Crane collapses, brick facade crumbles in West Palm

A 130-foot crane at the construction site of the All Aboard Florida train station in downtown West Palm Beach collapsed Friday, one day after the brick facade at an apartment building four blocks away partially collapsed.

The crane collapse caused no injuries, but four people had minor injuries after the part of the facade of the Alexander Lofts apartment building crumbled and rained bricks on a one-story law office. West Palm Beach assistant fire chief Diana Matty told the Palm Beach Post that Friday was “another lucky day where no one died.”

The 110-ton crane tipped over just before 2 p.m. Friday at the All Aboard Florida station construction site. It is one of four stations that will be part of All Aboard’s Brightline passenger train service from Miami to Orlando.

Fort Lauderdale-based Moss & Associates is the general contractor building the train station.

Part of a brick facade bearing a mural at the Alexander Lofts apartment building peeled off Thursday morning and fell four stories onto the law office of William W. Price, P.A., at 320 Fern Street.

Alexander Lofts in West Palm Beach (Credit Lannis Waters / Palm Beach Post)

Firefighters evacuated the apartment building and the law office. Among the 85 apartments at Alexander Lofts, 76 were occupied.

Citing responses by city officials, the Palm Beach Post reported that rusted metal tie rods that attached the brick facade to the apartment building failed, causing part of the facade to peel away and collapse.

Alexander Lofts, owned by Ram Realty, is a former Bell Telephone building erected in the 1920s. [Palm Beach Post] — Mike Seemuth