The Champlain Towers South Condo at 8777 Collins Ave was 40 years old. The 12-story, 130-unit building, which was completed in 1981, was the first project to be built in the area after Miami-Dade County placed a moratorium on new developments during the 1970s, said Daniel Ciraldo, executive director of the Miami Design Preservation League.
Surfside struggled financially during the 1970s, Ciraldo said, and its water and sewer systems had degraded. The county required the town to upgrade its water and sewer systems before approving any projects.
Champlain Towers South Associates, the developer of Champlain Towers South, paid Surfside $200,000 in late 1979 — half of the cost for a new sewer system. With the new system in place, construction soon started on the project, Ciraldo said.
Once completed, international buyers flocked to the building. “A lot of foreign people were moving to South Florida for political stability that we had in the United States,” he said. “They wanted to live on the beach.”
Amenities in the 136-unit building included a pool, gym, barbecue area, tennis courts and a parking garage, “which was a newer thing,” Ciraldo said, “compared to hotels, where you just drove up to the entrance.”
County inspectors were reviewing the 40-year-old building, Ciraldo said. According to the Miami-Dade County building code, all residential buildings are required to undergo a re-certification process when they hit 40 years. The process includes inspections to ensure the building is habitable and safe.
“The building was in okay shape,” said a Realtor with Compass who has multiple listings in the building and spoke on condition of anonymity. “They were just starting repairs to upgrade.”
The association recently hired an engineer to develop specifications for electrical and structural changes needed to obtain the re-certification, a requirement of Miami-Dade County, but had not yet started construction.
“They were well into the review with the engineer about the project,” said Kenneth Direktor, an attorney with the law firm Becker who has represented the association for the last five years.
Condo association meetings were well attended, Direktor said, even throughout the COVID-19 pandemic over Zoom. Direktor described the community as “active and engaged.”
“There are working people, families with kids, people of retirement age,” he said. “Not a particular ethnicity or particular religion. It is a diverse community.”
Nearly 70% of Champlain Towers was occupied by primary homeowners and second homeowners, Romanello said by email and text. Units ranged from 1,500-square-foot, two-bedroom homes to 2,200-square-foot, three-bedroom homes. Prices ranged from $500,000 to $1.2 million. Penthouse unit 1012, a Compass spokesperson said, sold for $1.1 million in January 2020."
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article252325063.html
That’s why I wonder had they start to work on the roof structure, did something wrong, and....