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The line of condos and hotels along Collins Avenue that offers residents panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean is now broken by a haunting pile of rubble.
A fortnight after Champlain Towers South, a 126-story 136-unit apartment building, collapsed in Miami’s Surfside neighborhood, officials in South Florida this week canceled the search for survivors.
Emergency crews shifted the focus to recovering the bodies of the victims of the collapse, who, as of Friday evening, had killed at least 79 people and another 61 “potentially unidentified.”
The search for the cause of the collapse has also begun, although researchers say it is too early to know how long it will take, let alone what the final answer will be.
However, what is clear is that Champlain Towers South needed to repair millions of dollars as part of a 40-year “recertification”, a process established in Miami-Dade and Broward counties to ensure buildings remain safe for decades. of abuse of the sun, sea and salt of Florida.
The organization of these repairs fell to the board of the condominium association, a legal entity made up of volunteer owners chosen by other residents, which maintains the structure and common areas of a building comprising individually owned apartments. .
Repairs were delayed due to cost disputes. This had risen from $ 9 million to $ 15 million before the board voted in April to fund them through a “special appraisal,” a charge charged for a specific project and a dreaded prospect for many condominium owners who they must do their part.
There are parallels with the paralyzing bills that some apartment owners are forced to pay as the owners upgrade coating in their buildings in response to the deadly Grenfell fire in London four years ago.
Less than a third of U.S. condominium associations have enough funds saved for major ticket repairs, such as structural work or a roof replacement, and experts say delays and disagreements are common not only in Florida, but also in the United States.
“All condominiums are like a small micro-society,” said Carolina Sznajderman Sheir, a partner at Eisinger Law who specializes in condominium law.
Sheir said that while 40-year recertification may seem like a “de facto” process, it often results in fights between residents. “That’s why it’s difficult: we’re talking about monumental projects, we’re talking about millions of dollars in restoration.”
“The tips that charge for evaluations are not popular advice,” he added. “People don’t want to pay big fees. . . And politics is politics, whether it’s national or a small board. “
Marta Reeves knows all too well how the process can become an acronym. His family has lived for more than three decades in the Imperial at Brickell, a 161-unit building located about 12 miles southwest of Champlain Towers South. Built in 1983 along Biscayne Bay, its distinctive “red wall” can be seen in the opening titles of the 1980s television program “Miami Vice.”
The situation at the Imperial underscores how debates about how to pay for repairs can lead to hostility: homeowners with different incomes and different philosophies about how much maintenance is needed cut themselves off from each other, sometimes via Facebook or mail. electronic.
Reeves won a seat on the Imperial condominium council in 2010 and was part of a coordinated list of elected officials in March 2018. The five new board members approved a $ 1 million special assessment to repair the roof, the cooling tower and the elevators because the building did not have enough reserves to pay for the work.
Subsequently, the board decided to replace the 944 windows along the famous red wall; a report from an engineer more than a decade ago said they were coming to the end of their useful life. The building’s 40-year certification, which will take place in 2023, required a waterproof “wrap”, while new building codes specified that glass should be able to withstand the impact of hurricanes affecting the coast of Florida.
Therefore, the board approved a valuation of $ 9 million, which would have cost homeowners between $ 45,000 and $ 62,000 per unit. Despite securing funding to help homeowners bear the cost, Reeves and his four-member board members lost their re-election bid in February 2020.
The current and old boards of the Imperial condominium disagree on the maintenance of the 944 windows along its “red wall”, which can be seen in the opening credits of the 80’s TV show “Miami Vice” © Claire Bushey
“It’s not a popular job when, after years of not fixing things in a timely manner, the pepper will come,” Reeves said. “That’s what made us vote.”
Reeves watched in frustration as the new board tried to address the repairs with what she perceived as less organizational insight than before. “I’m not saying they don’t fix it,” he said. “They put band aids in it.”
Rissig Licha, a member of the current board of the Imperial, rejected these suggestions. In an emailed statement, he said the board had “made compliance with the 40-year recertification its main goal since taking office.”
The board also said it had “actively communicated” with the owners during the process and had sought “the best experts and specialists in construction and structures with considerable costs”.
Florida has 1.5 million apartments, more than any other state. State law requires associations to have a timetable to pay for major repairs, but there is a loophole: homeowners can vote to give up joining a reserve fund. Only six states require condominiums to maintain “adequate” reservations without giving homeowners the option to waive the requirement.
Sheir, the attorney, noted that many Florida condominium owners are retired and therefore less concerned about the long-term maintenance of their properties. They prefer to keep the association’s monthly dues as low as possible, he added.
“People just don’t want to pay higher ratings,” he said. “They’d rather have the money in their pocket than someone else’s.”
Not keeping money aside for capital improvements is a problem in the entire United States, but it is particularly acute in Florida, where the weather demands tougher tolls on buildings. Builders use concrete because the weight of the material protects against hurricanes, but over time ultraviolet rays and salty air end up corroding the material, according to Sinisa Kolar, vice president of engineering and architectural consulting firm Falcon Group .
Some local politicians have suggested that Florida should reduce the recertification process from 40 to 20 years, which Kolar said would “raise awareness about the work it absolutely needs.”
But Robert Nordlund, chief executive of Association Reserves, is skeptical about whether the legislation could force apartment owners to budget for future repairs.
What could make the most difference, he said, is whether insurers and mortgage lenders consider the state of a condominium association’s finances when setting premiums or taking out a loan. Lenders usually require the reserve fund of a housing association to be financed with 10% before they are willing to give a mortgage to a buyer.
“The risk factors are there, and they’re so obvious,” he said. “I do not know why they lack these clues. . . I wonder if this is the time when they will start learning and perfecting their subscription standards. ”
The Surfside disaster has taken over Imperial residents, just as it has done in condominium buildings across Miami.
Emergency support columns were placed in the building’s parking lot last week, but Licha said structural engineers hired by the condominium association “have not identified any unusual repairs or conditions that are consistent with similarly located buildings of the same age group ”. Reeves agrees with the current board that the apartment block is structurally sound.
Still, at least one resident looked bewildered this week. He stopped the car in the garage to tell Reeves he had written to the board to express his concerns. He told her to keep writing: tragedies sometimes involve changes.
“It’s a very high cost,” he replied.
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