‘We did not sleep.’ Residents evacuate Miami condo after city deems building unsafe

Gustavo Fagundo had just arrived home from work and started dinner when he learned he wouldn’t sleep in his bed Monday night.

He was making prosciutto sandwiches for his pregnant wife and their toddler when a neighbor in his Flagami condo building frantically knocked on the door around 7:30 p.m. “He said they were going to kick us out,” Fagundo, 44, told the Miami Herald in an interview Tuesday. “The news was spreading so fast across the building, like lightning. People just started packing their cars and leaving.”

Neighbors streamed through the halls of the 138-unit building at 5050 NW Seventh St., an eight-story structure that was evacuated Monday after city officials deemed the structure “unsafe.” The building, constructed in 1973, was cited in early July because it is eight years behind on obtaining its 40-year recertification.

It is the latest structure to be cleared out following the catastrophic collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside on June 24, a disaster that killed 98 people and sparked a flurry of inspections and enforcement of building codes across Miami-Dade County.

“We felt the building occupants were not safe,” said Miami Building Director Asael “Ace” Marrero, about the Flagami condo. He addressed dozens of tenants outside the building Monday night. He told them that two weeks before, the city had asked the building’s homeowners association to immediately shore up five columns in the building’s first floor — work that was later done shoddily without permits, according to city officials.

An attorney listed on the association’s most recent state business records did not respond to requests for comment.

According to the city, Marrero, Building Official Maurice Pons, Assistant Building Director Jose Regalado and Chief of Unsafe Structures Rene Diaz met with residents “who were concerned about the condition of the building” on July 26.

The next day, city staff inspected the entire property and determined that the detached elevated garage had to be closed because of structural concerns. The property manager was also told that the damaged columns in the first floor of the main building “required emergency shoring” and that they had to submit a plan to fix it immediately, the city said.

But officials say they never received any plans, nor did the building’s management/ownership apply for any permits to fix the problems.

On Aug. 5, officials only received a letter from an engineer saying the “building was safe for current occupancy while the emergency repair work continued,” according to the city. There were no plans for shoring or permanent repairs.

The next day, a city inspector saw work being done without a permit and a stop work order was issued. Then on Monday, during a meeting with the condo association and the engineer, building department officials “found the columns to be structurally insufficient.” At that point, city administrators decided to vacate the building.

Late into the night, residents lugged their belongings to the packed parking lot as police cars parked in the front of the building. Fagundo and his family packed a cooler with food, clothes, laptop computers, toys and video games before dropping off their cats Smoky and Guinness with family and checking into the nearby Hilton hotel. Residents were given until 8 a.m. Tuesday to evacuate.

“We did not sleep,” he said. “It’s hard when you have that much anxiety.”

Miami Commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla, whose district includes the condo, said 59 families have been provided lodging at no cost. The city worked with the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust to relocate families to the Hampton Inn near Miami International Airport.

“Their safety and well-being is our number one priority,” Díaz de la Portilla said.

The violation at the Flagami condo for failing to obtain a 40-year recertification is scheduled to be reviewed by the city’s unsafe structures panel on Aug. 20.

Several buildings in South Florida have been evacuated because of structural concerns. Last month, North Miami Beach ordered the evacuation of the 10-story Crestview Towers because of unsafe structural and electrical issues. On Monday, there was a fire in the building.

In Flagami, Fagundo said he and his family have lived there for about five years. He said the association board approved an assessment in October 2020 to pay for the long overdue 40-year recertification, but he’s not sure about what progress has happened since then. He said through the years, board discussions over maintenance and repair costs usually get testy,

“You go to the meetings, and it ends up evolving into just a huge fight,” he said. “There’s never enough money.”

Miami Herald photo journalist Daniel Varela contributed to this report.