Residents at a North Miami Beach condominium building were evacuated Monday after city officials said the building was structurally unsafe.
The city ordered an immediate evacuation of the five-story Bayview 60 Homes following months of investigation by an engineering firm.
"The City is working with the owner to ensure that all residents will receive proper assistance as they relocate," North Miami Beach City Manage Arthur Sorey said in a statement. "The safety of the residents is our number one concern and we're working as quickly as possible to mobilize our resources to the building site."
The building's owner had been conducting repairs since last July in advance of the building's upcoming 50-year recertification inspection. But then the engineering firm discovered that the foundation was shifting in at least three locations and recommended that residents be removed immediately.
Fifty-five families live in the building, according to CBS Miami.
Renters had to be out of the building by Tuesday afternoon. The city says they will be allowed to return later this week to pick up large furniture pieces and personal belongings. Residents were also given three-day hotel vouchers, the Associated Press reported. The property owner said residents will be refunded for security deposits and April's rent.
"The rents in this building that just closed are between $1,500 and $1,900 a month. And if you know anything about South Florida that is very cheap rent right now and affordable," Sorey told the AP. "That's going to be the issue right now with those individuals trying to find something along the same lines and the same price. It’s going to be very hard."
Last year, North Miami Beach officials ordered the evacuation of another condo building, the Crestview Towers, following an audit of high-rise buildings 40 years or older after the deadly collapse of the Champlain Towers South Condo in Surfside, Florida.
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