Board at South Beach luxe condo latest to file construction defect suit

In Miami’s latest face-off between developers and the buyers who fill their buildings, the condominium association for Capri South Beach just filed a lawsuit seeking damages for a number of alleged construction defects.

The Capri is a 69-unit luxury bayfront complex developed by an affiliate of Indiana’s Maefield Development, a firm that was once in the running to redevelop the former Miami Herald property along Biscayne Bay. The property, designed by Kobi Karp, is composed of a 14-story tower and a six-story building.

In the lawsuit, filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, the condo board blames the developer for a litany of problems, including defective sliding glass doors, as well as issues with waterproofing and building design.

The suit alleges that many of these defects were either latent or couldn’t be spotted by a layman, which is why the association failed to spot them when the Maefield-associated entity turned over control of the building to it.

“Kobi Karp failed to exercise a reasonable degree of skill and care in providing architectural and professional services, and failed to perform its services in accordance with the standard of care used by similar professionals in the community under similar circumstances,” the suit states.

The association is seeking an unspecified amount of damages for the defects, as well as an additional $850,275 it claims the developer owes after the associations accountants reviewed financial statements for the building after turnover.

The suit alleges, among other things, that the plaintiffs violated Florida building codes and were negligent.

The suit names Maecapri, the development entity used by Maefield; G.T. McDonald Enterprises, the general contractor, Kobi Karp Architects; and a number of subcontractors.

Requests for comment to Maefield, Kobi Karp and G.T. McDonald were not immediately returned.

There have been a flurry of construction-defects lawsuits filed over the past year at many ritzy Miami projects. Just last month, downtown Miami’s Vizcayne South Tower joined its sister building in suing the complex’s development team over a gambit of alleged defects. And in a more explosive piece of litigation, several buyers at the recently developed Chateau Beach have filed suit against Chateau Beach LLC, Coastal Construction of South Florida and Professional Plumbing related to a gas explosion on the top floor at the high-rise condo tower in Sunny Isles Beach.