For the next 300 days, residents living in the waterfront Trianon condominium in West Palm Beach will not be able to enjoy the sea breezes fluttering across their terraces.

In fact, they won't be able to venture onto their balconies at all, thanks to a massive exterior renovation project that will forbid their even opening sliding glass doors to the terraces for nearly a year.

The project, which began earlier this month, will lead to a redo of some balconies, replacement of shutters to impact sliding glass doors, repairs to the building's exterior and other work. Residents who received notice of the work only late last year are upset by the scope and execution of the project. Many residents are elderly, and they have avoided venturing out of their units for fear of catching the highly contagious coronavirus. The Trianon is designed so that the mainwindows in its units are the sliding glass doors to the balconies. Most units also have a small kitchen window. But without access to the balconies' fresh air, residents said they are trapped in their apartments for nearly a year during what promises to be a loud, messy project. Workers assemble outside the Trianon as a nearly year-long exterior restoration project begins. The noise runs the risk of driving residents out of their units during the day, possibly exposing them to the virus. "This is a potentially deadly situation," one elderly resident said.

Supplies are hoisted to the top of the 111-unit Trianon condo to make repairs to the building in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Jan. 5, 2021.

"It's a construction zone for 300 days, during COVID," said Audrey Diamond, a longtime resident. "This whole building is up in arms."

Diamond called the efforts "constructive eviction" because the building construction will make it hard for people to stay in the tower through the year-long project.

Trianon is a 1970s-era condominium at 1200 S. Flagler Drive, next to the newly built ultra-luxury condo, The Bristol. Last year, the condominium's board of directors decided to evaluate the building's condition. There was concern the building could be vulnerable to a hurricane and end up like the former 1515 S. Flagler Drive condominium, according to board member Bill Henderson, who spoke at a September meeting of condominium owners. That aged 1515 tower was so badly damaged by hurricanes Frances and Jeanne in 2004 that the building was condemned and torn down. Supplies are hoisted to the top of the 111-unit Trianon condo to make repairs to the building in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Jan. 5. Henderson said an engineer was hired to evaluate Trianon, and the result "was not a pretty picture. We're facing years of deterioration." Even as some residents objected to the sweeping redo in the midst of the pandemic, board attorney Jeffrey Rembaum said the matter was not up to the residents to decide. Case law provides boards with the right to vote to take action to maintain a condo building for the residents' safety and welfare, Rembaum said. Michael Gelfand, a West Palm Beach lawyer with an expertise in condominium law, agreed that the law gives condo boards the authority to make decisions without residents' approval if the decisions pertain to maintenance or reconstruction of the building. But the way Trianon is going about it is different because repairs typically are performed on a few units at a time, to minimize disruption.

Audrey Diamond, a resident of the Trianon condominium in West Palm Beach, next to the balcony she no longer can use. A massive exterior renovation project has cut off residents' access to their balconies for 300 days, prompting complaints from some residents who say the project should not be taking place during a pandemic. Diamond stands in front of the patio furniture she had to move inside from the terrace.

 

"I don't know of any (associations) that have cut off the balconies for almost a year. That is unusual," Gelfand said.

Add in the pandemic, and the situation becomes even more unique, Gelfand said.

In an email to the Palm Beach Post, Rembaum said the general contractor decided that doing the entire building at once instead of in stages was the best approach, especially because the contractor hopes to avoid doing work during the worst of hurricane season.

Rembaum said in his letter that the building's condition is dire. An engineering report noted "widespread deterioration" of the balconies' concrete elements, as well as the steel support columns and exterior stucco facade, he wrote.

At least 37 support columns are in need of repair, Rembaum said.

He added that the condominium board weighed the inconvenience of commencing work now, with the need to ensure the building is safe for its residents.

In the end, "the board voted to have the work performed rather than risk possible catastrophic injury to person and property," Rembaum wrote.

Longtime residents who know the building's history disagree with the critical portrayal of the building's condition. Through the years, the building's leadership has repaired many balconies, which can be damaged by exposure to the salt air of the Intracoastal Waterway and the ocean, residents said.

Another resident who asked not to be named echoed the concerns.

People aren't opposed to keeping the building maintained, the resident said, "but it's the execution of what is going on that is not fair or reasonable ... .We have a high percentage of homeowners in the building that are in a high-risk category, and they're causing unlivable conditions, in a pandemic."

In addition to being unable to venture onto their balconies, residents also will be living daily with hours of drilling, as well as dust in their units when balconies are being repaired or sliding glass doors are replaced with hurricane-resistant doors.

Rembaum said the decision to seal off the balconies was made to minimize the amount of dust entering units.

While some wealthier condo owners might have another place to stay, older or less affluent residents may have no choice but stay in the condo in what some believe is an unlivable situation, the resident said.

Preparation for the repair work continues, as the general contractor awaits permits from the city of West Palm Beach so it can begin construction. On Monday, all sliding doors were set to be sealed from the exterior with a piece of two-by-four wood.