Memorial or high-rise? Future of Surfside condo collapse site argued in court
ByTerry Spencer
ByTerry Spencer
SURFSIDE, Fla. — The fight over whether the site of June’s deadly Florida condominium collapse should be sold for development or turned into a memorial boiled over at a court hearing Thursday, with some victims’ relatives begging for time to find a buyer who won’t put a new luxury high-rise there.
Several victims’ relatives said the Surfside site where the 12-story Champlain Towers South once stood is hallowed ground. They pleaded with the judge overseeing the land’s sale to let them find a private party or government that would buy the two-acre beachfront lot at its approximate value of $150 million and donate it for a memorial to the 98 who died.
Rabbi Lisa Shrem told Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman that only part of an arm bone was recovered from her 54--year-old sister, Estelle Hedaya, meaning the rest of her was either lost in the debris that was carted away or is still mixed in the dirt at the site. The land should not be developed, Shrem said.
“That is sacred land,” said Shrem, one of about a half dozen family members who spoke against development. “Our hope is that we can come to a resolution where we can sell the land, have everybody paid out who needs to be paid out and have a memorial. Please, we beg you, allow us some time.”
Surfside collapse President Joe Biden listens during a briefing with first responders and local officials in Miami Beach, Thursday, July 1, 2021, on the condo tower that collapsed in Surfside, Fla., last week. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (Susan Walsh/AP)
Surfside collapse President Joe Biden meets with first responders in Miami Beach, Fla., Thursday, July 1, 2021, who were working on the condo tower that collapsed in Surfside, Fla., last week. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (Susan Walsh/AP)
Surfside collapse A diagram is seen on the wall during the briefing with President Joe Biden and first responders and local officials during a briefing in Miami Beach, Fla., Thursday, July 1, 2021, on the condo tower that collapsed in Surfside, Fla., a week ago. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (Susan Walsh/AP)
Surfside collapse President Joe Biden, center, listens as Incident Commander Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, right, speaks during a briefing with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, left, first responders and local officials in Miami Beach, Fla., Thursday, July 1, 2021, on the condo tower that collapsed in Surfside, Fla., last week. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (Susan Walsh/AP)
Surfside collapse President Joe Biden meets with first responders in Miami Beach, Fla., Thursday, July 1, 2021, who were working on the condo tower that collapsed in Surfside, Fla., last week. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (Susan Walsh/AP)
Surfside collapse Furniture and household items are perched in the remains of destroyed apartments, in the still standing section of the Champlain Towers South condo building on Thursday, July 1, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. Scores of people remain missing one week after the building partially collapsed.(AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) (Mark Humphrey/AP)
Surfside collapse Search and rescue personnel work atop the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condo building, where scores of people remain missing almost a week after it partially collapsed, Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (Lynne Sladky/AP)
Surfside collapse A man prays during a session of evening prayers, known as vespers, dedicated to people impacted by the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo building, at St. Joseph's Catholic Church on Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in Miami Beach, Fla. Church officials said between 18 and 22 of their parishioners were among the scores of people who have been missing since last Thursday's collapse of the oceanfront condominium in adjacent Surfside. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (Gerald Herbert/AP)
Surfside collapse Search and rescue personnel work atop the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condo building, where scores of people remain missing almost a week after it partially collapsed, Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (Lynne Sladky/AP)
Surfside collapse A dog working with search and rescue personnel barks to alert them after sniffing a spot atop the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condo building, where scores of people remain missing almost a week after it partially collapsed, Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (Gerald Herbert/AP)
Surfside collapse Workers peer up at the rubble pile at the partially collapsed Champlain Towers South condo building, ahead of a planned visit to the site by President Joe Biden, on Thursday, July 1, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. Search and rescue workers, who have had to contend with summer rainstorms, fires within the debris, and the threat of collapse from the still standing portion of the building, were not visible atop the rubble on Thursday morning, as scores of people remain missing one week after the collapse.(AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) (Mark Humphrey/AP)
Surfside collapse Leo Soto, whose high school friend Nicole Langesfeld is missing, along with her husband Luis Sadovnic, adjusts pictures at the makeshift memorial he began to the scores of people who were left missing after the Champlain Towers South condo building partially collapsed nearly a week ago, Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in Surfside, Fla.. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (Gerald Herbert/AP)
Surfside collapse Workers peer up at the rubble pile at the partially collapsed Champlain Towers South condo building, ahead of a planned visit to the site by President Joe Biden, on Thursday, July 1, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. Search and rescue workers, who have had to contend with summer rainstorms, fires within the debris, and the threat of collapse from the still standing portion of the building, were not visible atop the rubble on Thursday morning, as scores of people remain missing one week after the collapse.(AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) (Mark Humphrey/AP)
Surfside collapse Search and rescue personnel work atop the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condo building, where scores of people remain missing almost a week after it partially collapsed, Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (Gerald Herbert/AP)
Surfside collapse Search and rescue personnel work atop the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condo building, where scores of people remain missing almost a week after it partially collapsed, Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (Lynne Sladky/AP)
Surfside collapse Rescue workers search in the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condominium, Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami. Many people are still unaccounted for after the building partially collapsed last Thursday. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (Lynne Sladky/AP)
Surfside collapse Rescue workers search in the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condominium, Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami. Many people are still unaccounted for after the building partially collapsed last Thursday. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (Lynne Sladky/AP)
Surfside collapse Rescue workers search in the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condominium, Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami. Many people are still unaccounted for after the building partially collapsed last Thursday. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (Lynne Sladky/AP)
Surfside collapse Rescue workers search in the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condominium, Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami. Many people are still unaccounted for after the building partially collapsed last Thursday. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (Lynne Sladky/AP)
Surfside collapse A Coast Guard boat patrols in front of the partially collapsed Champlain Towers South condo building, ahead of a planned visit to the site by President Joe Biden, on Thursday, July 1, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. Rescue efforts at the site of the partially collapsed condominium building were halted Thursday out of concern about the stability of the remaining structure, officials said.(AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) (Mark Humphrey/AP)
Hanzman expects about $1 billion in death and property claims to be filed. He said if the property sells for $150 million, combined with $50 million in insurance payments, that $200 million will only cover a fraction of the claims. He has a team of lawyers investigating whether third parties can be identified as committing negligence leading to the June 24 collapse and sued to bring in more money. No cause has been identified, but the building had a long history of problems.
Hanzman said he is sympathetic to those who want a memorial, but his job is to get the most money for all families of those who died and the approximately 35 families who survived but lost their homes. He has scheduled the auction for late February or early March and said that date is firm because many of the survivors need money to buy new homes.
He said possible sales and land swaps with government entities and others have been explored, but none have panned out and he doesn’t expect any will.
“I would have loved to have seen a memorial at this site while at the same time we provided fair market value for the victims,” he said. “It is time to realize that land is going to be sold.”
He said he understands emotions are high. But he added those relatives and others who have called the land’s potential buyers “greedy” and vowed to challenge development will lower the bids and financially harm themselves and others. He wants that stopped.
Judge says victims affected by Surfside condo collapse to receive a minimum of $150M in compensation (NCD)
“It is one thing to make an effort to get a memorial and to explore those avenues, and it is another thing to go a step further ... and make statements that this property is not buildable, that the developers are vultures and that lawyers are colluding with them to steal the money from the victims,” Hanzman said. “I know that is going to devalue the asset.”
Other families said during the hearing that they support the property’s sale and want the memorial built elsewhere. If the property is developed, there are proposals to build the memorial at a nearby park or by converting a side street adjoining the site.
Elena Pazos lost her 55-year-old husband, Miguel Pazos, her 23-year-old daughter Michelle Pazos and her daughter’s best friend, Anastasia Gromova, 24, in the collapse. She said she never wants to go onto the site because that will only reopen her wounds.
“Every time we would come there, we would remember how they died,” Pazos said. Instead, she wants the memorial nearby but private. “I want to concentrate on how they lived, how they were, where they were born, where they grew up, where they fell in love, where they made friends.”
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Search for survivors at Surfside condo collapse slowed by fire Firefighters battle a blaze as rescue workers search debris at the 12-story oceanfront condo, Champlain Towers South, Friday, June 25, 2021 in Surfside, Fla. The apartment building partially collapsed on Thursday, June 24. (Al Diaz/Miami Herald via AP) (Al Diaz/AP)
Search for survivors at Surfside condo collapse slowed by fire Rescue workers remove a body from the rubble where a wing of a 12-story beachfront condo building collapsed, Thursday, June 24, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami.(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (Gerald Herbert/AP)
Search for survivors at Surfside condo collapse slowed by fire Search and rescue workers go through rubble at the Champlain Towers South Condo in Surfside, Fla., section of Miami, Friday, June 25, 2021. The apartment building partially collapsed on Thursday. The teams continue to work at the site hoping to detect any sounds coming from survivors. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (Lynne Sladky/AP)
Search for survivors at Surfside condo collapse slowed by fire A woman reacts near the Champlain Towers South Condo in Surfside, Fla., Friday, June 25, 2021. The apartment building partially collapsed on Thursday, June 24. (David Santiago/Miami Herald via AP) (David Santiago/AP)
Search for survivors at Surfside condo collapse slowed by fire Two women comfort each other at the Surfside community center where friends and family of those missing following the collapse of a residential building wait for new developments in the search for their loved ones, Friday, June 25, 2021 in Surfside, Fla. (Jose A. Iglesias/Miami Herald via AP) (Jose A Iglesias/AP)
Search for survivors at Surfside condo collapse slowed by fire People watch recovery operations near the site of an oceanfront condo building that partially collapsed in Surfside, Fla., Friday, June 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (Gerald Herbert/AP)
Search for survivors at Surfside condo collapse slowed by fire People react near the Champlain Towers South Condo in Surfside, Fla., Friday, June 25, 2021. The apartment building partially collapsed on Thursday, June 24. (David Santiago/Miami Herald via AP) (David Santiago/AP)
Search for survivors at Surfside condo collapse slowed by fire Faydah Bushnaq, of Sterling, Va., center, is hugged by Maria Fernanda Martinez, of Boca Raton, Fla., as they stand outside of a 12-story beachfront condo building which partially collapsed, Friday, June 25, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami. Bushnaq is vacationing and stopped to write "Pray for their Souls" in the sand. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (Lynne Sladky/AP)
Search for survivors at Surfside condo collapse slowed by fire Ariana Hevia, of New Orelans, La., center, stands with Sean Wilt, left, near the 12-story beachfront condo building which partially collapsed, Friday, June 25, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami. Hevia' s mother Cassandra Statton lives in the building. Search and rescue teams continue to work at the site hoping to detect any sounds coming from survivors. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) (Lynne Sladky/AP)
Search for survivors at Surfside condo collapse slowed by fire Rescue workers walk among the rubble where part of a 12-story beachfront condo building collapsed, Thursday, June 24, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier) (Marta Lavandier/AP)
Search for survivors at Surfside condo collapse slowed by fire A dog of the search and rescue personnel search for survivors through the rubble at the Champlain Towers South Condo in Surfside, Fla., Friday, June 25, 2021. The apartment building partially collapsed on Thursday, June 24. (David Santiago/Miami Herald via AP) (David Santiago/AP)
Search for survivors at Surfside condo collapse slowed by fire Photos of missing people are posted on a fence near the site of the Champlain Towers South Condo after the building collapsed Friday, June 25, 2021 in Surfside, Fla. The apartment building partially collapsed on Thursday, June 24. (Pedro Portal/Miami Herald via AP) (Pedro Portal/AP)
Search for survivors at Surfside condo collapse slowed by fire Leo Soto, who created this memorial with grocery stores donating flowers and candles, pauses in front of photos of some of the missing people that he put on a fence, near the site of an oceanfront condo building that partially collapsed in Surfside, Fla., Friday, June 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (Gerald Herbert/AP)
Search for survivors at Surfside condo collapse slowed by fire A makeshift memorial bears photos of some of the missing people that hangs from a fence, near the site of an oceanfront condo building that partially collapsed in Surfside, Fla., Friday, June 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (Gerald Herbert/AP)
Search for survivors at Surfside condo collapse slowed by fire Rescue workers work in the rubble at the Champlain Towers South Condo is seen, Friday, June 25, 2021, in Surfside. The apartment building partially collapsed on Thursday. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (Gerald Herbert/AP)
Search for survivors at Surfside condo collapse slowed by fire In this aerial image search and rescue workers work the site of an oceanfront condo building that partially collapsed, in Surfside, Fla., Friday, June 25, 2021. Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava says rescue officials are continuing to search Friday and there's still hope of finding survivors in the rubble more than 24 hours after the building collapsed. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (Gerald Herbert/AP)
Search for survivors at Surfside condo collapse slowed by fire Rescue personnel work in the rubble at the Champlain Towers South Condo, Friday, June 25, 2021, in Surfside. The seaside condominium building partially collapsed on Thursday. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (Gerald Herbert/AP)
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