Condo-collapse survivors to get some items back
$750,000 in cash found at site
Personal property recovered from the destroyed units of a South Florida condominium building that collapsed, killing 98 people, will be divided into two categories: items of soft material and hard material, according to a plan outlined before a judge overseeing litigation from the tragedy.
Only the hard items collected by Miami-Dade police officers, rescue personnel and firefighters from the rubble where the Champlain Towers South building once stood will be returned to survivors and family members of those killed, officials said in court documents.
That’s because the moisture-absorbing soft items, including clothing and bedding, would cost millions of dollars to decontaminate per Environmental Protection Agency guidelines, they said.
The exception to the rule are photos, which Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has made a priority to return to survivors, Michael Goldberg, a lawyer appointed to manage the legal interests of the Champlain Towers South, said during a hearing Thursday in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.
About $750,000 in cash was recovered from the ruins of the building in Surfside, Fla. Family members and survivors will be reimbursed somewhat quickly for cash that is easily identifiable, either because it was in a wallet or purse with an ID such as a driver’s license. The actual paper bills will be transported by armored car to the U.S. Treasury in Washington, where they will be destroyed since they are contaminated. They will be replaced with checks, according to court documents.
“We are going to have claims for cash that far exceed what is coming back,” Goldberg said, noting that many bills were destroyed during the condo building’s collapse. Already, some people have made claims for tens of thousands of dollars, he said.
Seventeen safes also have been recovered, and Goldberg said he expects the owners for most of them to be identified by their contents. If some aren’t, family members and survivors will be given the chance to provide Goldberg with a description of their contents in order to have them returned.
Also Thursday, a Miami-Dade Circuit judge approved a sale agreement for the nearly 2-acre oceanside property where the condo collapsed.
If no higher bids are approved, the property will be sold for $120 million and turned over to billionaire real estate developer Hussain Sajwani by spring 2022 for the construction of a new luxury high-rise. Sajwani, who owns the Dubai-based DAMAC Properties, is currently the lone bidder for the land and has signed a contract requiring he pay a $16 million deposit.
Despite some objections from family members of the victims over the speed of the sale process, the judge overseeing the fate of the property as part of a class-action lawsuit has sought to sell the property as quickly as possible in order to compensate property owners who lost their homes and the families of those who died in the June 24 collapse.
The sale agreement approved Thursday by Judge Michael Hanzman outlines a timeline for inspections of the property the buyer can conduct, a deadline for other potential buyers to make bids and, if competing bids are submitted, the protocols for an auction where the court-appointed receiver for the Champlain Towers South Condominium Association will recommend what bid Hanzman should approve. The $16 million deposit becomes nonrefundable after the 60-day inspection period.
The appraised value of the 136-unit building was listed as $95.6 million, well below the $120 million sales price. Goldberg said there is a total of $48 million of insurance coverage held by the condo association — $30 million for property damage and $18 million for personal injury.
Hanzman said once the sale is approved, he must decide whether to award all proceeds of the $120 million sale and the $30 million property insurance payout to the unit owners or award them just the appraised value of $95.6 million and use the remainder of the money to compensate victims’ families.
He instructed attorneys involved in the lawsuit to present their legal opinions to him at Wednesday’s court hearing.
Some unit owners seemed displeased with the appraised value of the building. One owner asked Hanzman whether he can conduct a second appraisal and another said it was “terrible” she may not get back what she paid for her unit.
Hanzman said the appraisal measured the value of each unit as they were before the collapse, which he called less science than art, and that he would not order a second appraisal.