It’s been two years since the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside collapsed in the early morning hours, destroying half the building’s units instantaneously and killing 98 people.
The tragedy forced a legislative overhaul of condo safety rules that raised the bar for building inspections and maintenance. As condo associations across Florida scramble to bring buildings up to the new standard, many residents will be forced to pay up.
Bayfront Tower is one of several luxury condos that line the affluent stretch of Beach Drive in downtown St. Petersburg. Built in 1975, the 29-story building boasts a rooftop pool, fitness center and easy access to shops and restaurants. Sleek floor-to-ceiling windows provide sweeping views of Tampa Bay. It’s been home to some of the city’s most prominent residents, including architects, judges, entrepreneurs and former Gov. Charlie Crist.
But Bayfront Tower, with its million-dollar units and upscale amenities, is facing growing pains as a result of the new condo legislation.
Engineers hired to inspect the building discovered a host of major issues, including possible problems with post tension cables, the metal framing and stucco on the outside of the building, the garage concrete and the roof. That’s according to an FAQ document that the board of directors sent to residents and was reviewed by the Tampa Bay Times.
Though the building was deemed structurally sound, the document said repairs could cost millions and take years to complete. Condo owners will pay special assessments to cover it all.
Greg Main-Baillie, executive managing director for the Florida Development Services Group at Colliers, oversees construction projects for condos across the state. He said repairs of that magnitude could cost as much as building a new tower.
The board did not respond to specific questions about the cost or timeline of repairs. But according to the document, additional testing will be done on the building and the board will seek out other expert opinions before finalizing a plan.
The Times called more than 100 current and former unit owners in the building over several weeks. All declined to speak publicly. Some said that negative publicity could affect their property values. Others said they feared retribution from their peers in the building.
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The Times filed a public records request with the city of St. Petersburg to obtain a copy of the inspection. But the city said the board had not yet submitted one.
Slider Engineering Group, the firm that performed the inspection, declined to comment and deferred to the board.
“Bayfront Tower, like hundreds of other high-rise condominiums in the state of Florida, has retained an engineering and construction team to opine on the structural conditions of the condominium building, and to provide recommendations for improvements that will ensure that Bayfront Tower remains one of the most desirable waterfront high-rises in Florida,” the board wrote in a statement to the Times.
Now, aging condos across the state will face the same scrutiny as Bayfront Tower thanks to Senate Bill 4-D, which the Florida Legislature passed unanimously in a special session last year. Another bill that made slight changes to the law passed in April.
Under the new rules:
- Condos three stories and higher must undergo an initial milestone inspection after 30 years and every 10 years thereafter. This will determine whether the building is structurally sound and if it needs any repairs.
- Buildings that are already 30 years or older must have milestone inspections completed before Dec. 31, 2024.
- Condos three stories and higher must perform a study of reserve funds before Dec. 31, 2024, and every 10 years thereafter. This will determine how much condo associations must save to properly maintain the building.
- Condo associations will be barred from waiving or underfunding reserves.
Prior to the collapse of Champlain Towers South, unit owners in…
Read More: St. Petersburg condo may need costly fixes, post-Surfside review finds