What’s next for the building evacuated in North Miami Beach after it was deemed unsafe?
The owners of a 60-unit apartment building that was evacuated last month in North Miami Beach after an engineer found it was “structurally unsound” are looking to sell it — at less than half its original listing price.
“This property was on sale for $15 [million], but we were recently informed that the building has structural problems,” states a listing from the real estate website Crexi. The asking price is now $7.15 million.
Maria Nardi, the Realtor on the listing, told the Miami Herald on Monday that the decreased price reflects uncertainty over whether the structure can be salvaged. Residents were ordered April 4 to leave the building known as Bayview 60 Homes at 3800 Northeast 168th Street after an engineer said its concrete slabs were “deflecting,” or sagging, at dangerous levels.
“There is a big question mark: Are you going to fix the 60 units? Is that feasible?” Nardi said. “That’s a question for an engineer.”
Meanwhile, residents who were forced to evacuate are still scrambling for permanent housing.
One resident, Jimmy Palombizo, told the Herald he was staying with his son and struggling to find his own place amid soaring
South Florida rents.
Nardi said Bayview 60 Homes was a “workingclass building.” Recent online listings before the evacuation included a onebedroom apartment for $1,300 per month and a two-bedroom unit for $1,900.
“As a Realtor, I know it’s difficult to find housing and I know it was a very good rent,” she said. “It’s such a pity for me to see a building like that having these problems.”
Representatives for the building owners did not immediately respond to questions Monday.
The apartments are in the Eastern Shores neighborhood, which is north of Oleta River State Park and
consists of several manmade canals. The property’s total assessed value was around $5.4 million in
2021, according to MiamiDade County records.
After the evacuation, the building owners agreed to give residents $150 per night for a three-night hotel stay and return all security deposits and April rent.
Property records show the building is owned by Bayview 60 Homes LLC,
based in Coral Gables. The entity’s manager and registered agent, Ronald Salinas and Maria Dolores Nardi Ariza, hold those same titles for Bayview 30 Homes
LLC, the owner of another building on the same block.
The building, which was constructed in 1972, had been undergoing repairs as part of its 50-year recertification process since July. Records from a decade earlier show the building passed its required 40-year recertification. That review didn’t cite any of the same issues flagged this year.
Most multi-story structures in Miami-Dade County must be recertified 40 years after their initial construction and every 10 years after that. County officials are considering pushing up that 40-year requirement to 30 years.
Bayview 60 Homes is one of several South Florida buildings that have been evacuated since the catastrophic partial collapse of Champlain Towers South killed 98 people in Surfside last June. Crestview Towers, a 156-unit condo building in North Miami Beach, was evacuated due to structural concerns in July and remains vacant. Susset Cabrera, a city spokesperson, said the condo association has begun making repairs in hopes of making the Crestview building habitable again.