A commercial condominium in the heart of Miami Beach—home to restaurants and just steps away from the ocean—is embroiled in legal battles.

The building, at 1501 Collins Ave., is home to Tequila Chicas, a Mexican-themed restaurant and bar, and Quality Meats, an offshoot of a New York chophouse.

Now, Tequila Chicas and the owners of some of the units, including those occupied by the Mexican restaurant, have sued the condominium association and the owners of other units, some of whom sit on the condo board. The plaintiffs allege the defendants have conspired to force a fire sale of the building to gain ownership of the entire property for much less than what it's worth on the market, according to the Oct. 19 complaint in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.

The lawsuit was filed by Patrick E. Gonya Jr., partner at Carey Rodriguez Milian Gonya LLP in Miami.

“Normally, if you were going to sell a property … as valuable as this property, you would hire a team of brokers and they would go out and market the property. … Usually, some developer would come in and they would pay top dollar for it,” Gonya said. “That's not what the majority owners want. They want this to be done through the online auction where people literally don't know anything about this property.”

The condominium's market value is more than $100 million, the plaintiffs say in the complaint.

But the majority owners are pushing for an online foreclosure sale through which they would be able to buy the remaining units they don't own for “dirt cheap,” according to the complaint.

“Then they can take the property and they can redevelop it themselves and make lots of money,” Gonya said.

To that effect, the association secretly voted to terminate the condominium under Florida law, essentially a step toward being able to sell the building in an online auction, Gonya said.

The association's certificate of termination violated Florida law because, in part, it did not vote on the initiative at a duly noted meeting where the plaintiffs could have voted, and, as a result, the termination would not have been allowed, according to the complaint.

Before that, according to the complaint, the condo association board of directors also let the building fall into disrepair, including not fixing and maintaining the air conditioning, roof and elevator that serve Tequila Chicas. The condo board also decreased the maintenance assessment by 50 percent.

The condominium has 19 units and various businesses have been housed there through the years, but now the building is mostly empty, Gonya said.

The plaintiffs sued the condo association, 1501 Ocean Steps Condominium Association Inc., and eight limited liability companies, each of which owns one or more units, court records show.

They also sued Russell Galbut, of development firm Crescent Heights; Galbut's daughter, Marisa Galbut; Andrew Mirmelli; Richard Weisfisch and Mathieu Massa. They are either directly or indirectly affiliated with the LLCs listed as defendants, according to Gonya.

A representative from Crescent Heights said Russell Galbut said he is not aware of the lawsuit and that he declined to comment.

Mirmelli is managing partner of parking company M&M Downtown Parking LLC, according to his LinkedIn account. He, too, said he was unaware of a lawsuit.

Mirmelli said he owns half of the garage in the building, has the option of being bought out, and it was his understanding there have been talks between one of the defendants and a Tequila Chicas representative to sell the restaurant.

Weisfisch and Massa could not be reached for comment.

The plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief on their claims, which include breach of fiduciary duty, constructive fraud, civil conspiracy and tortious interference with contractual and business relationships. They are also asking the court to appoint a receiver to manage the day-to-day duties of the association, and they want the judge to stop the sale of the building, according to the complaint.

Separately, some of the LLCs listed as defendants in this lawsuit filed a partition action Aug. 1 against some of the plaintiffs, asking the court, among other things, to direct the clerk of the court to sell the building.

A commercial condominium in the heart of Miami Beach—home to restaurants and just steps away from the ocean—is embroiled in legal battles.

The building, at 1501 Collins Ave., is home to Tequila Chicas, a Mexican-themed restaurant and bar, and Quality Meats, an offshoot of a New York chophouse.

Now, Tequila Chicas and the owners of some of the units, including those occupied by the Mexican restaurant, have sued the condominium association and the owners of other units, some of whom sit on the condo board. The plaintiffs allege the defendants have conspired to force a fire sale of the building to gain ownership of the entire property for much less than what it's worth on the market, according to the Oct. 19 complaint in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.

The lawsuit was filed by Patrick E. Gonya Jr., partner at Carey Rodriguez Milian Gonya LLP in Miami.

“Normally, if you were going to sell a property … as valuable as this property, you would hire a team of brokers and they would go out and market the property. … Usually, some developer would come in and they would pay top dollar for it,” Gonya said. “That's not what the majority owners want. They want this to be done through the online auction where people literally don't know anything about this property.”

The condominium's market value is more than $100 million, the plaintiffs say in the complaint.

But the majority owners are pushing for an online foreclosure sale through which they would be able to buy the remaining units they don't own for “dirt cheap,” according to the complaint.

“Then they can take the property and they can redevelop it themselves and make lots of money,” Gonya said.

To that effect, the association secretly voted to terminate the condominium under Florida law, essentially a step toward being able to sell the building in an online auction, Gonya said.

The association's certificate of termination violated Florida law because, in part, it did not vote on the initiative at a duly noted meeting where the plaintiffs could have voted, and, as a result, the termination would not have been allowed, according to the complaint.

Before that, according to the complaint, the condo association board of directors also let the building fall into disrepair, including not fixing and maintaining the air conditioning, roof and elevator that serve Tequila Chicas. The condo board also decreased the maintenance assessment by 50 percent.

The condominium has 19 units and various businesses have been housed there through the years, but now the building is mostly empty, Gonya said.

The plaintiffs sued the condo association, 1501 Ocean Steps Condominium Association Inc., and eight limited liability companies, each of which owns one or more units, court records show.

They also sued Russell Galbut, of development firm Crescent Heights; Galbut's daughter, Marisa Galbut; Andrew Mirmelli; Richard Weisfisch and Mathieu Massa. They are either directly or indirectly affiliated with the LLCs listed as defendants, according to Gonya.

A representative from Crescent Heights said Russell Galbut said he is not aware of the lawsuit and that he declined to comment.

Mirmelli is managing partner of parking company M&M Downtown Parking LLC, according to his LinkedIn account. He, too, said he was unaware of a lawsuit.

Mirmelli said he owns half of the garage in the building, has the option of being bought out, and it was his understanding there have been talks between one of the defendants and a Tequila Chicas representative to sell the restaurant.

Weisfisch and Massa could not be reached for comment.

The plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief on their claims, which include breach of fiduciary duty, constructive fraud, civil conspiracy and tortious interference with contractual and business relationships. They are also asking the court to appoint a receiver to manage the day-to-day duties of the association, and they want the judge to stop the sale of the building, according to the complaint.

Separately, some of the LLCs listed as defendants in this lawsuit filed a partition action Aug. 1 against some of the plaintiffs, asking the court, among other things, to direct the clerk of the court to sell the building.