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Miami Beach developer sues contractor over Hurricane Irma damage
Contractor filed lien against property for unpaid work
Alan Lieberman’s South Beach Group Hotels is suing a contractor over damage to a construction site in Miami Beach, alleging negligence and breach of contract.
Affiliates of the hospitality firm filed the lawsuit against Miami-based Allied Roofing’s Fidelity GBH Group Inc. in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court this month. North Beach Properties II is alleging that the contractor left the roof on one of its properties unfinished at the time of Hurricane Irma, leading to extensive damage.
Allied Roofing was hired to build new roofs for the building at 6755 Harding Avenue, 8320 Harding Avenue and 2365 Pinetree Drive in Miami Beach. Owner Marcial Garcia told The Real Deal that his workers completed all three, but that he wasn’t able to get a final inspection completed for the property at 6755 Harding Avenue, where part of the roof blew off during the storm.
The lawsuit alleges the roofing company didn’t complete the installation of the roof and close the permits and that Allied refused to install a completed roof. Garcia also filed a lien on the property for unpaid work.
“We are entitled to get paid for the work we did,” he said. “If roofing companies had to be responsible for the damage sustained by hurricanes, we would be out of business.”
South Beach Group affiliates allege that Allied used “the same inferior materials and/or inferior workmanship” for all three properties. Garcia said he used materials from GAF, the largest roofing manufacturer in North America, and the same crew for all three buildings. The roof likely blew off, he said, because the building had no windows and doors. Winds during intense hurricanes and tornados can rip through properties, causing pressure to build inside a structure.
Property records show North Beach Properties II LLC, which leads back to Lieberman’s PCCO Inc., paid $4.8 million last year for the two-story, 30-unit apartment building at 6755 Harding Avenue. No financing was recorded.
South Beach Group has 18 hotels in its portfolio, according to the company’s website. Last year, Lieberman paid $5.5 million for a development site in North Beach.
Lieberman said he wasn’t familiar with the suit and couldn’t immediately comment on it.
Harunobu Coryne contributed reporting.