Miami Beach condo building residents ordered to evacuate immediately over structural damage to garage beam
MIAMI BEACH -- CBS4 is learning new information after tenants at the Port Royale Condominium in Miami Beach had to evacuate.
CBS4 spoke with unit owner Marash Markaj who has owned a unit at the location for seven years. He said he has been a contractor for 20 years and while doing renovations on his unit he started to see red flags.
"I see some parts of the slab falling apart. I see inside and I was very concerned. I see some cracks and then I drive into the parking spot and water came inside the building and it stayed there for a couple of days," said Markaj.
Thursday, Miami Beach engineers recommended that everyone who lives at the condominium evacuate by 7 p.m. When CBS4 arrived, we saw people loading up their cars with their belongings.
Tenants learned they must find another place for a least 10 days.
CBS4 obtained the letter engineers sent to building officials.
In it, they say they noticed several areas of concern about 10 months ago.
Four weeks ago, they were supervising repairs when they discovered a badly damaged beam. Their concern is the beam is part of the support system for the entire building. Another tenant we spoke with told us he was first alerted to the problem Wednesday.
"I got an email saying the construction has problems and we might have to evacuate. So, the engineers confirmed today to the city that we need to do that and now we are here," said Angel Vargas who was evacuating the building.
Markaj showed CBS4 several pictures he took of the damage. He says he showed them to building management and says he discovered issues with the foundation, concerns about standing water, and issues with the foundation wall. He also took pictures of cracks he found in the concrete beams.
In 10 days, there will be another inspection to determine whether it's safe for tenants to return.
Read the complete building inspection report:
