Miami Beach condo evacuated over structural concerns a year after deadly Surfside collapse

The city of Miami beach ordered a condominium building to be evacuated immediately after inspectors raised safety concerns.

Residents of the oceanfront Port Royale Condominium were given mere hours to evacuate after an inspection found “excessive movement” of a concrete beam from its original position in the parking lot of the 164-unit high-rise structure, CNN reported.

The inspection took place during the building’s 50-year-recertification process. The 14-story condo complex sits just a few miles up the beach from the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, where 98 people were killed during a collapse in June 2021.

Engineers that conducted the inspection indicated that shoreline work will take place within 10 days and a second inspection will determine whether residents can return to their homes or not.

“The City of Miami Beach posted an Unsafe Structure notice yesterday on 6969 Collins Avenue requiring residents to vacate immediately based upon a report from the building’s structural engineer,” Melissa Berthier, a spokesperson with the city, told CNN.

“The tenant relocation ordinance applies to those who rent in the building as required by municipal code.”

Engineers visited the building 10 months ago and marked priority areas to repair in the garage. The repairs began to take place four weeks ago and the engineers were called to supervise the work last week.

The inspection report, obtained by local news station WPLG, states that the building’s structural engineer found “excessive deflection” in a concrete beam in the parking lot.

Experts indicated in the report that the beam that presented excessive movement was believed to support the entire building structure.

The apartment complex also had damage to the walls and water leaking into an electrical gutter, pictures show.

Resident Marsh Markaj told WPLG that he first noticed structural problems in the building two years ago.

“Cracks in the column, cracks in the base, in the garage, behind the pool, everywhere,” Mr Markaj told the outlet. “It’s not possible to fix this; I don’t think so.”

The sudden evacuation comes more than a year after the Surfside tragedy. Miami building officials have faced scrutiny and received calls for change in laws after the collapse.

In June, a judge ruled that the families of the 98 people killed when the Champlain Towers South condo collapsed should receive a share of $1bn.

While none of the parties admitted any wrongdoing, the construction of the luxury condominium was believed to have been somewhat responsible for the collapse of the Champlain Towers South.

Years worth of maintenance problems and questions about the quality of its original construction and inspections in the early 1980s, as well as rising sea levels caused by climate change and damage caused by saltwater intrusion, have been cited.

According to the Associated Press, new laws now require buildings to be recertified after 25 years if they are within three miles of the coast.