‘ENTIRELY PREVENTABLE’

Surfside: New Lawsuit Blames Construction of Luxury Building Next Door for Deadly Condo Collapse

The class action suit alleges developers ignored repeated warnings from residents, who said they felt vibrations from the construction of the luxury building next door.

A new class action lawsuit filed over the deadly collapse of a beachfront condo in Florida points the finger at a luxury high-rise next door, claiming construction there caused vibrations that weakened the Surfside building. The 169-page complaint alleges that Eighty Seven Park tower “was an older building in need of routine repairs and maintenance, but it was not until excavation and construction began” on it that Champlain Towers South was put in danger. Excavation, pile-driving, and groundwater runoff from the construction site weakened the neighboring building, according to the filing.

The suit targets Eighty Seven Park’s developers, an engineering firm, a Miami law firm, and Champlain Towers South officials. The class action suit purports to represent all victims and their families and alleges developers ignored repeated warnings from residents, who tried to raise alarms about feeling vibrations from the construction of Eighty Seven Park. But Champlain Towers South was “improperly designed, poorly constructed, significantly underfunded and inadequately maintained and repaired,” according to an attorney representing the developers of the neighboring building. The Surfside condo collapsed in June this year, killing 98 people.