Published in the Miami Herald
A news mention published on 12/1 in the Miami Herald quoted Ball Janik LLP Partner Frank Soto in an analysis highlighting the structural engineering concerns with luxury high-rise towers in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, and the significant financial implications for condo owners. The Miami Herald’s investigative reporting revealed that at least a handful of towers have sunk two to three times more than engineers predicted over the past two decades. While experts interviewed suggest there are no immediate structural or safety concerns, the long-term costs of potential repairs could fall squarely on homeowner associations rather than developers.
“It is a short period of time for something to uncover itself,” said Soto, who has more than two decades of litigation experience advising building owners, condo associations, and homeowners’ associations in construction defect matters. With Florida’s seven-year statute of limitations for structural defect lawsuits, high-rise construction defect litigation in South Florida and elsewhere in the state is subject to a short window of time.
Under Florida law, condo owners and associations are most likely to face large bills if significant problems appear decades later, as the state allows lawsuits over structural defects for only seven years. Engineering repairs triggered by excessive soil settling, corrosive saltwater spray, rising sea levels and stronger hurricanes could cause maintenance costs to skyrocket for coastal structures.
The Miami Herald reporting analyzed more than 40 reports, scientific studies, and interviewed more than a dozen experts to get a robust picture of what high rises, homeowner associations, management companies, and more are dealing with in regard to construction defects and engineering concerns. The article includes illustrations, geotechnical reports, construction pictures, and aerial imagery of the issues that Sunny Isles is facing as its skyline has evolved for more than two decades.
Read the story in full, click here.