This would not stop me from buying a high rise condo in coastal Florida if that’s where I wanted to live, but you can bet that I’d perform my due diligence before plunking down any cash. I’d want to see a current engineering and reserve study on the building. I’m sure all HOA boards in high rises are rethinking their spending priorities, particularly if they’ve got a lot of deferred maintenance.

We were snowbirds until last year. We were on the 15th floor of a high rise in Chicago with beautiful city and lake views before making Florida our permanent home. High rise living may not be for everyone, but that type of lifestyle is really convenient.

Agreed. The 40 year inspection would have uncovered these problems. Our condo building in South Florida received the inspection in 2010 and repairs were made to comply with the present building codes. No evidence of structural problems. We paid the assessments and have experienced no issues. Our management company along with the condo board have done an outstanding job of maintaining the building. The assessments amounted to a lot of money but they were worth it. Just because construction shortcuts may have taken place does not mean every condo building will collapse. I did see photos of the surfside building and they were published in you tube. Why that occurred and ignored is unacceptable. Look it up.

Maybe slightly off topic, but, in other areas, many houses have wood decks that sometimes collapse and result in about 6,000 serious injuries or deaths per year. When attending a party, I would always inspect the underside of a deck before walking on it. You don't have to be in a high rise building to die from a structural failure.

Coastal condos/properties
 

Yep, what will assuredly go up will be HOA's, maintenance fees, special assessments etc.
Florida - 19,000,000 and counting~!

Surfside Collapse
 

We have a condo in the Keys. Can't build higher than 3 stories there. We are constantly checking for spalling and repairs made timely. It is due to salt water corroding the rebars. Across the canal on another island one 10-12 story condo had to be evacuated while repairs were made. Occupants were out 2-3 years. Otherwisw it probably would have collapsed just like Surfside.

Sounds like a bad design. Structural engineers are smart enough to know that salt water corrodes steel. So, a good design will prevent the rebar from corroding.

We’re the residents made aware of these structural failings or was it hidden from them? Where were the structural inspectors? How could they have let this slide for so many years? Heads need to roll.

The building was inspected by a structural engineering company in October, 2018. Some defects were found, but there was no indication that the building was going to collapse. So, they are nowhere near determining what caused the catastrophic collapse that occurred.

Unfortunately, those in Tallahassee repealed an inspection law, and the Florida Legislature is reluctant to pass laws that slow down condominium construction and sales. And now, that inspections are most likely to be voted on, I imagine a lot of people might try to sell, but who would want to buy when, say, a $20 million assessment will likely be in the future of many older condos?

At the Surf Side Condo, they found that rusted re-bar caused expansion, which cracked the concrete foundation. Strangely enough, I remember reading that China used bamboo instead of re-bar and made the sidewalls of their skyscrapers MUCH thicker than the US does. I had a hard time believing that about the bamboo. I have NEVER read anything to confirm about the bamboo, so that COULD be very wrong. I am just writing about it to see if anyone else has ever heard of this practice in China. And if so WHY would bamboo be an advantage - other than cheap?