Just hours after the boom separated from the crane tower and struck Property Markets Group’s 300 Biscayne Avenue, another crane collapsed in Miami, this time at the Related Group’s GranParaiso condominium tower.
Multiple news stations reported Sunday afternoon that a tower crane at Related’s 10-acre megadevelopment in Edgewater snapped amid Hurricane Irma’s howling winds and is dangling beside the apartment tower at 480 Northeast 31st Street.
BREAKING NEWS: 2nd crane collapses in Miami this one is dangling from GranParaiso NE 31st & Biscaynd Blvd. Anyone nearby beware. @wsvn pic.twitter.com/aPKDMCYotG
— Omar Lewis (@OlewisON7) September 10, 2017
Plaza Construction is the general contractor of the project, which is slated to be completed next year.
No injuries were reported in the crane collapse, and it’s unclear what level of damage the building sustained, if any.
Update 3: Crane still dangling, putting buildings below in danger. @CityofMiamiFire can’t respond in current #HurricaneIrma conditions @NBC6 pic.twitter.com/W0pC7vI0lE
— Michael Spears NBC6 (@MikeSpearsNBC6) September 10, 2017
A spokesperson for Related could not immediately be reached.
Able to physically confirm second crane collapse at 600 NE 30th ter. @CityofMiami pic.twitter.com/Gz1CgSZsNe
— Francis Suarez (@FrancisSuarez) September 10, 2017
Related launched sales at the 317-unit tower in April 2015 and is at least 65 percent presold, according to an ISG report released in May. Prices at the 319-unit building overlooking Biscayne Bay range from $600,000 to over $4 million for penthouses.
At least 20 such tower cranes — which can only be disassembled and moved by a handful of contractors — are still in the city as Hurricane Irma’s 100-plus mile-an-hour winds rocks buildings.
The National Hurricane Center said earlier this week that winds hitting upper floors of high-rise buildings are significantly stronger than near ground level.
In a phone call with city officials, John Moriarty, the general contractor at PMG’s 300 Biscayne Boulevard, said the crane’s counterweight had fallen through the interior of the building’s upper plate. Another executive at the firm, John Leete, said that all possible precautions were taken but “we believe that a micro-tornado struck this area, compromising the crane.”
The Paraiso District continues to progress and will be ready for its residents soon!
photo by @GoldenDuskPhoto pic.twitter.com/79ZAUCPLmH— Related Group (@Related_Group) September 1, 2017
Check out all of The Real Deal‘s Hurricane Irma coverage here. [Miami Herald] — James Kleimann