A Miami Beach apartment building was evacuated by the city Monday due to concrete deterioration, an attorney for the building owners said.
The building at 6881 Indian Creek Drive is at least the fourth in Florida to be evacuated or partially evacuated since the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo building in Surfside last month.
Two days after that collapse on June 24, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava ordered an audit of buildings in the county that are five stories or higher and at or near 40 years old. She encouraged municipalities to do the same, offering the county’s support.
Levine Cava said the audit should be completed within 30 days.
The Indian Creek Drive apartment building is 82 years old and two floors high. Miami Beach officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday about what prompted the most recent review of the building that led to the evacuation.
Manny J. Vadillo, who represents the owners of 6881 Indian Creek Drive, told NBC News that the city of Miami Beach on Monday posted a notice to vacate the property.
The owners of the building, he said, have been “diligently” working with the city since they decided in May to demolish the building by December. They started to “vacate the building in an orderly fashion,” according to Vadillo.
Fourteen people, half of which were paying rent, remained in the building, he said. Miami Beach is giving those tenants through the end of the week to evacuate, and the building’s owners are helping them move, he said.
“My clients are extremely sensitive to safety and, in fact, visited the property several times since last week to speak with tenants when communications started with the city to ensure tenants were not caught by surprise,” Vadillo said. “Some tenants have been there many years.”
Earlier this month, evacuations were ordered for residents of the Crestview Towers Condominiums in North Miami Beach after building officials determined it was also unsafe.
Ninety-four people were confirmed dead in the Champlain Towers South collapse as of Monday.
Investigators have not determined what caused half the building to flatten in the middle of the night.
Documents released after the collapse included a 2018 report that highlighted an engineer’s concerns that the building had “major structural damage.” The engineer said his findings showed that there was “abundant cracking” and crumbling in the parking garage.