In my state, a city cannot remove a public easement w/o due process. The Commissioner admitted the $10,5 mil was quid pro quo. He also called the public speaker a liar vociferously, with apparent malicious intent, which I believe would meet the definition of slander. Career criminals have difficulty hiding such behavior.
Also, if the public meeting is of the type where citizens are allotted 5 minutes or whatever time limit to speak, for the Commissioner to keep interrupting her prevents her from saying all she intended to say in the allotted time. Time limit or not, he is preventing her from fully exercising her right to address the Commission and the public at the meeting. He should shut up, then rebut her after she's finished.
Removing a public easement is illegal in my state, too, but they'd claim that they were just reducing its size to a footpath. When big money is offered, anything is possible.
I‘m following the whole story over here in Germany, as an architect of course I‘m very interested in all stuff concerning „building integrity“. No matter if here or in the US, I can hardly believe it to be possible, that anybody could buy public ground by „voluntary donations“ - hony soit qui mal‘y pense….. Bye the way: All your vids are perfectly made and by far more interesting than any TV-show. Thank you for all your efforts - I‘m looking forward to part III impatiently.
The question is who owned the ground. Typically when an area is developed, there is a plan layout that includes streets. These are laid out on ground owned by the developer and the streets are often built by the developer. When the property is subdivided, the new property lines often run down the center of the new streets, and thus the people on each side of the street actually own the land the street is built on. However the city/state/government has an easement right that gives them control over the street. They also have to pay the costs of maintaining the street. In theory they can put up a fence and abandon the street, effectively giving control of the previous street area back to the people that actually own the land, and no money needs to change hands. Alternately, the city can decide to build a street, and simply demand that the property owners deed the land for the street to the city. Now the city owns the land. If an adjacent property owner can convince the city to abandon the street, he still needs to buy the land from the city. The city might also put a restriction on the transaction, requiring that some sort of public access path still be maintained, even though they no longer own the space. I'm guessing (I have not tried to look up the facts) that this transaction was of the first type. The builders of the original hotel probably built the 87th Terrace road on his own property and then gave the use of the land to the city as a road, but still maintained actual title to the property. Since it was a dead-end road and completely on the new builder's property, there is no reason the city couldn't have just abandoned the road (and the costs of maintaining it), giving it back to the actual owner. I think in theory they could have done this for free, but it took $10.5M into some City (or maybe personal) account to convince them.
@l wilton Yes, it's possible the hotel owned 87 Terrace originally, but at one point the city of north Miami Beach did. It was supposed to be used for the public to have beach access.
@@georgiazettakaragianni9832 Actually, the right-of-way was described as an easement which means that the land was privately owned, but the government had certain privileges regarding its use.
I've sat through many a planning commission/city council meeting in Silicon Valley where the 11th-hour change in plans come before the body. Good for the lady who paid attention and spoke up. Good video.
The same all over the world. The "plans" always start as very acceptable and reasonable and few have objections, then "suddenly" the "plans" are changed with no publicity at the last minute and by the time people start to notice the plans were changed its half built and too late to do anything and then they claim that it was the plan all along leaving the people thinking "well this all seems wrong but they know more than me so I must be wrong".
I live in San Francisco. As much many people may complain about them, we have building codes and requirements which would have prevented these fatalities.
Mayor: “How did we end up at the last minute with the hotel being demolished?” What a crock. Like he didn’t know what was going down with this deal. I’m a long time Miamian, born and raised. I can tell you public beach access, as we had here pre-Terra, has been disappearing over the years. Precisely due to these developer/commission/building dept shenanigans. I can only hope the IRS gets these crooks. Unfortunately - all that usually happens is a fine that to a big developer means zilch. Here in Florida you go to jail for stealing diapers for your kid...but it’s all good to do crap like this.
It is by far not the first time a city council has done something that was not desirable by the community and when such said council does this, that power is vested within their position. Sorry for the news.
It will be interesting how the developers will claim that they did nothing wrong. You do a fantastic job explaining things. This so far makes me think Miami's reputation as a corrupt city seems justified.
Miami *Beach* is a separate municipality, BUT... the corruption pervades the entire Miami-Dade County, so... distinction without a difference, lol... 😉
It will probably help that there is basically no chance the construction had anything to do with the CTS collapse....And even if they did somehow damage the CTS foundation wall it was still CTS's responsibility to raise the issue at the time, not ignore it for years till their building fell down..... Living in Florida a company developed a lot next to mine and their filling the lot created flooding on my property due to rainwater runoff. I raised the issue immediately and the developer reshaped the lot. Had I waited then filed suit saying that house you built years ago damaged my property...I would have been laughed out of court.
@@MajorCaliber Hate to say it but it's like this all over where small municipalities live off property taxes and rubber stamp YES to anything that comes along to add to the slush fund. Florida and other states with out state taxes have these difficulties more pronounced as they have very little to fund themselves and will bend backwards ignoring all safety to get a developer to add new property taxes to their budget.
The councilman calling that woman a liar is infuriating-but it is a consolation that by doing so he was admitting to the fraud. You have to wonder what kind of money was being exchanged under the table.
Gotta wonder if that arrogant pr1ck survived re-election? In any event, the citizens of Miami-Dade County (not just Miami Beach, who can probably walk there), got screwed out of about 30 nice (metered) parking spots--right on the beach--without having to cross busy Collins Ave, which is no fun when you're dragging tents, beach chairs, *children,* etc... bastiges. Apparently the under-the-table message (which came with the "voluntary" contribution) was: _The wealthy owners of 87P shall not be exposed to the hoi polloi and their plebian ways and customs... rolleyes_
@@MajorCaliber likely did survive reelection. Most people don't pay attention to local politics and locals are elected by a fraction of a percent of the population even the ones that do vote know very little about wha'ts really going on. Just like this guy demeaning this woman by calling her a liar and saying it's "just you." this is disgusting. The epitome of corruption and why we shouldn't be trusting billionaires to our best interests. It's always about profits.
She is not some old lady the commissioner is talk too… she is A former 2 term city commissioner and one of the founding leaders of the preservation movement she knows what she’s talking about it is a palling how he is talking to her. I hope the investigation goes further into his dealings!
Since the collapse of CTS, I’ve learned so much about construction, building, codes and what comes along with it~ from you. Thank you for putting in terms that everyone could understand and for stating facts. I love to learn new things and find your content interesting.
This is the best channel on TH-cam. Intriguing topic, excellently researched and presented with data and logic. I’m learning a lot about construction, something I’ve not been interested in before. This is playing out like an old Agatha Christie novel.
The great thing about people in an Agatha Christie novel is that when they get caught in one lie, they flip and tell the full truth. Now we just have to wait for the people around the CTS disaster to do the same. Waiting...
And I always worry when I release a video about CTS whether others will find this interesting. I'm surprised and fascinated by what I discover... I'm glad to see others are just as interested.
@@qwaszx2 "As a left wing person, I found myself believing both were not guilty after believing strongly until the trials they were guilty. It's really shaken my belief in the system" Oh, so you're "left wing"? And you believe Chauvin is not guilty? So how do you feel now that he changed his plea to guilty? I call BS on your statement, or you live in a fantasy world unperturbed by facts.
@@qwaszx2 Oh, I'd say he's gotten off lightly for the depraved murder of Floyd. And I guess he thinks so too, which is why he changed his plea to "Guilty". But I'm sure you know better than the killer himself, right?
@@qwaszx2 Utterly and horribly wrong. He knew what he was doing over that nine minutes of ignoring the pleas not only of the victim, but of a Firefighter with medical training and the bystanders who repeatedly said that Floyd was dying. I get it. Floyd's death means nothing to you, perhaps you even rejoice over it. But people with a conscience are shocked and horrified over this episode of street murder.
Wow that commissioner saying she was a "liar" when she used their legalese, she would probably be called a "liar" if she said the city was paid off for the transaction too!
What's hilarious about this complaint is when they eliminated the public parking, guaranteed the people at CTS were all for it. People with water front property never like having other people using "their beach".
Not only does it sound like the original developer of CTS was wound up in corruption, but also the builders of 87 Park and Miami Beach City Commissioners as well. Giving the Right of Way of 87th Terrace to the 87 Park developers and them giving Miami Beach $10.5 million in a "voluntary contribution". This smells like a rat on all sides. I like how that City Commissioner was arguing with that lady saying "We got $10.5 million. That's inaccurate. You're lying, it was $10.5 million. I just don't prefer to meet with you. It's just YOU." Yeah, that sounds like a "voluntary contribution"...NOT. I wonder how much of that $10.5 mill he got, along with the rest of the commissioners.
Didn't CTS improperly obtained the rights to build higher and larger than originally intended too? ie Hypocrites also adding a penthouse level afterwards.
It's just shifting blame but ultimately its the city council and the inspectors through out the decades that are to blame, taking bribes and write offs to improper building codes, cause they know full well that they will be long gone when a disaster like this happens and the current administration will blame shift back to the old departed admin staff so no one is at fault, except the poor suckers that buy into these death traps.
The developers of CTS pushed the penthouse through decades ago, the suit is from the current victims who had nothing to do with what happened decades ago, likely weren't even born at the time. So no hypocrisy on the behalf of the people filing the suit.
@@ke6gwf 40 years ago, not that long. Adding the penthouse after the building was done. This channel confirming CTS passing permits then turning around and changing the plans on the next revision with less structure and yet the city didn't bother to inspect the new plans. It's all narcissistic behavior in the part of the city and construction company years before, but now it's the new lawyers turn to sue for shit and giggles because they know they won't win against the city as the construction company is long gone. The hypocrisy is thick. Full responsibility lie solely on the city and inspectors for taking bribes, getting black mailed, and not doing their due diligence. As this channel or another stated, most of the unit owners were leasing agencies that didn't want to spend a dime on any fixes. How did inspectors give a pass to the building on review if not for under the table dealings by the majority owners that are these CTS plaintiffs. Even on the recommendation of an engineering firm, yet nothing was done. The hypocrisy is the CTS board members made up of the majority leasing agencies knowing that shit was wrong and dragging their feet to do anything. And now blaming anyone else for their inaction cause it would have cost them money, either in fixes or having the building condemned if a proper inspection was done.
Wow, that Commissioner at the meeting was extremely dismissive and downright RUDE to that older lady, because she KNEW THE FACTS. 🙄 Thanks Josh! Looking forward to your next upload on CTS and the lawsuit.
Just wanted to say thank you for making these videos. Everywhere I go I'm constantly noticing and pointing out things I learned from your videos. You're making this a safer world.
Well done, Josh. I continue to look for Building Integrity videos because they're are JUST that.... Integrity.. You did a great job of covering the history and potential issues while not accusing anyone or any entity of wrongdoing. Very good research-based analysis.
Thanks for your continuing series on this tragedy. Your latest instalment has prompted some thoughts. In 1978 I was architect for an office block constructed in poured reinforced concrete on a gap site in a heavily-built-up historic urban area in Edinburgh, Scotland. The building had piled foundations (initially cored but subsequently driven). Prior to construction we conducted dilapidation surveys on all adjoining properties within 25 metres (ca. 75 feet) of the site perimeter which, in fact, demonstrated that one of the adjoining buildings was close to collapse, requiring its immediate evacuation and closure for repair, delaying our site start by a year. There has been no mention of a dilapidation survey conducted on CTS by the developer of 87 Park or by the CTS management board prior to commencement. Incidentally, our shear wall code requirements (our floors were wide-span coffered and don't relate) were such as make CTS look like a building constructed from playing cards and drinking straws. My first reaction on seeing the CTS design drawings was one of utter amazement and horror. The proposal to simultaneously develop 87 Park while restoring the hotel has all the appearance of a 'trojan horse' to demonstrate the incompatibility of the two objectives through the potential and problematic massive over-development of the site, thus permitting the actual development to seem restrained in comparison and to ease the demolition of the statutorily unprotected hotel. It is interesting that the lawyers for the CTS survivors and former residents have based their case almost entirely on the alleged consequences of the 87 Park works while ignoring any oversight of potential issues in the original CTS design. Do you think this to avoid possible liability at CTS where building defects, historic or recent, may not have received the attention they should? I understand the 87 Park and CTS are located in separate municipal jurisdictions. If that is the case, it would be interesting to see where exactly the boundary line between the two lies. I wonder to what extent variations in building codes, zoning legislation and, indeed, communication, or lack of it, between the two municipal authorities has any bearing in the matter, notwithstanding the lawyers' weasel words used to effect the 'vacating' of the municipality's roadway to the developer of 87 Park. My apologies for such a protracted comment, but you put so much into to your videos you deserve something back. Keep them coming.
The more I learn about this, the more I believe that questionable construction practices of CTS would have led to an eventual partial or total collapse or at least serious remedial repairs. I also believe that the questionable construction practices next door contributed to that occurring much much sooner.
People worked so hard to own a dream home on the beach. Here they were, facing a $15,000,000 assessment to cure all of the defects. Upon seeing the damage compromising the building's integrity, I wouldn't have been surprised to have that amount quadrupled. Since so many offenders have died, who's left to sue. Sad though.
I believe you are correct, Mary Fowler. There may have been one structural member that initiated the physical collapse of CTS. However there were multiple parties involved in a perfect storm of incompetence, greed, mismanagement and neglect leading to a structure that was doomed.
That City was sketchy back when CTS was built and they have only gotten more sketchy. I bet the Mayor and/or council members got paid off. They should follow the money on this one! Great work and video!
Where I'm from, if a public official talked to a member of the public like that guy did, somebody would have had to call the cops to keep him from getting yanked from behind that desk and given 'a stern talking to'
Plenty of people in that area seemed to want that hotel preserved and renovated. Why didn't THEY buy the property and renovate it? They prefer to let others buy it and then tell them what to do with it. Much less expensive.
In the nice aerial photo @3:50, you can see one of the more mundane ways in which 87 Park skee-rewed CTS, i.e. *sun-blocking* during the winter, when you most want the sun shining on your pool and patio areas. From the length of shadows, I'd say this shot was taken between early Nov. and mid-Feb... using 87 Park as a sundial, it's about 10AM, so by shortly after noon, and for the entire rest of the afternoon, CTS pool and jacuzzi are totally in the shade... thus, savvy real estate agents will only show units in the morning, lol.
It is possible that when having an engineer look over the old hotel they found serious problems with it that made restoration economically infeasible. Since this is a condo developer in Florida, it is more likely that they had always planned to do this. The dates on the architectural drawings, the engineering, and the permits would show if they had been trying to pull a fast one. This also highlights that cities and neighbors should always get contracts instead of promises from developers and companies that want to construct projects in their area.
If I followed the video correctly, the City had to approve the destruction of the old hotel! It doesn't matter what the developer planned, all they would have had to say was "no", or anything but approval. However, the video clearly shows at least one person only cares about the money.
@@arthurmoore9488 There were some backroom dealings and there is no doubt that money was also donated to re-election funds or just through ye olde brown paper bag.
@@arthurmoore9488 " It doesn't matter what the developer planned," No, it is important and it is clear that they got it in stages to hide true intentions from the public.
The developer and architect quickly decided to request permission to demo the old building because they suddenly realized that there wasn't enough space between the existing building and the new building they planned to build to the north of it. They never once made statements that there was something structurally wrong with the Biltmore. The developer had no interest in renovating an old building. The real estate along North Shore is highly sought after for building luxury condos. They wanted to build lux condos in a premium location for millionaires, not spend millions renovating a historic building and risk only getting a limited return on their investment. The only way to get around the historical preservation roadblock and loud outcry from the public was to propose renovating the old building, and then do a bait-and-switch after the purchase of the property was made. If the Biltmore had been given stronger historical protections, the bait-and-switch would have been far more difficult to pull off... but in this case, once they were allowed to moved forward with purchasing the property, there wasn't much stopping them from demolishing the Biltmore.
Thanks for your continued analysis. I’m on our local planning board. There’s typically a bit of horse trading between the us and the developer, for instance to waive a minor section of an ordinance in return for a design modification that better suits local desires. In the case of 87 Park, the apparent behind-the-scenes deal making and lack of respect for historic and neighborhood wishes in the site development and structure is shameful.
There was a vacant lot near my house. Some "developer" bought it for a song, then tried to do something with the land. It was zoned for Parking, but no parking is needed in the immediate area. No matter what the guy tried to do (advertising billboards, housing, parking for food trucks), city officials opposed him every step of the way. They refused to change the zoning, claiming that Residential zoning would be inappropriate--even though there are apartments across the street, and houses adjacent to the property. I heard some of the city officials muttering that he doesn't know what he's doing. In the end, the guy built a very nice parking lot, which NOBODY uses. He tried to have a farmers market on it, and that failed. Now he's trying to sell it. No one will buy it, unless it's a developer who DOES "know what they're doing," because every other vacant lot in the area is getting multi-story housing units built on it--including a lot less than 200 feet from the forlorn parking lot. I wonder what it means in our city for a developer to "know what they're doing."
@@BuildingIntegrity With the way you explained in previous video's about some of the shenanigans that took place in dealing with real estate matters back in the day, I would be willing to bet that along with the $10,500,000, another one half to one million, give or take, found it's way into the back pocket of someone on city council !!
@@bobsandone3108 Honestly, I doubt it was that much. You would be *surprised* how little politicians (especially local ones) will sell themselves for. A few votes for something like this could probably be obtained by offering free home renovations. Everybody could use a good kitchen remodeling or whatever, and it's a lot easier to hide than a direct cash transaction.
Actually the timing makes me think off these eminent domain laws and transactions which were taking place all over the USA to raise the tax rates for the area in which this new building would be built.
87 PARK CONDOS ARE EXCRUCIATINGLY UGLY 🤮 AND MISERABLY EXPENSIVE (30 million each low end). Thank you SO much for a comprehensive breakdown of the paperwork involved. It's critical to expose investor corruption infiltrating our housing market.
Wasn't Champlain Towers South built over the height limit also? Kind of funny they site that in their lawsuit. This reminds me of the San Francisco tower that is leaning where they tried to pin the blame on nearby construction of a transit station - which doesn't change the fact that the foundation on that tower was not properly engineered to start with.
The people suing in this case are the residents of CTS not the developer of CTS. If they thought suing the CTS developer could get any traction they probably would be.
@@Helladamnleet I'm no engineer, however my belief is from an engineering perspective being 'slightly' over your absolute maximum limit of X is just as bad as being 'very' over your absolute limit.
Something people from other states might not know is that much of the parts of San Francisco on the bay side of the San Fransciso peninsula is actually landfill. There had been, since even the beginning of San Francisco, a lot of landfill in the original bay which was much larger than the current bay. I think the Millennium Tower is sinking is because it exceeds the weight support that landfill beneath it offers. I would hate to be in that building during a medium size earthquake; landfill turns into jello. 😱 It was a bad idea. Land is at a premium in San Fran so against more risk averse judgement, they built a very heavy very tall building on landfill.
Excellent video. The narrator tenaciously follows aspects of public policy as they may have contributed to the catastrophe. His is the kind of patient work that we need to see more of in public debates, especially when large sums of money and human lives are at stake.
A very interesting new topic started in this video. It's astounding that at two properties right next to each other so many companies are involved such bad practice. Especially the latter part of this video shows, how little Terra cared about anybody else. It's a strong example for why companies and the economy nowadays is hated by so many people.
Thank you for another great video analysis, you're like a one man documentary on this subject, much respect to you sir! I think it will be almost impossible for the plaintiffs to actually show evidence to support their theory that Eighty-Seven Park is partially responsible for the collapse.
Unfortunately you can't get these exact lamps anywhere. They are from the 50's and my wife restored them and painted them white and replaced the shades.
I just watched the 2-hour long Discovery channel program about this building collapse. They pointed to various possible causes: The poor drainage on the pool deck caused rusting of the rebars. Collapse of the deck changed the lateral support of the deck pushing against the vertical columns to lateral force pulling on the vertical columns. They also pointed out the smaller vertical columns on the sections that collapsed, and much less shear wall support in the sections that collapsed. For me, the most interesting new information was why the palm trees were removed in 2017. Reason, each palm tree planter had a large drain pipe below to remove the excess water. However, the roots of the palm trees grew into these drain pipes and split them open. Of course, this allowed an excessive amount of rain water to seep into the deck near the trees. I personally think that after they removed the trees, they did not repair the root cracked drains; no facts, just a guess. If true, then the large double planter that was likely the debris that fell into the parking garage first, was the source of significant water leakage into the surrounding rebars. Also, the large amount of parking garage ceiling spalling was under these root cracked drains. This program also featured a significant amount of commentary from residents living in or associated with the Champlain Towers. To me, one of the most interesting was the commentary by the woman who filmed inside the garage a year before the collapse.
It would at least be interesting to know what the check was made out to, and which City (or private) account it ended up in. In theory that should be public knowledge, but it may take an FOIA lawsuit to try to get it.
Your honor, I wasn't selling drugs. I was just giving my friend Ralph here a bump of coke, and he made a voluntary contribution to help defray my student loans.
Love the Commentary - Facts and the truth are powerful, eventually the truth comes out. Shine the light and let it be know to all so hopefully innocent lives are never lost again. Keep digging and reporting as you have our attention.
I'm a local 134 IBEW union electrician in Chicago, been following along very interesting and informative videos love them. Unfortunate for the innocent lives but somehow not surprised this happened in Florida.
What I don't understand is that there was no new building close to CTS. They built the new condo right where the old hotel was. So what got built on the previous parking lot and public street that could have caused CTS to be affected?
When surveys are done of which of a long list of characteristics, from square footage to age of construction to local schools, are most important to property buyers, safety (or geologic safety) is always last on their priority list. Consistently, the most important factor to buyers is the view from the property! I hope that not only will design, construction and permitting processes will put more emphasis on safety issues, but that individual buyers will as well! I remember people being advised not to buy homes on crumbling local sea cliffs, then when the houses fell down into the sea, demanding “someone is going to pay for this!”. You are doing such a great job of raising public awareness of such safety concerns, Mr. Porter, thanks.
Oh wow...you cut that off...dang cliffhangers! Thanks for another informative & educational video. You need to get one of the youtube lawyers to pick apart the legal parts.
I’m getting a strong feeling that it might come down to “your bulldozer got too close to my house of cards” ie the judge will have to work out what % of blame attaches to each side ... but I’m intrigued. Also, when you know construction is going to happen close to your building don’t you get folks to install laser gadgets to check that nothing has been affected? Maybe that is a tunnelling thing?
In the previous episode he mentioned that the developers put up seismic detectors near the CTS wall, and monitored them occasionally (but not continuously).
Usually the ROW reverts back to properties on both sides of the street when vacated, split right down the middle. So I am very curious - did the new development somehow get the ROW on both sides of the street? I assume this has been Final Platted and also there was an ordinance for the vacation - both of those would be very interesting to look at.
Someone mentioned that the street was the north boundary of the City. I suspect that 87th Terrace was built when the hotel was built, on the same parcel of land.
Excellent, as always. Goodness that was a shady deal. That poor hotel was doomed from the start. The original view of the condo was really ugly too. And as you said, could never have worked without parking.
I like how straightforward and plainly Josh tells this story. I have up on fiction some time ago, too much artificial drama. I followed Brexit TLDR News and now I am watching this. Reality is so interesting. I am little afraid to Evergrande though, there could more to that plot that just a financial crisis.
What about the draining of the 10ft walk? Looks like it's towards the gravel right beside the planter wall of CTS. Was there a seal done on the planter wall? What about the draining of the parking area before? Only side effects, but mention worth I think.
Boy this is getting more interesting by the day! It makes you wonder how many other deals are being done under the table and who is making a killing off of being bought.
For the record: this is in NO way similar--nor in ANY way connected--to when I "voluntarily contributed" to the "Widows & Orphans Fund" of The Miami-Dade Police Dept., and then 2 months later, "just happened" to be awarded the hauling contract to move all the rubble from CTS to a "secret" site over by the airport... I mean, I know it LOOKS bad, but it's all on the up-and-up... and, as any Dade County Commissioner will tell you... I would NEVER lie! 😇
It sounds so shady,...and it is. But as someone who once worked in Governmental sales, it's the way it's done, unfortunately. More times than not, it's all done legally too! They just learn how to make their shenanigans legal....Ever notice how many lawyers get into politics? I think Congress is made up of 70% lawyers.
The construction at 87 Park wasn't the direct cause of the CTS collapse, but it certainly was one of many contributing factors. There's no way you can drive piles in to the ground and excavate next to the CTS wall without accelerating or exacerbating the existing flaws and wear. And the fact they basically bought a city street and the manner in which they did the whole project is disturbing. CTS developers and builders have their own fault in all this too.
Well the Mayor of Miami Beach could well have been part of any back street dealing and only wanted to state what he said at 11:10 to have his words there on the public record to dispel any personal political repercussions. I'm wondering what other charitable donations 'Terra' was required to voluntarily dispense in the surrounding months and whether any future considerations were involved. Whereas that miserable excuse for a commissioner was certainly, with his lying remarks, doing rather the reverse of exculpating himself.
Another great video. The research you're doing is impressive, not a lot of people would be as thorough. It occurs to me that there may be a lot of city officials who decide that an off shore retirement is looking better and better.
These shenanigans go on everywhere. The Court won't be too interested in it, except how the changes affected the stability of CTS. That's going to be tough to prove.
The demolished Biltmore Terrace was a 1951 Miami Modern gem. Its architect was the famous Morris Lapidus, who also designed the Fontainebleau and Eden Roc. Also interesting is the Coronado, an Art Deco hotel which was demolished in 1978 to build CTS.
The day news broke on the collapse, I google-earthed the neighborhood and my initial feeling was that 87Park looked like a source of trouble for CTS. Its scale was overwhelming. Earlier google-earth images showed the massive construction, driving in pilings so close to CTS, and major dirt-moving right up to the foundation of CTS. I also wondered what happened to the street-Poof! It was gone. I’m not an engineer, so my reaction was based on visual scale. Your presentation here makes me feel like my reaction to 87Park wasn’t too far off base. Your studies of all of the interdependent elements that can contribute to a structural failure are fascinating.
It would be interesting to know how common this sort of transaction is. Also if building so close to another building is common in Florida beach development. I would guess that the history of beachfront development in Florida is pretty skeezy.
Also would be nice to know if the original development 'plan' for 87 Park as pictured at 14:51 was just a pretty picture or if they spent money to get plans and engineering for it. If so, one would think that those plans would exist somewhere, perhaps at the planning department. Were plans ever submitted for anything other than what was eventually built?
That $10.5 million could have gone to fix CTS and everyone would be alive today. The developer had the responsibility to ensure no damage came to neighboring property. With all their sophisticated tech, they had knowledge of what could happen. The judge will have several parties at fault. Looking forward to outcome.
CTS was already having serious structural damage that was ignored by the board & it’s residents over decades. Spalling, adding planters, ignoring roof repairs & allowing cracks to not be repaired properly is the fault of CTS & it’s residents. 87 Terrace & construction of the new condominium will have to hashed out in court in regards to liability.
@@jasoncrandall73 True, true, agree. But, I have read resident complaints of the shaking, vibrating, and cracking of walls after 87 construction began. It could have been the straw that broke the camel's back. I know the residents of CTS suffered daily with noise levels and fears their balconies, walls were already showing distress directly related to Terramar construction.
I very recently became completely enthralled by your “structural engineering for non-majors” talks regarding the issues related to the Surfside disaster. At the end of the day, the collapse appears the result of a perfect storm of problems, left to fester, for decades, with solutions (if any) which were ultimately beyond the budget of the HOA and the building’s occupants. The construction of the building next door was clearly not solely responsible for the Champlain Towers’ destruction, but whatever impact that construction had was good enough for a lawsuit, and a billion dollars was accessible for damages. Perhaps the biggest lesson here is for HOAs, which are loath to address problems when they should, and condo owners (of which I am one), who’d rather kick the can down the road than save/invest for inevitable property maintenance.
Will you be talking about the Dawn Lehman study done for the Miami Herald next time? It seems to give some credibility to the construction as at least a contributing factor.
The Dawn Lehman study doesn't exactly give credibility to the construction next door theory. It states there was damage already on the south perimeter wall and pool deck (we knew about it already), and rebal WAS MISSING in areas of the wall in connection to the pool deck slab per the original architectural plans of the building. There were repairs of the pool deck in 1996, 2002, and 2009 (and I think one more time), and the problems with the perimeter wall and pool deck were known, well before the 87 Park construction. There were extremely large, heavy planters by the south perimeter wall, and those were not on structural beams like other planters on the pool deck were. So it means they had no support. Also the pool deck slab had thin column support, and disintegrating for a long time.
In my state, a city cannot remove a public easement w/o due process.
The Commissioner admitted the $10,5 mil was quid pro quo. He also called the public speaker a liar vociferously, with apparent malicious intent, which I believe would meet the definition of slander. Career criminals have difficulty hiding such behavior.
There is no evidence that the counselman is intending malicious intent. That is in your head.
He's clearly trying to demean her character to nullify her validity as a speaker, witness or complainant!
@@KB4QAA The evidence is in the video! LOL...
Also, if the public meeting is of the type where citizens are allotted 5 minutes or whatever time limit to speak, for the Commissioner to keep interrupting her prevents her from saying all she intended to say in the allotted time. Time limit or not, he is preventing her from fully exercising her right to address the Commission and the public at the meeting. He should shut up, then rebut her after she's finished.
Removing a public easement is illegal in my state, too, but they'd claim that they were just reducing its size to a footpath. When big money is offered, anything is possible.
I‘m following the whole story over here in Germany, as an architect of course I‘m very interested in all stuff concerning „building integrity“.
No matter if here or in the US, I can hardly believe it to be possible, that anybody could buy public ground by „voluntary donations“ - hony soit qui mal‘y pense…..
Bye the way: All your vids are perfectly made and by far more interesting than any TV-show.
Thank you for all your efforts - I‘m looking forward to part III impatiently.
The question is who owned the ground. Typically when an area is developed, there is a plan layout that includes streets. These are laid out on ground owned by the developer and the streets are often built by the developer. When the property is subdivided, the new property lines often run down the center of the new streets, and thus the people on each side of the street actually own the land the street is built on. However the city/state/government has an easement right that gives them control over the street. They also have to pay the costs of maintaining the street. In theory they can put up a fence and abandon the street, effectively giving control of the previous street area back to the people that actually own the land, and no money needs to change hands.
Alternately, the city can decide to build a street, and simply demand that the property owners deed the land for the street to the city. Now the city owns the land. If an adjacent property owner can convince the city to abandon the street, he still needs to buy the land from the city. The city might also put a restriction on the transaction, requiring that some sort of public access path still be maintained, even though they no longer own the space.
I'm guessing (I have not tried to look up the facts) that this transaction was of the first type. The builders of the original hotel probably built the 87th Terrace road on his own property and then gave the use of the land to the city as a road, but still maintained actual title to the property. Since it was a dead-end road and completely on the new builder's property, there is no reason the city couldn't have just abandoned the road (and the costs of maintaining it), giving it back to the actual owner. I think in theory they could have done this for free, but it took $10.5M into some City (or maybe personal) account to convince them.
Well said. From the UK.
@l wilton Yes, it's possible the hotel owned 87 Terrace originally, but at one point the city of north Miami Beach did. It was supposed to be used for the public to have beach access.
@@georgiazettakaragianni9832 Actually, the right-of-way was described as an easement which means that the land was privately owned, but the government had certain privileges regarding its use.
@The Golgatha: Ditto from a 67y NL-man living in Wuppertal/DE. Josh's a great teacher!
I've sat through many a planning commission/city council meeting in Silicon Valley where the 11th-hour change in plans come before the body. Good for the lady who paid attention and spoke up. Good video.
...and pretty much misogyny by the (?bought-off) council member interupting her
The same all over the world. The "plans" always start as very acceptable and reasonable and few have objections, then "suddenly" the "plans" are changed with no publicity at the last minute and by the time people start to notice the plans were changed its half built and too late to do anything and then they claim that it was the plan all along leaving the people thinking "well this all seems wrong but they know more than me so I must be wrong".
I live in San Francisco. As much many people may complain about them, we have building codes and requirements which would have prevented these fatalities.
Mayor:
“How did we end up at the last minute with the hotel being demolished?”
What a crock. Like he didn’t know what was going down with this deal.
I’m a long time Miamian, born and raised. I can tell you public beach access, as we had here pre-Terra, has been disappearing over the years. Precisely due to these developer/commission/building dept shenanigans.
I can only hope the IRS gets these crooks. Unfortunately - all that usually happens is a fine that to a big developer means zilch.
Here in Florida you go to jail for stealing diapers for your kid...but it’s all good to do crap like this.
It is by far not the first time a city council has done something that was not desirable by the community and when such said council does this, that power is vested within their position. Sorry for the news.
I am reminded of how they actually ended up getting Al Capone. Not for all his terrible acts as an organized crime boss ... but for tax evasion.
It will be interesting how the developers will claim that they did nothing wrong. You do a fantastic job explaining things. This so far makes me think Miami's reputation as a corrupt city seems justified.
Miami *Beach* is a separate municipality, BUT... the corruption pervades the entire Miami-Dade County, so... distinction without a difference, lol... 😉
Developer is deceased. Dead men tell no tales.
For years they thought that they got away with it free and clear.
It will probably help that there is basically no chance the construction had anything to do with the CTS collapse....And even if they did somehow damage the CTS foundation wall it was still CTS's responsibility to raise the issue at the time, not ignore it for years till their building fell down..... Living in Florida a company developed a lot next to mine and their filling the lot created flooding on my property due to rainwater runoff. I raised the issue immediately and the developer reshaped the lot. Had I waited then filed suit saying that house you built years ago damaged my property...I would have been laughed out of court.
@@MajorCaliber Hate to say it but it's like this all over where small municipalities live off property taxes and rubber stamp YES to anything that comes along to add to the slush fund. Florida and other states with out state taxes have these difficulties more pronounced as they have very little to fund themselves and will bend backwards ignoring all safety to get a developer to add new property taxes to their budget.
The councilman calling that woman a liar is infuriating-but it is a consolation that by doing so he was admitting to the fraud.
You have to wonder what kind of money was being exchanged under the table.
about $10.5m
@@farcticox1409 Or more
Gotta wonder if that arrogant pr1ck survived re-election? In any event, the citizens of Miami-Dade County (not just Miami Beach, who can probably walk there), got screwed out of about 30 nice (metered) parking spots--right on the beach--without having to cross busy Collins Ave, which is no fun when you're dragging tents, beach chairs, *children,* etc... bastiges. Apparently the under-the-table message (which came with the "voluntary" contribution) was: _The wealthy owners of 87P shall not be exposed to the hoi polloi and their plebian ways and customs... rolleyes_
@@MajorCaliber likely did survive reelection. Most people don't pay attention to local politics and locals are elected by a fraction of a percent of the population even the ones that do vote know very little about wha'ts really going on. Just like this guy demeaning this woman by calling her a liar and saying it's "just you." this is disgusting. The epitome of corruption and why we shouldn't be trusting billionaires to our best interests. It's always about profits.
She is not some old lady the commissioner is talk too… she is A former 2 term city commissioner and one of the founding leaders of the preservation movement she knows what she’s talking about it is a palling how he is talking to her. I hope the investigation goes further into his dealings!
Since the collapse of CTS, I’ve learned so much about construction, building, codes and what comes along with it~ from you. Thank you for putting in terms that everyone could understand and for stating facts. I love to learn new things and find your content interesting.
This is the best channel on TH-cam. Intriguing topic, excellently researched and presented with data and logic. I’m learning a lot about construction, something I’ve not been interested in before. This is playing out like an old Agatha Christie novel.
The great thing about people in an Agatha Christie novel is that when they get caught in one lie, they flip and tell the full truth. Now we just have to wait for the people around the CTS disaster to do the same. Waiting...
And I always worry when I release a video about CTS whether others will find this interesting. I'm surprised and fascinated by what I discover... I'm glad to see others are just as interested.
@@qwaszx2 "As a left wing person, I found myself believing both were not guilty after believing strongly until the trials they were guilty. It's really shaken my belief in the system"
Oh, so you're "left wing"? And you believe Chauvin is not guilty? So how do you feel now that he changed his plea to guilty?
I call BS on your statement, or you live in a fantasy world unperturbed by facts.
@@qwaszx2 Oh, I'd say he's gotten off lightly for the depraved murder of Floyd. And I guess he thinks so too, which is why he changed his plea to "Guilty".
But I'm sure you know better than the killer himself, right?
@@qwaszx2 Utterly and horribly wrong. He knew what he was doing over that nine minutes of ignoring the pleas not only of the victim, but of a Firefighter with medical training and the bystanders who repeatedly said that Floyd was dying.
I get it. Floyd's death means nothing to you, perhaps you even rejoice over it. But people with a conscience are shocked and horrified over this episode of street murder.
Wow that commissioner saying she was a "liar" when she used their legalese, she would probably be called a "liar" if she said the city was paid off for the transaction too!
Yet again it’s easier to ask forgiveness for tearing down the building than permission to tear down the building.
Until you end up being forced to tear down the building you built as replacement.
I'd bet they didn't even bother asking for forgiveness.
@@ehsnils Unlikely, unless/until you piss off the wrong people. Then the people you were in cahoots with never heard of you.
@@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823 If you piss off the wrong people you won't be seen again - Jimmy Hoffa style.
What's hilarious about this complaint is when they eliminated the public parking, guaranteed the people at CTS were all for it. People with water front property never like having other people using "their beach".
Would have loved to have been there to point out to all the terminally rich that their property ends at the front door of their unit.
Not only does it sound like the original developer of CTS was wound up in corruption, but also the builders of 87 Park and Miami Beach City Commissioners as well. Giving the Right of Way of 87th Terrace to the 87 Park developers and them giving Miami Beach $10.5 million in a "voluntary contribution". This smells like a rat on all sides. I like how that City Commissioner was arguing with that lady saying "We got $10.5 million. That's inaccurate. You're lying, it was $10.5 million. I just don't prefer to meet with you. It's just YOU." Yeah, that sounds like a "voluntary contribution"...NOT. I wonder how much of that $10.5 mill he got, along with the rest of the commissioners.
Miami and corruption are 2 peas in a pod.
@@spencer5051 Most city governments are corrupted. Just at different levels of corruption.
The world is built upon backhanders.
under the table I bet.
@@FBHSswimmer2006 Sure, but Miami was built on drug money and corruption.
You guys are doing a great job with the analysis of this tragedy 🙏❤
Thank you for watching!
Didn't CTS improperly obtained the rights to build higher and larger than originally intended too? ie Hypocrites also adding a penthouse level afterwards.
That was my first thought as well. This whole thing is a fascinating fiasco.
It's just shifting blame but ultimately its the city council and the inspectors through out the decades that are to blame, taking bribes and write offs to improper building codes, cause they know full well that they will be long gone when a disaster like this happens and the current administration will blame shift back to the old departed admin staff so no one is at fault, except the poor suckers that buy into these death traps.
They added 1 story to the part that fell.
The developers of CTS pushed the penthouse through decades ago, the suit is from the current victims who had nothing to do with what happened decades ago, likely weren't even born at the time.
So no hypocrisy on the behalf of the people filing the suit.
@@ke6gwf 40 years ago, not that long. Adding the penthouse after the building was done. This channel confirming CTS passing permits then turning around and changing the plans on the next revision with less structure and yet the city didn't bother to inspect the new plans. It's all narcissistic behavior in the part of the city and construction company years before, but now it's the new lawyers turn to sue for shit and giggles because they know they won't win against the city as the construction company is long gone.
The hypocrisy is thick. Full responsibility lie solely on the city and inspectors for taking bribes, getting black mailed, and not doing their due diligence. As this channel or another stated, most of the unit owners were leasing agencies that didn't want to spend a dime on any fixes. How did inspectors give a pass to the building on review if not for under the table dealings by the majority owners that are these CTS plaintiffs. Even on the recommendation of an engineering firm, yet nothing was done.
The hypocrisy is the CTS board members made up of the majority leasing agencies knowing that shit was wrong and dragging their feet to do anything. And now blaming anyone else for their inaction cause it would have cost them money, either in fixes or having the building condemned if a proper inspection was done.
Wow, that Commissioner at the meeting was extremely dismissive and downright RUDE to that older lady, because she KNEW THE FACTS. 🙄
Thanks Josh! Looking forward to your next upload on CTS and the lawsuit.
That was probably one of the most interesting aspects of it. I wonder if that guy has any liability with regard to the deal and tax fraud.
@@spencer5051 Based on defensiveness, I'll put $$ on that.
Just wanted to say thank you for making these videos. Everywhere I go I'm constantly noticing and pointing out things I learned from your videos. You're making this a safer world.
Thank you Jessica, that means a lot!
It’s true, you’ve really raised awareness of building safety.
Well done, Josh. I continue to look for Building Integrity videos because they're are JUST that.... Integrity..
You did a great job of covering the history and potential issues while not accusing anyone or any entity of wrongdoing. Very good research-based analysis.
Big fan, thank you for providing such high quality content for FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Thank you!
I am sickened with how that city commissioner spoke to that woman. How corrupt and absolutely disgusting
There is no "corruption" in his speaking. He received no money or anything of any value from speaking to her. Get a dictionary.
There's more than one definition for "corrupt". A few of them could apply here, "rotten" being one example.
@@KB4QAA Thanks for this feeble-minded comment. Stick to your Army PT videos, meathead.
Thanks for your continuing series on this tragedy. Your latest instalment has prompted some thoughts.
In 1978 I was architect for an office block constructed in poured reinforced concrete on a gap site in a heavily-built-up historic urban area in Edinburgh, Scotland. The building had piled foundations (initially cored but subsequently driven). Prior to construction we conducted dilapidation surveys on all adjoining properties within 25 metres (ca. 75 feet) of the site perimeter which, in fact, demonstrated that one of the adjoining buildings was close to collapse, requiring its immediate evacuation and closure for repair, delaying our site start by a year. There has been no mention of a dilapidation survey conducted on CTS by the developer of 87 Park or by the CTS management board prior to commencement.
Incidentally, our shear wall code requirements (our floors were wide-span coffered and don't relate) were such as make CTS look like a building constructed from playing cards and drinking straws. My first reaction on seeing the CTS design drawings was one of utter amazement and horror.
The proposal to simultaneously develop 87 Park while restoring the hotel has all the appearance of a 'trojan horse' to demonstrate the incompatibility of the two objectives through the potential and problematic massive over-development of the site, thus permitting the actual development to seem restrained in comparison and to ease the demolition of the statutorily unprotected hotel.
It is interesting that the lawyers for the CTS survivors and former residents have based their case almost entirely on the alleged consequences of the 87 Park works while ignoring any oversight of potential issues in the original CTS design. Do you think this to avoid possible liability at CTS where building defects, historic or recent, may not have received the attention they should?
I understand the 87 Park and CTS are located in separate municipal jurisdictions. If that is the case, it would be interesting to see where exactly the boundary line between the two lies. I wonder to what extent variations in building codes, zoning legislation and, indeed, communication, or lack of it, between the two municipal authorities has any bearing in the matter, notwithstanding the lawyers' weasel words used to effect the 'vacating' of the municipality's roadway to the developer of 87 Park.
My apologies for such a protracted comment, but you put so much into to your videos you deserve something back.
Keep them coming.
No apology needed, it's helpful to get insights from someone who's gone through a (somewhat) similar design and permitting process.
Sue the city commisioners as well.
Thanks for another intelligent look at the law suit and the circumstances by which a city street was obtained by Terra.
Wow, I wonder who benefited from that $10.5 million "donation". This just stinks of corruption.
EG: "The City of Miami". There is no evidence of corruption.
@@KB4QAA Not yet but we will see who got a piece of that 10.5 mill pie. Remember..hush money works.
The more I learn about this, the more I believe that questionable construction practices of CTS would have led to an eventual partial or total collapse or at least serious remedial repairs. I also believe that the questionable construction practices next door contributed to that occurring much much sooner.
People worked so hard to own a dream home on the beach. Here they were, facing a $15,000,000 assessment to cure all of the defects. Upon seeing the damage compromising the building's integrity, I wouldn't have been surprised to have that amount quadrupled. Since so many offenders have died, who's left to sue. Sad though.
I believe you are correct, Mary Fowler. There may have been one structural member that initiated the physical collapse of CTS. However there were multiple parties involved in a perfect storm of incompetence, greed, mismanagement and neglect leading to a structure that was doomed.
By Jove another smashing review of the situation. Your postings are riveting. Time flys listening to them.
Thank you for watching Paul!
That City was sketchy back when CTS was built and they have only gotten more sketchy. I bet the Mayor and/or council members got paid off. They should follow the money on this one! Great work and video!
Where I'm from, if a public official talked to a member of the public like that guy did, somebody would have had to call the cops to keep him from getting yanked from behind that desk and given 'a stern talking to'
This channel is outstanding! Each video is better than the last.
Plenty of people in that area seemed to want that hotel preserved and renovated. Why didn't THEY buy the property and renovate it?
They prefer to let others buy it and then tell them what to do with it. Much less expensive.
When I voluntarily gave money to the cashier at the grocery store, they abandoned their claim to the groceries they had just bagged
In the nice aerial photo @3:50, you can see one of the more mundane ways in which 87 Park skee-rewed CTS, i.e. *sun-blocking* during the winter, when you most want the sun shining on your pool and patio areas. From the length of shadows, I'd say this shot was taken between early Nov. and mid-Feb... using 87 Park as a sundial, it's about 10AM, so by shortly after noon, and for the entire rest of the afternoon, CTS pool and jacuzzi are totally in the shade... thus, savvy real estate agents will only show units in the morning, lol.
I get so excited when a new video is released. It’s just so interesting!
It is possible that when having an engineer look over the old hotel they found serious problems with it that made restoration economically infeasible. Since this is a condo developer in Florida, it is more likely that they had always planned to do this. The dates on the architectural drawings, the engineering, and the permits would show if they had been trying to pull a fast one. This also highlights that cities and neighbors should always get contracts instead of promises from developers and companies that want to construct projects in their area.
If I followed the video correctly, the City had to approve the destruction of the old hotel! It doesn't matter what the developer planned, all they would have had to say was "no", or anything but approval. However, the video clearly shows at least one person only cares about the money.
@@arthurmoore9488 There were some backroom dealings and there is no doubt that money was also donated to re-election funds or just through ye olde brown paper bag.
@@arthurmoore9488 " It doesn't matter what the developer planned," No, it is important and it is clear that they got it in stages to hide true intentions from the public.
The developer and architect quickly decided to request permission to demo the old building because they suddenly realized that there wasn't enough space between the existing building and the new building they planned to build to the north of it. They never once made statements that there was something structurally wrong with the Biltmore.
The developer had no interest in renovating an old building. The real estate along North Shore is highly sought after for building luxury condos. They wanted to build lux condos in a premium location for millionaires, not spend millions renovating a historic building and risk only getting a limited return on their investment. The only way to get around the historical preservation roadblock and loud outcry from the public was to propose renovating the old building, and then do a bait-and-switch after the purchase of the property was made. If the Biltmore had been given stronger historical protections, the bait-and-switch would have been far more difficult to pull off... but in this case, once they were allowed to moved forward with purchasing the property, there wasn't much stopping them from demolishing the Biltmore.
Thanks for your continued analysis. I’m on our local planning board. There’s typically a bit of horse trading between the us and the developer, for instance to waive a minor section of an ordinance in return for a design modification that better suits local desires. In the case of 87 Park, the apparent behind-the-scenes deal making and lack of respect for historic and neighborhood wishes in the site development and structure is shameful.
There was a vacant lot near my house. Some "developer" bought it for a song, then tried to do something with the land. It was zoned for Parking, but no parking is needed in the immediate area. No matter what the guy tried to do (advertising billboards, housing, parking for food trucks), city officials opposed him every step of the way. They refused to change the zoning, claiming that Residential zoning would be inappropriate--even though there are apartments across the street, and houses adjacent to the property. I heard some of the city officials muttering that he doesn't know what he's doing.
In the end, the guy built a very nice parking lot, which NOBODY uses. He tried to have a farmers market on it, and that failed. Now he's trying to sell it. No one will buy it, unless it's a developer who DOES "know what they're doing," because every other vacant lot in the area is getting multi-story housing units built on it--including a lot less than 200 feet from the forlorn parking lot. I wonder what it means in our city for a developer to "know what they're doing."
You can buy a public street?? I guess giving a “voluntary contribution” works fine. 🧐
Yea it happens and 9/10 times it does it probably smells.
It's a curious transaction for sure.
@@BuildingIntegrity With the way you explained in previous video's about some of the shenanigans that took place in dealing with real estate matters back in the day, I would be willing to bet that along with the $10,500,000, another one half to one million, give or take, found it's way into the back pocket of someone on city council !!
@@bobsandone3108 Honestly, I doubt it was that much. You would be *surprised* how little politicians (especially local ones) will sell themselves for.
A few votes for something like this could probably be obtained by offering free home renovations. Everybody could use a good kitchen remodeling or whatever, and it's a lot easier to hide than a direct cash transaction.
Actually the timing makes me think off these eminent domain laws and transactions which were taking place all over the USA to raise the tax rates for the area in which this new building would be built.
Wow!!! Thanks for the update.
87 PARK CONDOS ARE EXCRUCIATINGLY UGLY 🤮 AND MISERABLY EXPENSIVE (30 million each low end). Thank you SO much for a comprehensive breakdown of the paperwork involved. It's critical to expose investor corruption infiltrating our housing market.
Nice view of the neighboring buildings though. 😬
Wasn't Champlain Towers South built over the height limit also? Kind of funny they site that in their lawsuit. This reminds me of the San Francisco tower that is leaning where they tried to pin the blame on nearby construction of a transit station - which doesn't change the fact that the foundation on that tower was not properly engineered to start with.
Yeah, but we're talking about 1/3rd of a full story vs 140 extra stories
The people suing in this case are the residents of CTS not the developer of CTS. If they thought suing the CTS developer could get any traction they probably would be.
@@jasonadams7308 he's dead. Very few of the original suspects are alive.
@@Helladamnleet I'm no engineer, however my belief is from an engineering perspective being 'slightly' over your absolute maximum limit of X is just as bad as being 'very' over your absolute limit.
Something people from other states might not know is that much of the parts of San Francisco on the bay side of the San Fransciso peninsula is actually landfill. There had been, since even the beginning of San Francisco, a lot of landfill in the original bay which was much larger than the current bay.
I think the Millennium Tower is sinking is because it exceeds the weight support that landfill beneath it offers. I would hate to be in that building during a medium size earthquake; landfill turns into jello. 😱
It was a bad idea. Land is at a premium in San Fran so against more risk averse judgement, they built a very heavy very tall building on landfill.
Excellent video. The narrator tenaciously follows aspects of public policy as they may have contributed to the catastrophe. His is the kind of patient work that we need to see more of in public debates, especially when large sums of money and human lives are at stake.
A very interesting new topic started in this video. It's astounding that at two properties right next to each other so many companies are involved such bad practice. Especially the latter part of this video shows, how little Terra cared about anybody else. It's a strong example for why companies and the economy nowadays is hated by so many people.
As always another eye opening video. Thank you for keeping us updated as this case goes forward.
The more I hear about this, the more pissed I become! It is just DISGUSTING what happened.
Thank you for another great video analysis, you're like a one man documentary on this subject, much respect to you sir!
I think it will be almost impossible for the plaintiffs to actually show evidence to support their theory that Eighty-Seven Park is partially responsible for the collapse.
This video was very well researched and must have taken many hours to create. Thank you for making this fantastic series of videos!!
Love your videos! My wife loves the two lamps behind you. What are they and where could I get them?
Unfortunately you can't get these exact lamps anywhere. They are from the 50's and my wife restored them and painted them white and replaced the shades.
@@BuildingIntegrity
Wow! She is very talented! They look amazing
You made me go back and look, they are really nice lamps.
Lovely lamps
Everyone seems to love Josh's lamps. They are like his video trademark !
I just watched the 2-hour long Discovery channel program about this building collapse. They pointed to various possible causes: The poor drainage on the pool deck caused rusting of the rebars. Collapse of the deck changed the lateral support of the deck pushing against the vertical columns to lateral force pulling on the vertical columns. They also pointed out the smaller vertical columns on the sections that collapsed, and much less shear wall support in the sections that collapsed.
For me, the most interesting new information was why the palm trees were removed in 2017. Reason, each palm tree planter had a large drain pipe below to remove the excess water. However, the roots of the palm trees grew into these drain pipes and split them open. Of course, this allowed an excessive amount of rain water to seep into the deck near the trees.
I personally think that after they removed the trees, they did not repair the root cracked drains; no facts, just a guess. If true, then the large double planter that was likely the debris that fell into the parking garage first, was the source of significant water leakage into the surrounding rebars. Also, the large amount of parking garage ceiling spalling was under these root cracked drains.
This program also featured a significant amount of commentary from residents living in or associated with the Champlain Towers. To me, one of the most interesting was the commentary by the woman who filmed inside the garage a year before the collapse.
Excellent reporting, again.
Wonder how much of the 10,5 M was actually used to benefit the public.
about $0
I heard the town purchased some snow plows and salt spreaders with the money ;)
It would at least be interesting to know what the check was made out to, and which City (or private) account it ended up in. In theory that should be public knowledge, but it may take an FOIA lawsuit to try to get it.
@@Gubastek Pretty Funny. I am sure you are on the right track, probably something very useful for Miami.
Typically the money will never be spent. The interest from the money will be.
Wow, that's a change of things. Getting very interesting more and more. Well done.
That level of corruption is shocking. And considering I am Greek, that’s really concerning.
🤣
Your honor, I wasn't selling drugs. I was just giving my friend Ralph here a bump of coke, and he made a voluntary contribution to help defray my student loans.
No, it was a tax deductible gift.
As always, your video is not only concise but, well produced and interesting. I continue to be a loyal fan of your channel.
So interesting! Thanks for sharing this!
Well done Sir. I look forward to the next session.
IIRC, IRS gives finders fees for turning in such.... I wonder how many folks have called IRS to have them look into it? Josh for #1 call?
Love the Commentary - Facts and the truth are powerful, eventually the truth comes out. Shine the light and let it be know to all so hopefully innocent lives are never lost again. Keep digging and reporting as you have our attention.
I am very intrigued at the outcome of this case! Thank you for continuing to cover the CAL also. Great videos!
I've been waiting for the next episode 👍
I'm a local 134 IBEW union electrician in Chicago, been following along very interesting and informative videos love them. Unfortunate for the innocent lives but somehow not surprised this happened in Florida.
Excelent vídeo! Thanks!
What I don't understand is that there was no new building close to CTS. They built the new condo right where the old hotel was. So what got built on the previous parking lot and public street that could have caused CTS to be affected?
This was incredibly interesting, so thanks for the explanations!!
Thank YOU! Great video. Looking forward to your next one in this series.
From 60' to 200' in height ?
That's a lot of real-estate
Always enjoy your informative videos. Looking forward to the next one!
When surveys are done of which of a long list of characteristics, from square footage to age of construction to local schools, are most important to property buyers, safety (or geologic safety) is always last on their priority list. Consistently, the most important factor to buyers is the view from the property! I hope that not only will design, construction and permitting processes will put more emphasis on safety issues, but that individual buyers will as well! I remember people being advised not to buy homes on crumbling local sea cliffs, then when the houses fell down into the sea, demanding “someone is going to pay for this!”. You are doing such a great job of raising public awareness of such safety concerns, Mr. Porter, thanks.
It would be quicker to type "grift" instead of "voluntary contribution."
And more accurate!
Oh wow...you cut that off...dang cliffhangers! Thanks for another informative & educational video. You need to get one of the youtube lawyers to pick apart the legal parts.
another well done video. you put a lot of work into these- much appreciated.
I should have thought about a "voluntary contribution" when I realized that the street is just getting in the way of me having a nice pool.
I’m getting a strong feeling that it might come down to “your bulldozer got too close to my house of cards” ie the judge will have to work out what % of blame attaches to each side ... but I’m intrigued. Also, when you know construction is going to happen close to your building don’t you get folks to install laser gadgets to check that nothing has been affected? Maybe that is a tunnelling thing?
The vibrations were measured and exceeded tolerance. It was covered in another video, I think Josh’s last one.
In the previous episode he mentioned that the developers put up seismic detectors near the CTS wall, and monitored them occasionally (but not continuously).
Not if you want the tower to come down so you can collect the insurance payout..
Usually the ROW reverts back to properties on both sides of the street when vacated, split right down the middle. So I am very curious - did the new development somehow get the ROW on both sides of the street? I assume this has been Final Platted and also there was an ordinance for the vacation - both of those would be very interesting to look at.
Someone mentioned that the street was the north boundary of the City. I suspect that 87th Terrace was built when the hotel was built, on the same parcel of land.
Excellent, as always. Goodness that was a shady deal. That poor hotel was doomed from the start. The original view of the condo was really ugly too. And as you said, could never have worked without parking.
Good info - thanks for doing the research. Anxious to see the next vid ! 👍
I like how straightforward and plainly Josh tells this story. I have up on fiction some time ago, too much artificial drama. I followed Brexit TLDR News and now I am watching this. Reality is so interesting. I am little afraid to Evergrande though, there could more to that plot that just a financial crisis.
Great presentation of the known facts.
What about the draining of the 10ft walk? Looks like it's towards the gravel right beside the planter wall of CTS. Was there a seal done on the planter wall? What about the draining of the parking area before? Only side effects, but mention worth I think.
Boy this is getting more interesting by the day! It makes you wonder how many other deals are being done under the table and who is making a killing off of being bought.
This makes me think that Florida has been a corrupt mess for decades.
You didn't know? I thought this was common knowledge.
For the record: this is in NO way similar--nor in ANY way connected--to when I "voluntarily contributed" to the "Widows & Orphans Fund" of The Miami-Dade Police Dept., and then 2 months later, "just happened" to be awarded the hauling contract to move all the rubble from CTS to a "secret" site over by the airport... I mean, I know it LOOKS bad, but it's all on the up-and-up... and, as any Dade County Commissioner will tell you... I would NEVER lie! 😇
It sounds so shady,...and it is. But as someone who once worked in Governmental sales, it's the way it's done, unfortunately. More times than not, it's all done legally too! They just learn how to make their shenanigans legal....Ever notice how many lawyers get into politics? I think Congress is made up of 70% lawyers.
100% Criminals
Great video. Wonderfully explained, as always...
Excellent presentation.
The construction at 87 Park wasn't the direct cause of the CTS collapse, but it certainly was one of many contributing factors. There's no way you can drive piles in to the ground and excavate next to the CTS wall without accelerating or exacerbating the existing flaws and wear. And the fact they basically bought a city street and the manner in which they did the whole project is disturbing. CTS developers and builders have their own fault in all this too.
"We got ten and a half million for it..." Assuming that was all of questionable legality, that quote on video was extremely damning.
Well I guess you cannot expect much from a city council who speaks to it's elderly residents like that.
Well the Mayor of Miami Beach could well have been part of any back street dealing and only wanted to state what he said at 11:10 to have his words there on the public record to dispel any personal political repercussions. I'm wondering what other charitable donations 'Terra' was required to voluntarily dispense in the surrounding months and whether any future considerations were involved. Whereas that miserable excuse for a commissioner was certainly, with his lying remarks, doing rather the reverse of exculpating himself.
Thanks again so interesting cant wait for the next video.
This is turning into a much bigger deal than I had originally thought.
If a modern building falls over, YEAH, it's a big deal. When was the last time you heard this happening in the States?
Another great video. The research you're doing is impressive, not a lot of people would be as thorough. It occurs to me that there may be a lot of city officials who decide that an off shore retirement is looking better and better.
These shenanigans go on everywhere. The Court won't be too interested in it, except how the changes affected the stability of CTS. That's going to be tough to prove.
"Shenanigans beget shenanigans" - CPG Grey: 'Supreme Court Shenanigans'
Take a look though at the new sidewalk and tell me you can't see that is was built to drain ALL the water towards CTS ...just saying
The demolished Biltmore Terrace was a 1951 Miami Modern gem. Its architect was the famous Morris Lapidus, who also designed the Fontainebleau and Eden Roc. Also interesting is the Coronado, an Art Deco hotel which was demolished in 1978 to build CTS.
It's just the ghosts of those old hotels getting their revenge!
The day news broke on the collapse, I google-earthed the neighborhood and my initial feeling was that 87Park looked like a source of trouble for CTS. Its scale was overwhelming. Earlier google-earth images showed the massive construction, driving in pilings so close to CTS, and major dirt-moving right up to the foundation of CTS. I also wondered what happened to the street-Poof! It was gone. I’m not an engineer, so my reaction was based on visual scale. Your presentation here makes me feel like my reaction to 87Park wasn’t too far off base. Your studies of all of the interdependent elements that can contribute to a structural failure are fascinating.
It would be interesting to know how common this sort of transaction is. Also if building so close to another building is common in Florida beach development. I would guess that the history of beachfront development in Florida is pretty skeezy.
Also would be nice to know if the original development 'plan' for 87 Park as pictured at 14:51 was just a pretty picture or if they spent money to get plans and engineering for it. If so, one would think that those plans would exist somewhere, perhaps at the planning department. Were plans ever submitted for anything other than what was eventually built?
This is an interesting and important analysis, many thanks for posting this!
Wonder how many city officials got some kind of “ voluntary contributions” as well
This is fascinating. Thank you for this series!
That $10.5 million could have gone to fix CTS and everyone would be alive today. The developer had the responsibility to ensure no damage came to neighboring property. With all their sophisticated tech, they had knowledge of what could happen. The judge will have several parties at fault. Looking forward to outcome.
After watching this, I am inclined to agree with you. But live in another state so no way will I be on that jury.
CTS was already having serious structural damage that was ignored by the board & it’s residents over decades. Spalling, adding planters, ignoring roof repairs & allowing cracks to not be repaired properly is the fault of CTS & it’s residents. 87 Terrace & construction of the new condominium will have to hashed out in court in regards to liability.
@@jasoncrandall73 True, true, agree. But, I have read resident complaints of the shaking, vibrating, and cracking of walls after 87 construction began. It could have been the straw that broke the camel's back. I know the residents of CTS suffered daily with noise levels and fears their balconies, walls were already showing distress directly related to Terramar construction.
I very recently became completely enthralled by your “structural engineering for non-majors” talks regarding the issues related to the Surfside disaster. At the end of the day, the collapse appears the result of a perfect storm of problems, left to fester, for decades, with solutions (if any) which were ultimately beyond the budget of the HOA and the building’s occupants. The construction of the building next door was clearly not solely responsible for the Champlain Towers’ destruction, but whatever impact that construction had was good enough for a lawsuit, and a billion dollars was accessible for damages. Perhaps the biggest lesson here is for HOAs, which are loath to address problems when they should, and condo owners (of which I am one), who’d rather kick the can down the road than save/invest for inevitable property maintenance.
love this series!
Will you be talking about the Dawn Lehman study done for the Miami Herald next time? It seems to give some credibility to the construction as at least a contributing factor.
The Dawn Lehman study doesn't exactly give credibility to the construction next door theory. It states there was damage already on the south perimeter wall and pool deck (we knew about it already), and rebal WAS MISSING in areas of the wall in connection to the pool deck slab per the original architectural plans of the building. There were repairs of the pool deck in 1996, 2002, and 2009 (and I think one more time), and the problems with the perimeter wall and pool deck were known, well before the 87 Park construction. There were extremely large, heavy planters by the south perimeter wall, and those were not on structural beams like other planters on the pool deck were. So it means they had no support. Also the pool deck slab had thin column support, and disintegrating for a long time.