Judge: All options on table for site of condo
SURFSIDE, FLA.» A South Florida courtroom observed a moment of silence Friday to remember the dozens of people who died in the collapse of 12-story condominium complex near Miami. Then it returned to the business of considering what should become of the property.
That decision may be weeks or months from being made as families grapple with difficult decisions over personal and financial losses, including whether to rebuild, place a memorial on the site or accommodate both.
Miami-dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman said he was open to all options, but no decision came at a hearing Friday. The judge appeared pleased that discussions were underway to raise the financing necessary, perhaps from the government, to buy the property for a memorial.
“All options are being explored,” Hanzman said, according to the Miami Herald. “No options are being removed from the table.”
On Wednesday, Hanzman ordered the start of the process to sell the site of Champlain Towers South, which court records say could fetch $100 million to $110 million.
The news of the financing effort came from the court-appointed receiver, Michael Goldberg, who also shared that the property’s insurer would be paying out $31 million in insurance money, according to WPLG.
Goldberg acknowledged the differing opinions over what to do with the property in Surfside.
“Some people want it sold and the proceeds immediately distributed; some want to rebuild on the property. And some believe this is hallowed ground and that it should be forever a memorial,” Goldberg said, according to WPLG.
Miami-dade County authorities said at least 97 people died from the June 24 collapse of a portion of the condominium complex. As of Friday, 94 of those victims had been identified, with potentially at least one more person buried in the rubble.
One of those identified Friday was 51-year-old Brad Cohen.
His daughter, 12-year-old Elisheva Cohen, made headlines after Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett found her alone staring at the rubble a few days after the collapse, consoling herself with a collection of Psalms.
Her teenage brother was just days into his kibbutz in Israel and rushed home as soon as he heard about the collapse. President Joe Biden comforted the girl when he visited the site on July 1.