Jade Beach condo association sues Fortune over damages from Jade Signature

Gil Dezer isn’t the only Sunny Isles Beach developer having a hard time getting along with his neighbors.

Fortune International Group was just sued by the condo association for Jade Beach, a tower it built in 2008, over alleged construction damages from the developer’s latest tower next door, Jade Signature.

According to the suit, Jade Signature’s development team never installed protective netting as the 57-story tower rose out of the ground at 16901 Collins Avenue, directly to the south of Jade Beach.

As a result, Jade Beach’s pool deck and other common areas were hit with loose nails, concrete and dust, the suit says. That prompted the association’s attorney to send a letter to Fortune in late September, spelling out the damages and demanding nearly $420,000 to cover the repairs.

Not much changed by early October, according to a second letter from Jade Beach‘s condo association attached to the suit. Instead, the association’s attorney wrote, Fortune didn’t put in place any further safety measures because Jade Signature was topping off in a couple of weeks. The letter ended with Jade Beach’s attorney promising a lawsuit.

The suit, filed in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court last month, names Fortune, general contractor Suffolk Construction and Fortune’s development entity Sunny Isles Beach Associates LLC as defendants. It requests a trial by jury to stop Fortune and its team from continuing to build Jade Signature until netting is installed, as well as to award the Jade Beach association damages.

A representative for Fortune could not immediately be reached. Suffolk Construction said in a statement, “The safety of our workers and the communities where we build is a top priority,” though the firm declined to disclose any information.

Jade Signature is a luxury condo tower with 192 units priced between $3.9 million and $33 million. The building topped off last month at 57 stories and 90 percent sold, with an opening date slated for year-end 2017. When completed, it will be the fourth Jade-branded tower by Fortune, after Jade Beach, Jade Ocean and the Jade Residences at Brickell Bay.

Also last month, Sunny Isles mega-developer Gil Dezer found himself in a similar situation when a condominium neighboring his Porsche Design Tower filed suit claiming the tower’s sheet pilings caused cracks in the next door building’s walls.