Miami Beach condo building, planned to be demolished, collapses

The former Marlborough House condominium building in Miami Beach collapsed Monday morning, injuring one, according to Miami Beach police. Debris spread across Collins Avenue caused the main north-south artery through Miami Beach to be shut down in both directions from 41st to 63rd streets on Monday morning. By the early afternoon, Collins Avenue had reopened from 41st to 55th streets, but southbound Collins from 55th to 63rd streets remained closed.
The building no longer had residents. The victim, identified by the developer as a project manager, was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital and is in critical condition, the city said in a statement. Although only one injury was reported by police, the Miami Beach police and fire departments were still conducting life safety searches on Monday afternoon. “All of the construction workers were accounted for and as a precaution they deployed search and rescue dogs and cadaver dogs,” said Mayor Dan Gelber.
Permits had been pulled for the destruction of the 13-floor building built in 1963 and bought by Brazilian developer Jose Isaac Peres. Peres plans a 19-story tower on the beachfront property at 5775 Collins Ave.
Building permit records online show that the owner applied for an implosion permit in August 2017. That permit was denied because Miami Beach does not typically allow implosions, Gelber said. Then the owner applied for a regular demolition permit three days later and the permit was issued on April 18, 2018. A permit corrections report online describes the demolition as “total demolition of multi-family residential structure by conventional methods. No longer using the implosion method.” The former Marlborough House condominium building in Miami Beach collapsed Monday morning, injuring one, according to Miami Beach police. Debris spread across Collins Avenue and caused the main north-south artery through Miami Beach to be shut down in both directions from 41st to 63rd streets.
Gelber said he could not provide any additional information about the collapse because the investigation is ongoing. Multiplan Real Estate Asset Management, the developer for the project, said the building was in the process of being demolished by the general contractor, Winmar Construction, Inc., and referred any questions to them. “We are monitoring the situation and our hearts and prayers are with the injured construction worker and his family,” Multiplan said in a statement.
Winmar Construction refused to make anyone available to answer questions about the incident. The company said it would release a statement on Monday afternoon.
Miami Beach building inspectors have confirmed that the adjacent buildings were not impacted by the collapse, the city said in a statement. Residents who live on Collins Avenue between 5875 and 63 Street will be allowed to access their buildings with proof of residency, the city said, but those who live between 56 and 58 streets will not be allowed to return home.
Preservationist Nancy Liebman, a former Miami Beach commissioner and founder of Miami Beach United, was in New York when the building collapsed.Liebman lives less than two blocks from the building. She helped fight the original plan and managed to get a concession from the developer to build a 15-foot pathway to the beachfront. She said the demolition wasn’t too far along when the building went down. “What?” Liebman said upon learning it had fallen. “Nobody was worried about demolishing that building. It was too small.”

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By David J. Neal, Joey Flechas, Kyra Gurney And Charles Rabin