Nathan Reiber retired
to Florida in the 1970s carrying more baggage than a
suitcase.
The Canadian lawyer would come to be hailed for his
philanthropy, rubbing elbows with celebrities and world
leaders, and donating time and money to charitable causes.
His South Florida building career was described as a happy
accident, a case of a shrewd retiree spotting a property and
launching the second act of his business career.
But by the time Reiber was building the Champlain Towers in Surfside in the 1980s, he was facing tax evasion charges in Ontario stemming from siphoning coin laundry money from his apartment buildings there. A warrant was issued.
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The report warned of
critical errors in waterproofing that had led to concrete
deterioration and damage to the columns and walls in the
lower levels. The cause of the collapse has not been
determined and may take more than a year.
While one Surfside official told residents the building was
in good shape after that report, owners and the condo
association board were concerned about the repairs, and the
sky-high price tag, which led to years of delays in getting
work started.
“We have discussed, debated, and argued for years now,” said
Jean Wodnicki, president of the association’s board of
directors in a letter to owners April 9.
Conditions had worsened since the 2018 report, she said:
“When you can visually see the concrete spalling (cracking),
that means that the rebar holding it together is rusting and
deteriorating beneath the surface.”
Reiber chose a bad year to build in Surfside. In 1980, the
cost of all construction materials, including such
structural necessities as rebar, neared a 30-year high,
according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The bank
prime lending rate topped 15%, a staggering burden to anyone
hoping for a loan.
And Reiber already had been burned by the Florida market.
Along with Canadian developer Max Citron, his company had
bought two Miami-Dade apartment projects in the early 1970s
just as the market peaked. One faced foreclosure; the other
was reportedly sold at a loss. The investors even struggled
to pay landscaping bills: An unpaid Miami firm filed liens
in 1975 naming Reiber and Citron to get the $3,850 owed.
Shepherding Reiber through 1980s development was Miami
attorney Stanley Joel Levine.
Like Reiber, Levine was praised for his philanthropy when he
died in 1999; known for raising money for Fight for Sight, a
nonprofit researching blindness started by his mother.
Also like Reiber, Levine came to the Surfside development
following a brush with the law.
In 1969, Levine’s own lawyer walked him to the Dade County
jail where Levine turned himself in. Along with Miami City
Councilman Malvin Englander, a grand jury had indicted
Levine for conspiring to get $8,000 in bribe money from a
local woman seeking a building variance. Both men denied
wrongdoing. And the charges didn’t stick. A judge ruled that
Englander’s grand jury testimony had been coerced because he
believed he might lose his council job if he did not
testify. The case fell apart.
Reiber’s out-of-country tax charges might not have put off
potential financiers in the 1980s South Miami condo market.
In the cocaine cowboy years, the city had more serious
problems: Billions of dollars in drug money was flowing into
South Florida. And an unknown amount of that cash was being
laundered through real estate deals in a red-hot condo
market. The DEA sounded alarms. The IRS sounded alarms. The
cash kept flowing. With a drug-drenched reputation as sordid
as it was glitzy, the New York Times wrote in 1987 Miami’s
reputation was “a juvenile delinquent” among cities.
Grand juries in Dade County in 1989 and 1992 identified
numerous issues with the construction industry during
decades of rapid growth, including when the Champlain Towers
were erected.
“(Dade County’s Building and Zoning Department) does not
have enough building inspectors to competently conduct the
necessary number of inspections,” the 1989 grand jury wrote.
“Inspections are frequently conducted in a short,
perfunctory manner and some are not performed at all.”
Their report includes stories of roof inspectors who never
climbed ladders, building inspectors that checked off
properties they never visited, instead napping or going
bowling, and unlicensed contractors operating in the county
with little repercussion if caught.
The 1992 report focused on whether earlier shoddy design and
construction contributed to the devastation wrought by
Hurricane Andrew, and found in many cases it did.
Surfside, a tiny town of roughly 6,000 sandwiched between
BalHarbor and Miami Beach, had more mundane building
problems in 1979: Its outdated sewer system couldn’t handle
new development. Reiber and his partners wanted to build
twin luxury towers, Champlain Towers North and South, just
when the town could no longer build anything.
Campaign donations
Dade County had slapped a moratorium on construction in
Surfside because of the sewer concerns. The town needed
$400,000 for updates before it could green-light new
construction.
Reiber’s Champlain Towers Associates agreed to pay half the
bill. The moratorium was still in effect. Surfside officials
gave Reiber the go-ahead anyway. However, the town would not
issue a certificate of occupancy allowing anyone to move
into the condos until sewer upgrades were complete and the
county lifted the moratorium.
Buyers snapped up condos in the towers as soon as
construction began. An Aug. 10, 1980 ad in the Miami Herald
touting the towers’ “breathtaking views from every room”
claimed they had just 18 units left for sale between the two
136-unit buildings.
Also in 1980, Reiber and several associates bought a third
piece of land between the North and South towers, which
would become Champlain Towers East.
At the same time, accusations flew at town council meetings
that Reiber’s company was trying to buy friends on the
Surfside Commission. According to newspaper reports, the
developers gave $200 to one commission member and $100 to
another. Project Manager Joseph Miller, who made the
donations, told the Miami Herald the intention had been to
donate to all 10 people running for council that election,
but two had asked for money early.
When the contributions sparked controversy, Miller asked for
the money back. Councilman Saul Gromet, a perennial opponent
of the project, said he’d already spent it.
A second round of controversy started just as the county
lifted the construction moratorium in 1980. Zoning laws at
the time limited construction to 12 stories or 120 total
feet.
Reiber and his partners had revised their initial plans for
the towers to include penthouses, bringing the total height
to 123 feet: 12 stories plus one large penthouse on the top
floor of each building.
According to media reports from the time, the council voted
to approve the zoning variance because the wording on the
books was vague when it came to penthouses. They feared the
developers would sue if they weren’t allowed to add them.
The mayor vowed to change the zoning codes to be more clear
so they wouldn’t be put in that position again.
But one resident was so angry about that special variance
that he started a drive to recall the mayor, vice-mayor and
two commissioners who voted for it.
The exact date the South tower opened to residents is
unclear, but a newspaper report about a theft of personal
property at that address appeared in 1982 and ads reselling
furnished condos ran in 1983.
In 1981, work had also begun on the site of the future East
Tower, but at some point was abandoned. Eight years later,
the Miami Herald reported, that site sat as an eyesore with
construction debris left behind and stagnant water
attracting mosquitoes where excavation of a pool and
elevator shafts had begun.
Surfside gave the go-ahead to resume that project in late
1989 but not without more controversy including some
residents screaming down Reiber in public meetings,
according to media reports. They wanted assurances that the
property wouldn’t be left abandoned again. Construction
didn’t start until 1994, but the East Tower was eventually
completed.
A big splash
By the late 1980s, Reiber was enjoying success.
In 1988, when Elizabeth Taylor came to Miami to throw a
major AIDS fundraiser, donors paying up to $2,500 spread out
across the city for celebrity co-hosted parties at mansions,
clubs and on yachts. Zsa Zsa Gabor, singer Donna Summer,
Tommy Tune, and supermodel Lauren Hutton attended.
Reiber and his wife, Carolee, reportedly hosted one of the
parties on their 80-foot yacht RYE-BAR along with fashion
designer Fabrice, actress Susan Anton and actor Eric
Roberts.
He built a lavish home on Miami’s posh Star Island on a site
formerly owned by an in-law of Saudi royalty.
Reiber’s charity work was equally high profile.
According to his obituary, he met world leaders from Spain,
Hungary, Germany, Ethiopia and Uzbekistan while serving as
the National Executive Vice President for the Jewish
Institute for National Security of America.
But records show money troubles never went completely away.
Three subcontractors on the Star Island home filed liens
over unpaid bills. In 1994, Florida’s Department of Revenue
demanded Reiber's Nattel Construction Inc. pay $6,611 in
back taxes and interest.
In 1996, Reiber returned to Canada to settle up with tax
authorities over the tax evasion charges. According to an
Ontario newspaper, he paid a fine of $60,000.
Tax authorities also investigated the 1974 purchase of a
60-foot yacht, which landed in Florida. Reiber was asked why
no loan paperwork backed up the sale. “This is the way we
did all our business,” said Reiber, according to Canadian
tax court records. “All our other companies, the same thing.
It was not backed up by a note or anything else.”
In fact, it was other documents that the Canada Revenue
Agency inspector who looked at Reiber’s Florida yacht
records had been sent to Miami to examine. “This
investigation started with a lead ... not related to this
boat,” said the inspector in the tax court proceedings. “It
was to do with other false contracts.”
However, there are no online records showing tax authorities
found problems or filed tax actions against Reiber over
other contracts. The yacht loan dispute was decided in
Reiber’s favor, though the hearing officer criticized
Reiber’s conflicting statements, writing that, “The
appellant's credibility is elastic.”
Asked about its inquiry, Canada Revenue Agency declined to
comment, citing confidentiality restrictions.
Reiber and his wife sold their Star Island home in 1999. He
died in 2014 after a lengthy cancer battle, remembered as a
philanthropist and by his daughter as a sharp businessman.
“He enjoyed the game of business and was good at that,” Jill
Meland told the Miami Herald.
Members of Reiber’s family could not be reached for comment.