Bay Harbor Islands’ latest luxury condo has gone from glossy waterfront sales pitch to a legal brawl over missed deadlines, alleged defects and millions in disputed construction costs. Continuum Company, led by Ian Bruce Eichner and Alexandra Eichner, sued Suffolk Construction over La Baia South, while Suffolk has answered with liens and notices claiming the developer still owes it. The fight is now spilling into the project’s promised finish line for buyers.
The lawsuit, filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, alleges breach of contract, breach of statutory warranty, negligence and a fraudulent lien. In documents reviewed by The Real Deal, Continuum says the 2022 construction agreement carried a guaranteed maximum price of $68.6 million, but the project’s cost climbed to $71.1 million. The developer blames Suffolk for mismanagement, defective work and repeated threats to stop working.
How The La Baia South Fight Started
Continuum says Suffolk was required to substantially complete the roughly 68-unit building in June 2025, but the contractor missed that target by 198 days. The complaint says Suffolk cycled through project executives, allegedly kept the site understaffed, failed to purchase enough construction materials and ultimately abandoned the work. Suffolk has pushed back in contractor notices, arguing that Continuum caused delays and failed to pay millions of dollars it owed.
The project had already faced a complicated approval history before the courtroom clash. A 2022 agenda packet from the Town of Bay Harbor Islands shows that the development was redesigned after the developer ran into FEMA and Florida Building Code issues involving underground parking, leading to a smaller unit count and alternative parking arrangements.
La Baia South was launched as the first phase of a two-building Bay Harbor Islands plan. The Real Deal’s earlier project report described plans for waterfront condo buildings with one- to four-bedroom residences, boat slips and resort-style amenities. Current asking prices for La Baia South units range from just over $800,000 to $3.5 million.
Delays, Defects And A Disputed Price Tag
The complaint describes a building caught between a temporary occupancy milestone and a much longer punch list. Continuum alleges the property required a roof replacement and had reports of leaks and possible mold in units and common areas, while city inspectors declined to sign off on problems involving waterproofing, fire alarms, windows and doors.
La Baia South obtained a temporary occupancy certificate in January 2026, but the complaint says the building remained unfinished, lacked a final occupancy certificate and had eight permits still pending when the case was filed. Continuum also alleges Suffolk installed a Florida Power & Light transformer outside the property line, causing a monthslong delay.
The money fight is nearly as sprawling as the construction dispute. Continuum says the job’s cost rose by about $2.6 million beyond the contract figure, while Suffolk has asserted claims involving a contract balance, delay extensions, change orders and a conditional discount that was tied to the contractor also being hired for La Baia North.
Liens Keep The Condo Fight Alive
Suffolk filed a lien on La Baia South for roughly $4.5 million and sent notices to the project’s lender, Fortress Investment Group. The contractor warned that it could pursue members, officers and shareholders of the ownership entities personally, according to the filings described in the report.
Several subcontractors have also placed liens on the property, including Biscayne Construction for about $446,000, East Coast Flooring & Interiors for roughly $564,000 and Mousseri Painting for approximately $177,000. Those claims add another layer of pressure for a project whose buyers are waiting for a clean path from temporary occupancy to full completion.
The Legal Stakes For Eichner’s Waterfront Project
La Baia’s condominium association joined Continuum as a plaintiff, turning the dispute into more than a private fight between a developer and its general contractor. The case now raises questions about who is responsible for the delays, whether the alleged construction problems were properly corrected and which party is entitled to collect money from the project.
Suffolk has declined to comment, while Eichner and his attorneys did not respond to a request for comment reported by The Real Deal. For now, La Baia South remains a luxury waterfront building with residents and buyers looking toward a finish line that the lawsuit says is still not fully in sight.
