‘No idea where they’re going to go.’ Keys tenants forced to leave condemned building
Tenants of a 16-unit apartment building in the Florida Keys have been given two weeks to make other living arrangements after an inspection deemed their home unsafe.
Inspectors said in a report delivered to the city of Marathon this week that the three-story building on Coco Plum Drive — Mariner Place — has major structural and electrical issues that must be addressed before residents can return.
The situation comes at a difficult time for working people in the Keys. Rents continue to rise, and housing they can afford is becoming increasingly scarce.
“I have no idea where they’re going to go,” said Karen Ortega, a Keys property manager who was contacted this week about trying to find homes for Mariner Place residents.
The Feb. 15 inspection report from Cueto Engineering concluded the building was unsafe for occupancy. The inspection was done as part of the building’s 17-year recertification. Mariner Place was built in 1978, according to the Monroe County property appraiser.
“Based upon the findings during inspection of the building, it has been determined that the building requires significant structural repairs as outlined in the written report for building structural recertification,” Nestor Cueto, the firm’s president and chief engineer, wrote in letter to Marathon officials Tuesday.
Marathon building official Noe Martinez sent an email Wednesday to Juan Carlos Berdeal Jr., president of Mariners Place Land Corp., which owns the rental apartment building, that he has until March 3 to completely vacate the building.
Berdeal did not immediately respond to questions from the Miami Herald/FLKeysnews.com.
In a letter to tenants sent Wednesday, Mariner Place management said it will return all security deposits in full “as long as everything is normal in your unit.”
The letter states that management is getting quotes from contractors to “remodel the entire building” but added that there is no estimated time for when the job could be completed.
Management also said residents who wished to move back in when the repairs were done should “let us know in advance.”
Among the many structural deficiencies inspectors found were “wide cracking at concrete beams, columns and slabs throughout the building,” according to the report. And, the concrete in the building is “in poor condition with widespread cracking and spalling,” the Cueto inspectors wrote.
Specific electrical problems include rusted and corroded circuit boxes, poorly maintained electrical panels, lack of external stairwell lighting, no fire alarm system and smoke detectors inside apartments that do not work.
“Electrically, the building has had no or very little maintenance throughout the years,” the inspectors wrote in notes attached to their report. “At this point, an overhaul of the electrical system is recommended.”
This story was originally published February 18, 2022 at 3:04 PM.
