FILE - In this June 25, 2021, file photo, rescue personnel work at the remains of the Champlain Towers South condo building in Surfside, Fla. A private bidder is willing to offering up to $120 million to purchase the Miami-area oceanfront property where the collapsed Champlain Towers South building once stood. The offer was revealed Wednesday, Aug. 12, during a hearing before Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman.

MIAMI — A private bidder is willing to offer up to $120 million to purchase the Miami-area oceanfront property where the collapsed Champlain Towers South building once stood.

The offer was revealed Wednesday during a hearing before Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman, who is overseeing the dozens of lawsuits that have been filed since the condominium collapsed June 24, killing 98 people. Officials are still trying to determine what caused the building to collapse.

The judge authorized negotiation of an agreement with the bidder, who was not publicly identified. A real estate broker told the judge he had a “letter of interest” from the bidder that offered $110 million for the property, the Miami Herald reported.

Some families had hoped the government would purchase the property to turn it into a park or a memorial site to honor the victims, rather than a residential or commercial development.

By Associated Press