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Article Courtesy of The Palm Beach Post
By Jane Musgrave
Published October 1, 2016
WEST PALM BEACH -- After years of watching their luxury
condominiums disintegrate as water seeped through walls, roofs, windows and
sliding glass doors, more than 1,000 residents of a Palm Beach Gardens
community on Thursday prepared to put their agonizingly soggy past behind
them.
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As a Palm Beach County
judge was getting ready to bring in scores of potential
jurors to decide a 6-year-old lawsuit, attorneys
representing San Matera The Gardens Condominium Association
announced they had reached a $22.5 million settlement with
insurers for Kolter Homes and those for dozens of
subcontractors involved in the ill-fated construction of the
community north of The Gardens Mall.
While less than the $36 million the association was seeking
to repair its 30 leaky buildings, its attorney said the
accord will allow work to begin so the 676 unit owners can
finally move on with their lives.
Even if a jury had awarded the community all of the money it
sought, appeals from Kolter, dozens of subcontractors and
their insurers could have dragged out for years, further
delaying needed repairs, said attorney David Haber.
Attorney Richard Chaves, who represented Kolter Signature
Homes, offered a similar explanation as to why his client
approved the agreement. It will force insurers representing
Kolter-related companies to pay $11.8 million and insurers
for the subcontractors will pick up the rest. |
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The San Matera The Gardens Condominium Association on
Thursday, Sept. 29 settled its 6-year-old lawsuit with the Kolter
Group for $22.5 million as lawyers were in the process of picking a
jury for a trial that was to begin next week.
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The San Matera The Gardens Condominium Association on
Thursday, Sept. 29 settled its 6-year-old lawsuit with the Kolter Group for
$22.5 ... read more
“It’s a fair settlement and we just thought it was a reasonable amount,”
Chaves said. “All of the parties are satisfied with the results and we wish
the association and the unit owners well.”
Haber credited herculean efforts by court officials in bringing the case to
trial and spurring settlement talks. With no courtroom big enough to
accommodate the estimated 40 attorneys representing the 18 defendants, court
officials reconfigured a courtroom at the South County Courthouse in Delray
Beach. Benches were pulled out and replaced with folding tables and chairs
for the phalanx of lawyers.
In addition, hundreds of extra jurors were summoned for what was expected to
be a more than monthlong trial. Thursday was the third day of jury
selection. Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Jack Cox made it clear that a
jury would be sworn in and the trial would begin Tuesday as planned, Haber
said.
That’s when settlement negotiations began in earnest, he said.
The accord was announced in open court in West Palm Beach, where jury
selection was being held before the trial was moved to the remodeled Delray
courtroom. Roughly 200 prospective jurors had already been interviewed and
hundreds more had been summoned.
Jackie Durham, president of the association, applauded the agreement. “It’s
been a hardship on the community,” she said of construction flaws that
plagued the development.
Not only have homeowners had to live in with never-ending leaks, but condo
fees escalated by as much as 10 percent a year to bankroll legal fees and
emergency repairs, she said. The combination created tensions that were
exacerbated any time it rained and water found its way into more condos, she
said.
“The community itself needs to heal, and then we need to heal the building
defects,” she said.
Repairs won’t be easy or instantaneous, Haber said. It will be three months
before all the money arrives. Plans for the remedial work have to be
approved and contractors hired. He estimated it would be two to three years
before construction is complete.
Still, Durham said, the end is in sight. “This was a big hurdle we jumped
today,” she said. “We can finally take a deep breath and push on with what
we have to do.”
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