Miami Beach preservationists go to court, plan to appeal demolition of Deauville hotel
A prominent Miami Beach preservationist group is mounting a legal challenge to stop the demolition of the historic Deauville Beach Resort, a North Beach landmark that once hosted the Beatles and other famous acts.
The Miami Design Preservation League, a Miami Beach-based group that has long fought to protect historic buildings, plans to appeal the city’s demolition order for the hotel. It also filed a court motion Wednesday to intervene as plaintiffs in a 2019 lawsuit the city filed against the hotel owners as part of Miami Beach’s previous efforts to preserve the building.
Executive Director Daniel Ciraldo said the city did not follow its historic preservation rules when its building official issued a demolition order for the hotel. He said the city should have required that a demolition application be filed to the Historic Preservation Board for approval.
“We’re trying to save the building,” Ciraldo told the Miami Herald Thursday. “We want the process to be followed that the city has in place. We just want the law to be followed.”
Previously in court filings, the city itself asked that the owners of the Deauville apply to go before the Historic Preservation Board.
But the city dropped that request after Building Official Ana Salgueiro issued the demolition order in January upon confirming the findings of an engineering report commissioned by the owners of the Deauville that said the building was unsafe.
Under local law, the city cannot issue a demolition permit for a historic property unless the Historic Preservation Board approves it. But there are exceptions for instances when the city’s building official issues a “lawful order” or when a structure poses an “immediate” threat to safety.
Pending the approval of a demolition permit, the city’s goal is to demolish the Deauville before the start of hurricane season in June because the engineering report cautioned that strong winds could lead to collapse.
The hotel, which was built in 1957, has been closed since 2017 due to an electrical fire. That has led to a years-long legal battle between the hotel owners and the city over compliance with a law that requires historic properties to be maintained. That culminated in a court order last October for the Deauville to apply for a demolition order.
The seemingly imminent demolition of the hotel has alarmed preservationists and elected leaders. Critics have questioned the rush to tear down the 540-unit hotel complex based on a report commissioned by property owners who have publicly called for the building’s demolition.
But the city has stressed the importance of building safety, making references to the June 24 Surfside condo collapse. The judge overseeing the Deauville lawsuit, Michael Hanzman, is also handling a class-action lawsuit related to the Champlain Towers South collapse.
In a statement to the Herald, city spokeswoman Melissa Berthier said the city had intended to follow the historic preservation process but the engineering report and the subsequent demolition order “altered” the situation. She noted that Hanzman was concerned the Deauville “was in a similarly dangerous condition” as Champlain Towers.
“The city’s goal has always been to preserve this historic landmark from demolition by neglect,” Berthier wrote.
Ciraldo said that because the Deauville’s engineering report does not mention an “imminent” risk of collapse, the city should have allowed the historic preservation process to review the application in a public hearing.
If the building is demolished without input from the Historic Preservation Board, city code gives the board the power to require the replication of the original structure and to order that the new building have the same height and density of the previous structure.
Berthier said the building needs to be demolished to comply with Florida Building Code.
“While not in danger of imminent collapse, it is in danger of possible collapse as stated in the engineer’s report and as verified by the Building Official on the site visit,” Berthier wrote in an email.
She said “column reinforcing” throughout the building had weakened nearly 100% in some areas.
At a City Commission meeting Jan. 20, Salgueiro said the building could technically be saved, but it would be “cost prohibitive” and require a complete replacement of every structural element.
“A building is deemed unsafe once it has gone to that point where the owners would have to do heroic and extraordinary measures to try to save it,” she said.
Commissioners voted to direct the city’s Inspector General to hire an independent engineering firm with preservation and restoration experience to write a separate report on the building’s condition. They also directed the city to request access to the building for a second inspection.
David Winker, an attorney hired by the Miami Design Preservation League, said the owners of the hotel have acted in bad faith and attempted to go around the city’s rules since the Deauville first closed.
Winker said the purpose of intervening in the lawsuit is to make arguments before the court to require that the historic preservation process is followed. He said he will hire an engineering firm to peer review the Deauville report.
“We have significant concerns with this report,” he said. “In our opinion, the building is saveable.”
This story was originally published February 10, 2022 at 6:32 PM.
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