Miami Beach orders 57 Ocean and Hotel 18 construction sites to shut down

The city of Miami Beach issued stop work orders at 57 Ocean and Hotel 18’s construction sites, saying they failed to comply with safety regulations during the Covid-19 emergency period.

Miami Beach Associates LLC was issued the stop work order for the 57 Ocean project at 5775 Collins Avenue, after an inspection on Monday. Multiplan Real Asset Management, owned by Brazilian billionaire José Isaac Peres, is developing the 18-story, 71-unit condo building on the site.

The city also ordered that construction stop at 1775 James Avenue, where Blue Road is planning Hotel 18, an expansion of the Redbury Hotel. Both projects were given time to secure their sites and leave them in safe conditions, and both have stopped construction, according to a spokesperson for the city of Miami Beach.

Construction has been allowed to go on throughout much of South Florida during the pandemic, with some cities such as Bal Harbour shutting down all construction at occupied properties. One Miami developer, Sergio Pino, shut down construction of his site after two workers tested positive for the virus, and then reopened the site the following week with a reduced workforce.

In Miami Beach, all construction is considered an essential activity and is allowed to go on.

Blue Road closed on an $18 million loan for the Redbury expansion and renovation last year. M&C Contractors is handling construction of the hotel project.

Moss & Associates is the general contractor for 57 Ocean.

Marcelo Kingston, managing director of Multiplan, said in a statement that the developer was notified on Wednesday that construction would be suspended for two weeks. Kingston added that the project is two months ahead of schedule and still plans to open next fall.

“The health and well-being of our surrounding neighbors, contractors, and workers remains our top priority, and [we] hope this temporary interruption will contribute to the social distancing efforts our larger community has in place,” he said in the statement.

Multiplan and its contractors are working on securing their site. Construction had reached the 10th floor of the 18-story building, Kingston said.

The beachfront property was previously home to the Marlborough House condo building, which unexpectedly collapsed during a planned conventional demolition in 2018, killing a demolition project manager.