Five years after suing Miami Beach hotelier Keith Menin, their condo association and companies tied to developer Russell Galbut for allegedly authorizing nearly $30 million in illegal assessments to renovate and repair the Shelborne Hotel, 40 investors who bought rooms in the historic property have lost their battle.
Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Beatrice Butchko last Friday issued a final judgment in favor of the defendants Menin, Joan Brent, Justo Carlos Padron, Martin Wasserman, and the Shelborne Ocean Beach Hotel Condominium Association, Shelborne Property Associates and Shelborne Operating Associates.
State incorporation records show Galbut is a manager for Shelborne Property and Shelborne Operating. Ronald Rosengarten, a Greenberg Traurig shareholder who represented the Galbut entities, said Butchko’s ruling confirms that the assessments were proper, appropriate and above board.
“Shelborne Property Associates, Shelborne Operating Associates and condo association board members have endured years of unwarranted personal attacks on their character and reputation by the plaintiffs,” Rosengarten said in a statement. “All Shelborne unit owners should be pleased that their investment has been enhanced by owning units in a building whose commercial areas have been totally and beautifully refurbished, and where life-safety and aging conditions have been responsibly addressed and rectified.”