NORTH BAY VILLAGE, Fla. – Residents on North Bay Village’s Harbor Island captured a scary situation on video when high winds blew heavy construction debris from a stalled high-rise project onto a park, adjacent to a playground.
Now, they worry whether the surrounding area is safe in a future storm.
During a Sunday storm, metal scaffolding from the 21-story 7918 West Drive project, located at the aforementioned address, blew onto nearby Dr. Paul Vogel Community Park, landing right next to a playground. City officials said the project became dormant, with “no explanation,” in December.
Jose Gonzalez took photos of the “very big” pile of debris afterward. A neighbor also took cellphone video.
“Everything started flying off,” Gonzalez said. “It was pretty dangerous.”
Luckily, because of the storms, no one was in the park at the time. It’s now closed until further notice.
Residents in the area contacted Local 10 News to ask what North Bay Village is doing to ensure the developer, Pacific & Orient Properties, secures the project site to mitigate against loss of life or property damage before the next big storm.
“If you are going to stop building, at least keep everything safe,” Gonzalez said. “It doesn’t have to be 60 mph, it could be less and something could happen.”
North Bay Village manager Ralph Rosado called Sunday’s storm “unusual” with “hurricane season-type winds,” despite South Florida being out of hurricane season.
“The winds were so heavy, they actually unbolted items that were on the top floor of the building, called table forms, that actually weigh between 10 and 12,000 pounds, so that is how heavy these winds were,” Rosado said. “They bent the rebar, they loosened the bolts and that is what toppled off of the building.”
He noted that the site has passed inspections and said because of that heavy weight, “safety netting would not have made an impact.”
“We are telling them you need to act like as if we are now in hurricane season and prepare just that much more, so everything is bolted down securely as possible,” Rosado said. “We are having them remove as many items as they can.”
Rosado said village building officials and members of code enforcement met with the site’s contractor and development firm Tuesday and asked them to clean up the site.
He added that North Bay Village will continue with weekly inspections and will be asking crews to remove a crane while construction is paused.
Reporting by real estate publication The Real Deal sheds light on the stoppage.
“Just two days after Christmas, Thornton Residential, the (project’s) general contractor, placed a lien for nearly $7 million in allegedly unpaid work, records show,” the publication’s report reads in part. “Liens were also filed by subcontractors ranging from plumbing and concrete to job site safety. In mid-January, a cooling company seeking about $79,000 filed a lawsuit against the developer.”
Local 10 News has not yet been able to independently confirm that information.
A spokesperson for developer Pacific & Orient Properties released a statement to Local 10 News on Wednesday:
“As a result of an unforeseen isolated weather event occurring on February 4th in North Bay Village, our project site which consists of construction of a high-rise condominium building, sustained damages as a result of the strong winds. Damage was also caused to fences, transformers, vehicles, and an adjacent park area. Fortunately, there was no loss of life nor any injuries sustained. Our general contractor, Thornton Residential, immediately stepped in and has advised us that it has adequately secured the project site and did so in compliance with all appropriate governmental and safety requirements. However, we have been, and certainly will continue to be, fully focused upon remaining site cleanup and any safety concerns involving the site and NBV neighborhood.”
A city spokesperson said, “We remain optimistic about the prospects of new development in our vibrant community, and we eagerly anticipated continued growth and enhancement in our Village.”