A South Florida condominium complex built in the mid-1970s was deemed unsafe and ordered to be vacated by Aug. 5.
The city of Coral Springs said the Villa Bianca condo at 3990 Woodside Drive failed to complete its 40-year recertification in 2016. A recent emergency hearing determined that the 16-unit building is unsafe. Fifteen of the units were occupied at the time of the emergency order on Thursday.
City officials throughout South Florida have been inspecting older buildings following the deadly collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside June 24. A growing number of properties have been deemed unsafe and many have not completed the required 40- and 50-year recertifications.
Villa Bianca, built in 1976, does not have an established condo association, which is illegal in Florida, according to the city. Photos provided by Coral Springs show damage to the two-story building’s roof and ceiling. The city’s violation notice singles out the failing roof, inoperable windows, a fire alarm panel that is in “trouble mode,” and an electrical hazard.
The building is the latest to be ordered evacuated in South Florida.
In Miami Beach, the city ordered residents of the oceanfront La Costa building to evacuate by mid-August. The beachfront property, developed in 1964, did not complete its 50-year recertification, a requirement in Miami-Dade and Broward. In that case, developer Mast Capital had already acquired the majority of units and is planning to tear the building down.
Unit owners and associations will often delay major repairs, and in some cases decide to band together to sell to a developer who can afford to rehab the building or knock it down and build a new project.
Nearly 100 people died as a result of the Surfside collapse. The oceanfront portion of the building came down overnight, collapsing into the underground garage.
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Residential
South Florida
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