Manager injured during condo building demolition
Debris closed road in Miami Beach
A project manager for a Fort Lauderdale demolition company was critically injured Monday during the demolition of the former Marlborough House condominium building in Miami Beach, according to police.
The same debris that spread across Collins Avenue and shut down a main north-south artery through Miami Beach until Monday afternoon also smashed into 46-year-old Samuel Landis. Landis was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital and remained in critical condition as of late Monday afternoon.
Rescue workers from the Miami Beach, Miami and Miami-Dade fire departments conducted a search and rescue operation, but found no other victims.
“All of the construction workers were accounted for and as a precaution they deployed search and rescue dogs and cadaver dogs,” said Mayor Dan Gelber.
Brazilian developer Jose Isaac Peres bought the 13-floor, 1963 building at 5775 Collins Ave. and plans to replace it with a 19-story tower on the beachfront property. Thus, Monday’s demolition.
As for what went wrong, Multiplan Real Estate Asset Management, Peres’ development company, referred questions to contractor Winmar Construction, Inc. In a statement, Winmar described the incident as a “construction accident” that occurred “during the planned, approved and permitted demolition” conducted by subcontractor AlliedBean Demolition.
“We are working closely with City offi-
cials and industry agencies to understand what happened during Allied’s demolition of the structure,” Winmar Construction president Luis Leon said in a statement that referred any questions about the incident to AlliedBean Demolition.
AlliedBean refused to make anyone available to answer questions about how its project manager wound up in critical condition.
The Miami Beach Police
Department is conducting a criminal investigation into the incident while the Occupational Health and Safety Association will also be investigating.
Miami Beach building inspectors have determined that the adjacent buildings were not impacted by the collapse, the city said in a statement. Air quality inspectors visited the site and confirmed that any asbestos risks were properly handled before demolition, Beach cops said.
Building permit records show that the owner applied for an implosion permit in August 2017. That
permit was denied because Miami Beach does not allow implosions, said Ana Salgueiro, the city’s building director. Then the owner applied for a regular demolition permit, which was issued on April 18, 2018.
A permit corrections report online describes the demolition as “total demolition of multi-family residential structure by conventional methods.”
Once a demolition permit is granted, construction crews can demolish the building whenever they’re prepared to do so without notifying the building department, Salgueiro said.