Article Courtesy of The Real Deal
By Keith Larsen
Published September 6, 2019
More than four years
after unit owners at the Brickell House
tower reported issues with a robotic car
garage, the condo association received an
award of over $40 million.
A Miami-Dade County
judge awarded the condo association $40.6 million last week
from the development group, BrickellHouseHoldings, over
issues stemming from the failed car garage. The amount comes
in addition to a $32 million settlement awarded to the condo
association last year, paid by the elevator’s insurer, the
Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Co.
The settlement appeared to be one of the largest of its kind
in the state of Florida.
The new award marks the latest chapter in the strange saga
of Brickell House.
The 46-story Brickell House at 1300 Brickell Bay Drive, was
developed by Harvey Hernandez’s Newgard Development Group
and was one of the first post-recession condo buildings
constructed in Brickell. It had tapped a new technology to
lure buyers that was designed to automatically move cars
into parking spots without having drivers inside them. |
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Brickell House and Harvey Hernandez
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But condo owners alleged that it would take hours to get their cars, and the
system began malfunctioning as soon as residents moved in, according to the
association’s complaint. The condo association also alleged that the system
would often stall and malfunction, and would only work properly under
constant staff supervision. The company that created the technology,
Boomerang Systems, eventually went bankrupt.
Ron Lowy of Lowy & Cook PA, who represents the development group, said the
group is planning to appeal the judge’s latest ruling.
“The insurance has already paid the condo association $32 million over a
year ago in July 2018. After being paid this money, the association failed
to repair the garage, and instead sued the developer for the same
replacement garage that the insurance already paid the association for,”
Lowy said. “The jury award provides the association with over $72 million
for what the jury determined was only a $40 million loss.”
Helio De La Torre of Siegfried Rivera law firm, who represents the
association, said the group is looking to replace the garage with an
automated parking system.
“The association has been left without parking for its residents in the
promised 480-vehicle garage since November 2015,” De La Torre said in a
statement. “Since that date, residents have been parking offsite and
incurring increased costs due to the failed robotic parking system sold by
the developer.”
In August, developer Hernandez settled with the condo association for
$275,000, which dismissed with prejudice all claims against him.
Automated car garages and elevators are becoming more popular among
developers. Notably, Dezer Development’s Porsche Design Tower has a car
elevator known as the “Dezervator” that takes cars to residents’ individual
condo units. And in Boston, a recently completed luxury condo building
called the Boulevard plans to use an automatic system to move cars into a
35-space underground garage. |