Jeffrey Rossely, senior vice president of development at Damac, confirmed that no contracts have been signed at the project. Rossely said that the initial sales launch was likely rushed, and that the firm faced delays in completing the sales center.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe initial soft launch<\/a> we did in January 2025 was premature. We debated that with the sales team. We thought we would have the sales gallery finished in February [2025]. We also thought the market would pick up after the inauguration of the President,\u201d Rossely said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Damac paid $120 million<\/a> for the 1.8-acre property in 2022, about a year after Champlain Towers South collapsed overnight, killing 98 people the previous summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n Damac purchased the site as the sole bidder via a court-ordered auction of the property, with the proceeds of the sale allocated toward unit owners, including the families of victims who died in the collapse.\u00a0<\/p>\n The sale and planned redevelopment of the property has been controversial, as many wanted the property to be turned into a memorial for the victims. Local developers and brokerages largely stayed away from the property because of the stigma associated with the tragedy.<\/p>\n Damac tapped Zaha Hadid Architects to design the luxury condo building and hired Douglas Elliman<\/a> to lead sales and marketing. The sales team includes Tara West and Farid Moussalem. The units start at $15 million but average between $35 million and $40 million, with penthouses that could hit the market for more than $150 million, Rossely said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Damac has been close to striking deals, but they\u2019ve fallen through, Rossely said. That included issuing contracts to a buyer for more than $200 million worth of units. But there were \u201cquestion marks over the source of the funding\u201d and the developer decided to not proceed with that deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n The most successful new luxury development in Surfside in recent years is Fort Partners\u2019 Four Seasons-branded condo and hotel project at the Surf Club, where a penthouse sold last summer for more than $6,700 per square foot<\/a>. <\/p>\n Rossely also acknowledged that Damac doesn\u2019t have a track record of developing ultra luxury condos in the U.S. \u201cThere\u2019s a degree of reasonable skepticism so we needed to prove this was going to happen,\u201d Rossely said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sajwani, who is worth more than $15 billion<\/a>, according to Forbes, has developed tens of thousands of residential units, mostly in the Middle East and London. Sajwani has also been referred to as the \u201cDonald Trump of Dubai.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Sources told TRD that Damac is in talks to joint venture with another developer on the Delmore.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA number of parties have approached us, and we are having discussions to see whether we go down that route but under no circumstances would we be leaving the project,\u201d Rossely said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The developer is resubmitting its master building permit and working on securing insurance and a general contractor to move the project forward. It plans to relaunch sales toward the end of this year, Rossely said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \tRead more \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDevelopment\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSouth Florida\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n “We took action and moved fast”: Damac boss on Surfside plan, US expansion<\/p>\n \t\t\t<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Billionaire heir to revitalize Dubai office skyscraper<\/p>\n
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