Miami Beach apartment building evacuated over concerns about deteriorating concrete

A Miami Beach, Fla., apartment building has been evacuated over concerns about deteriorating concrete after buildings in the city were ordered to conduct an audit following a structure’s collapse in Surfside. 

The city ordered the evacuation of the 82-year-old Indian Creek Drive apartment building on Monday, Manny J. Vadillo, an attorney representing the building owners, told The Hill. 

Vadillo says the owners have started working to “vacate the building in an orderly fashion.”

“My clients are extremely sensitive to safety and, in fact, visited the property several times since last week to speak with tenants when communications started with the city to ensure tenants were not caught by surprise,” Vadillo said. “Some tenants have been there many years.”

The building joins a host of other structures in Miami-Dade County that have been evacuated for similar concerns. A section of the Champlain Towers South condominium complex collapsed at the end of June after inspectors had found significant concrete deterioration around the pool area. 

However, the building was not evacuated at the time. The collapse has killed dozens of people, and the standing parts of the building were later demolished. 

Following the Surfside collapse, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava (D) ordered an audit of all properties in the area 40 years and older. 

There are still 14 tenets in the building, and the city is giving until the end of the week to move out.

The building owners had already contacted the city in May after they decided to demolish the building in December. 

They have been working on moving residents out of the building since May going from 28 to 14 tenets before the city ordered the evacuation.