of the site.

City officials now say the developer failed to complete the station and has also fallen behind on other required public benefit payments. The resolution says the temporary fire station currently housing fire-rescue personnel is deteriorating as hurricane season approaches, raising public safety concerns.

“The developer’s failure to construct and deliver the new fire station … and the ongoing conditions of the construction occurring on Southside Park and the temporary fire station poses an immediate threat to the health, safety, and welfare of the public,” the item states.

The action comes amid broader financial pressure on the project. Court filings from April 1 show CWRE SSF Flamingo Capital, an affiliate of the Cottonwood Group that acquired the debt, filed a foreclosure lawsuit against 191 SW 12 Owner LLC over an $86 million bridge loan originally provided by Maxim Capital Group. The lender alleges the borrower defaulted on the loan, which has grown to roughly $100 million including interest.

With the commission’s authorization, the city attorney can now pursue legal avenues to enforce the agreement and protect city-owned land and public safety facilities tied to the project.