Search and rescue personnel continue searching for victims days after a residential building partially collapsed in Surfside near Miami Beach, Florida, the US, in this June 27 2021 file photo. Picture: REUTERS/MARIA ALEJANDRA CARDONA
“A very real possibility is the old being replaced with the new, a gentrification of greatly increased prices,” said Jack McCabe, a Florida-based real estate consultant. “If you’re in South Florida, that means you are probably going to be a millionaire or multimillionaire or billionaire to be able to afford it.”
Even if the older buildings aren’t replaced, the cost of living there could increase in other ways. Florida legislators and local leaders are weighing proposals to ensure that coastal condominium associations have sufficient oversight and funding to make timely repairs, potentially driving up artificially depressed homeowner’s association fees or leading to exorbitant special assessments.
Fort Lauderdale attorney Gregg Schlesinger, who specialises in construction failure litigation, said buildings could be much older than 40 years and remain structurally sound — as long as maintenance is carried out regularly. Esmie Moffatt, a 71-year-old retiree, had to leave behind her personal documents and hospital bed and move in with her daughter Sharon, who spoke on Esmie’s behalf because her mother was ill and bedridden. She said the rising costs of living in the poorly maintained Crestview, where her mother has owned a unit for 23 years, had already been pressuring the family.