7
highs: from May 2020 to May 2021, sales
of existing condos jumped 286%, accord-
ing to the Miami Association of Realtors.
It remains to be seen what role—if any—
climate-related conditions played in
the Champlain Towers collapse. But the
event has brought into sharp focus con-
cerns about whether Miami’s real estate
market can sustain its pace of growth, as
the region is increasingly vulnerable to
the effects of climate change—and with
questions arising about what that means
for the safety of people’s homes today.
“Before, when you hired an inspector
to inspect your condo, you would never
think the building could just fall,” says
Miami real estate analyst Ana Bozovic.
“It just doesn’t happen. That’s crazy.”
The immediate aftershocks have cre-
ated a raft of investigations and audits
meant to reassure anxious residents. On
June 26, Miami–Dade County Mayor
Daniella Levine Cava ordered a review
of all buildings in the county that are
five stories or taller and constructed
more than 40 years ago. (The Cham-
plain Towers condos were built in 1981,
before Florida’s building codes were
strengthened after Hurricane Andrew
devastated the area in 1992.) The Na-
tional Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology (NIST), a federal agency that
investigated the collapse of the World
Trade Center on 9/11, has dispatched
researchers to the site. The town of
Surfside has also hired a leading struc-
tural engineer to analyze what caused
the collapse and determine if the nearby
buildings are at risk.
The tragedy has also brought atten-
tion to the mismanagement and lack of
transparency apparent in some Florida
condo associations. Infighting among
condo board members over the astro-
nomical cost to fix buildings has often
deferred necessary maintenance. Resi-
dents of Champlain Towers South were
looking at $15 million in assessments
to repair “major structural damage”
flagged by engineers in a 2018 report,
with owners being asked to pay between
roughly $80,000 and $336,000 per unit.
Experts say it may take months be-
fore clues emerge in publicly reported
data on what effects the collapse will
have on real estate in the long term. In
the coming weeks and months, buyers
may be reluctant to choose condos in
Top right: Search-and-rescue
efforts resume the day after the
demolition of the remaining part of
Champlain Towers South on July 5
Bottom right: A memorial wall with
flowers and posters of missing people,
set up on a tennis-court fence near the
Champlain Towers, on June 30
TOP RIGHT: MARCO BELLO—REUTERS; YSA PÉREZ FOR TIME (3)
Banca do Antfer
