Miami-Dade County’s 30-day audit into the condition of local buildings is turning up some places with outstanding issues.
The county’s Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources is conducting an audit of residential properties of five stories or higher at the recertification point – 40 years or older – that have not completed the process.
On Tuesday, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava mentioned the buildings already flagged by inspectors and in need of repair.
“I will be meeting with experts in the near future and I will be planning to meet with additional experts who can advise me once further insights are achieved during this investigation, so we will continue to pull in additional experts as new information becomes available to make sure we are considering all possible angles,” Levine Cava said.
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The Royal Oaks Condominium, a four-story property located at 441 NW 195 Street, was inspected and flagged.
According to a county spokesperson, inspectors found concerns with a first-story steel column supporting three additional stories of exterior patios.
They said a structural engineer would need to be called in and the condo HOA would be responsible for shoring up the area.
The county spokesperson also told NBC 6, “We understand that the association contacted a shoring company to secure the area and has begun to do so. The County will continue to monitor this situation and will follow up with the association to ensure they complete the necessary repairs.”
Three other buildings owned by the county popped up on a list of buildings needing repairs.
The Little River Plaza, located at 8255 NW Miami Court, was flagged for issues still in need of repairs following its 40-year recertification inspection. Both the Ward Towers 1 and Ward Towers 2 buildings were on the list.
Miami-Dade Public Housing and Community Development Director Mitchell Liu told us in a statement, “The Miami-Dade PHCD properties listed have been found to be structurally safe.” He went onto say, “In making repairs, PHCD prioritizes life safety issues and is in the position of having to make difficult choices based on severity and threats to health and safety due to our annual operating deficit of $10 million (deficit being due to lack of federal subsidy to cover costs of running public housing based on HUD’s own formulas), and a backlog of capital needs that is over $500 million. Nationwide the number is over $70 billion. This is why we have embarked on a plan to redevelop public housing under the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) Program which has HUD approval to cover 6,426 units of public housing.”
He also mentioned that the Little River Plaza was on the list for cortina items noted -- not related to structural or habitability issues -- such as parking lot lighting that is still in the process of being addressed and should be completed within the next 45 days.
