April 5 (UPI) — Months after a Miami Beach condominium collapsed killing nearly 100 people, officials have ordered a nearby building to evacuate.
The City of North Beach said Monday that the order was issued for the five-story Bayview 60 Homes apartment complex after it received a brief letter Friday from structural engineer Bronislaus P. Taurinski who wrote the building was “structurally unsound and must be evacuated immediately.”
The building, which was built in 1972, was undergoing repairs in advance of its upcoming 50-year recertification inspections when Taurinski informed the building’s owner and the city for it to be immediately evacuated due to “critical structural issues” caused by “a deflection in the elevation of the building’s floor slabs.”
Residents will receive a refund of April’s rent and return of their security deposits and the city will allow renters to re-enter the building later this week to pick up their belongings and to move out furniture.
“We are in direct communication with the property owner of Bayview 60 Homes to ensure that all residents are immediately notified and evacuated from the unsafe apartment building,” Arthur Sorey, city manager of the city of North Beach, said in a statement. “The city is working with the owner to ensure that all residents will receive proper assistance as they relocate within the next 24 hours.”
The inspection of the building began in July, about a month after the Champlain Towers condominium in nearby Surfside partially collapsed, killing 98 people.
Earlier this month, lawyers for unit owners who survived the incident reached a tentative $83 million settlement.
