Condo owners in the South Florida tower that collapsed last week were facing assessments for millions of dollars worth of repairs – with payments set to begin a week after the building’s deadly fall.
The Champlain Towers South condo association approved a $15 million assessment in April to complete repairs required under the county’s 40-year recertification process, according to documents obtained by CNN.
The documents show that more than two years after association members received a report about “major structural damage” in the building, they began the assessment process to pay for necessary repairs.
Owners would have to pay assessments ranging from $80,190 for one-bedroom units to $336,135 for the owner of the building’s four-bedroom penthouse, a document sent to the building’s residents said. The deadline to pay upfront or choose paying a monthly fee lasting 15 years was July 1.
An itemized list of planned repairs included new pavers, planter landscape and waterproofing – addressing some of the issues noted in a 2018 engineer’s report, which warned how leaking water was leading to deteriorating concrete. The most costly project was “facade, balcony and railing repairs” for $3.4 million.
The 2018 report, prepared for the condo association, had previously estimated that necessary repairs to the Surfside, Florida, building would cost about $9.1 million. It’s unclear whether the issues identified by Frank Morabito, the structural engineer who produced the report, contributed to the disaster.
In an April letter to homeowners, condo association President Jean Wodnicki described the progression of decay at the building, saying, “the observable damage such as in the garage has gotten significantly worse since the initial inspection.” She noted that the “concrete deterioration is accelerating. The roof situation got much worse, so extensive roof repairs had to be incorporated.”
“Other previously identified projects have been rolled under the main project. New problems have been identified. Also, costs go up every year,” the letter states. “This is how we have gone from the estimated $9,128,433.60 cited in Morabito’s 2018 report, to the much larger figure we have today.”
The big assessment bill came as an unwelcome surprise to so