Before Florida building collapse, $9M+ in repairs needed

Owners of units in a Florida oceanfront condo building that collapsed with deadly consequences were just days away from a deadline to start making steep payments toward more than $9 million in major repairs that had been recommended nearly three years earlier.

That cost estimate, from the Morabito Consultants engineering firm in 2018, meant owners at Champlain Towers South were facing payments of anywhere from $80,000 for a one-bedroom unit to $330,000 or so for a penthouse, to be paid all at once or in installments. Their first deadline was July 1.

One resident whose apartment was spared, Adalberto Aguero, had just taken out a loan to cover his $80,000 bill.

“I figured I would pay it off after they fixed the building. I didn’t want to pay it off before because you never know,” said Aguero, adding that he pulled the paperwork to make the installment payments a day after Thursday’s collapse. “I said cancel everything.”

The death toll rose Sunday by just four people, to a total of nine confirmed dead. But after almost four full days of search-and-rescue efforts, more than 150 additional people were still missing in Surfside. No one has been pulled alive from the pile since Thursday, hours after the collapse.

An itemized bill sent by the condo board in April to owners of the building’s 136 units showed that much of the planned work was in the pool area and the facade. Installing new pavers and waterproofing the pool deck and building entrance would cost $1.8 million, with another $1 million going to “structural repairs” and “planter landscaping,” according to a condo board email. A line item of “miscellaneous repairs” that included work on the garage was estimated to cost $280,000.

Total costs assessed, including many items that appeared to be for aesthetic purpose: $15 million.

Engineers and construction experts say the Morabito documents that focused just on the structural work make clear there were several major repairs that needed to be done as soon as possible. Other than some roof repairs, that work had not begun, officials said.

The cost estimate emailed by Morabito Consultants to Surfside officials was among a series of documents released as rescue efforts continued at the site of the collapsed building, where more than 150 people remained unaccounted for.

Stephanie Walkup, an engineering professor at Villanova University, said it will take time to pinpoint the cause — or series of causes — that brought down Champlain Towers South.

“The ultimate cause of the collapse may have been related to design error, construction error, deterioration or other event,” Walkup said in an email.

“We all want answers and engineers will want to learn from this collapse as we have others, but we want to make sure we have the right ones,” she added.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3jh87IH