Luxury condos and absence of controls, the axes of the debate which is announced in Miami

the Condominium with Crestview Towers, located north of Miami Beach, was completely evacuated when its structure was found to be unsafe as well as its electrical installations, according to local media.

The evacuation came after the Champlain Towers collapsed on June 24, which prompted municipalities in South Florida to review the residential properties of high-rise buildings, condominiums with a purchase value of up to $ 18 million.

Eduardo RubinAn Argentinian real estate agent with experience in the Miami market, told Telam that “there will undoubtedly be a time of very exhaustive checks on buildings along the coast, as on all those who are almost 40 years old”.

“These units – he stressed – will lower their prices either because they will be less in demand, given that the market makes its homes, or because they will have to carry out expensive maintenance processes”, Rubin specified.

For the agent, the authorities “will be rigid with regard to the maintenance processes and the costs of correcting deficiencies will have to be borne by the owners”.

It is because the Champlain Tower, had been warned in 2018 and 2020, of the structural failures which were mainly based on the construction failures of the swimming pool which was on the ground floor, where “faulty waterproofing caused significant structural damage to the concrete slab below these areas”, according to the report.

“It is said that the construction of the Q87 Park condominium, located on Collins Avenue, in Miami Beach, built two or three years ago, could have affected the structure of the Champlain – which dates from 1981 -, but it is unlikely. , “he told Telam Roxana kosberg, owner of Cityfirst Realty, a leading real estate agency specializing in the purchase of apartments in the State of Florida.

For Kosberg, the reason for the Surfside condo collapse was the “The building owners’ neglect to carry out repairs which have already taken years” and which the report said required some $ 9.1 million.

“There is also speculation that the town of Surfside did not force the building to make repairs or condemn the property. There are many theories, but there is still a long way to go before we can determine the or the causes, ”Kosberg said.

However, the collapse also raised debate on the feasibility of building high-rise buildings on this type of land, without adequate and regular security measures, given that the splendor of Miami Beach, with its white sands and luxury hotels, makes it hard to imagine that it was once an inhospitable swamp.

“All of South Florida is under water and buildings don’t fall regularly. The enforcement agencies will have to raise the bar,” Rubin said.

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Thus, Kosberg also assured that the real estate market will not be affected by the collapse and warned that there are already five lawsuits against the owners of the Champlain towers.

“The collapse didn’t change anything. The real estate market is more active than ever. People keep buying and renting like nothing. As real estate professionals, we always advise clients to professionally inspect any property they buy, ”the businesswoman explained, adding that people“ see it as an isolated incident that has to do with this particular building ”.

Experts agree that it is too early to draw conclusions about the collapse, but they also warn that this disaster serves as a warning to remember the vulnerabilities facing one of the most sought-after tourist and residential areas in the world. planet.

“This kind of thing does not happen in the United States,” he said. Charles Burkett, mayor of Surfside, a county with some of the highest building standards in the United States, due to hurricanes. Such a collapse “is less likely than love at first sight,” Burkett told local media.

“These things just don’t happen. You don’t see buildings falling in the United States and here we have seen a building literally falling,” he said when the event happened.