SURFSIDE, Fla. – The deadly Champlain Towers South condo collapse has some questioning the future of oceanfront condos.
Luis Padilla is a real estate agent in Surfside that has helped clients sell and buy oceanside units for decades, including some inside the now demolished beachside building.
He knew the condo well and when he heard about the collapse last Thursday, he was stunned.
“For something like this to happen to a 1980 building, its unheard of,” Padilla said.
Within the past six months, six units have sold in the building. The latest sale was just a week before the collapse.
Padilla sold a unit there this past January.
“My latest unit was 610, we had a southeast view,” he said. “The units were pretty simple, two bedrooms, two bath.”
When he heard about the collapse, Padilla called his former client to check up on him.
“He was still doing remodeling and was still at his home,” Padilla said. “His unit, he would have been a victim.”
That unit no longer exists.
Following the collapse, residents have been left stunned and concerned about the structural integrity of their oceanfront condo buildings.
Padilla said despite what happened, people are still calling to check out high rises by the beach but says we will just have to see a few months out.
“Of course, we are all broken hearted with the devastation that happened there,” he said. “My clients, it’s all we really talk about within the industry. With the clients out of town, local, its national news, is worldwide news.
“That hasn’t slowed down the demand.”