The condominium association at The Sanctuary at Alexandra Place along Tampa's Bayshore Boulevard has filed a lawsuit against the tower's developers and contractor, alleging that unfinished, "defective" work has caused issues in the building.

Separately, the developer, Taub Entities in Tampa, and contractor Plaza Construction are embroiled in their own legal battle over construction issues at the luxury condominium. The Sanctuary, a 17-story, 15-unit tower, opened in 2021 and was named a Best Real Estate Deal by the Tampa Bay Business Journal. But the owners say defects, including cracked and dislodged floor tiles, missing sealants, mismatched paint on the exterior and separation cracks and areas of missing cementitious grout, have already resulted in damage, according to a lawsuit filed Dec. 7 in Hillsborough County Circuit Court. The tower received its certificate of occupancy in September 2021. The lawsuit references a meeting held by Brian Taub, Debbie Taub and Brian Jones, where the three parties blamed Plaza Construction for "numerous design and construction defects." The Taubs are owners of Taub Entities; Jones was a construction consultant on the project.

The Sanctuary at Alexandra Place

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, attorney for Taub, declined comment. Plaza's attorney and Jones did not respond to requests for comment.

It is not uncommon for condo associations to sue developers over alleged construction issues, said Gregg Hutt, a construction litigator and partner at Trenam in Tampa.

Some in the industry argue that chapter 558 of the Florida statutes, which governs defects in condo construction, encourages associations to take a litigious approach. Luxury apartment developers will sometimes place restrictions on a property's deed that forbid a conversion to condominiums for 10 years, which is when the statute of limitations runs out for construction defects.

Hutt said the defects are often remedied.

As part of the turnover process, "there is a report that gets prepared by design professionals, typically engineers of various disciplines, that go and inspect the building," he said. "Typically, I've seen it as the association and engineers or other design professionals go and inspect the building. They prepare a report, and based on that report, they bring the claim."

A similar report was prepared for the separate lawsuit in 2021 between Plaza and Taub regarding the tower. That lawsuit, also in Hillsborough County Circuit Court, is ongoing and relates to various claims of nonpayment and incomplete work by both parties. Taub claims Plaza "improperly stopped work and abandoned the project prior to completion of the project," according to court documents. Plaza claims Taub did not pay in a timely manner; instead, Taub paid subcontractors directly.
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Court documents show Plaza also requested "an extension of time and compensation for delays on the project due to complications created by the Covid-19 pandemic. Taub refused to grant Plaza any extension of time or pay Plaza anything for this delay."

At the turnover meeting with Sanctuary condo owners, Brian Taub "apologized to the unit owners who were present for failing to properly complete construction and for failing to deliver the final product" that was promised, the new lawsuit claims. Additionally, Taub agreed to hire a completion contractor — however, that has not been done, the condo association claims.

Eric Appleton, attorney for the condo association, said the association's directors are optimistic.

"The leadership of Taub Entities and Plaza Construction need to step up and pay for the damages incurred by the association and its unit owners. If they do not do that immediately, we are confident that the court will hold them accountable," Appleton said in a statement.

The association has included many counts in its lawsuit, including breach of statutory warranties for "failing to design, construct, and deliver The Sanctuary in compliance with the Florida Building Code." Others include negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, and deceptive and unfair trade practices.

Units at The Sanctuary are around 4,000 square feet and were priced from $2.3 million to over $5 million. A three-story penthouse sold in 2021 for $7.2 million, the highest price ever paid for a condominium at that time in Tampa.