LTC 006-2022 Deauville Beach Resort, 6701 Collins Avenue-Update
MIAMI BEACH
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
NO. LTC # LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
Honorable Mayor Dan Gelber and Members of the City Commission
Alina T. Hudak, City Mana{~
January 10, 2022 lJP .
SUBJECT: Deauville Beach Resort, 6701 Collins Avenue-Update
The purpose of this Letter to Commission is to provide additional information regarding
the property containing the former Deauville Beach Resort ("Deauville") as a follow up to
the Letter to Commission (L TC) issued on Friday, January 7, 2022.
SUMMARY
The Deauville is a contributing building within the North Beach Local Historic District. It
has been closed since July 25th of 2017 when there was a fire in the Deauville's
electrical room. Damage to the building structure before and after the closure of the hotel
has been of grave concern to the Mayor and City Commission as well as the
Administration. This concern predated the collapse of the Champlain Tower South, and
the concern has been intensified since the Champlain collapse.
Pursuant to City Commission directive both before and after the Champlain collapse, the
City took extensive action to attempt to ensure that the building was not demolished by
neglect. These efforts included enforcement action by the Building department and by
filing suit to attempt to force the Deauville owner to meet its obligations with respect to
the 40-year building re-certification process and pursuant to a 2018 Unsafe Structures
Board Order. The intent was always to prevent the building's demolition by neglect. One
of those obligations was for the owner to provide a Structural Condition Assessment
Report from a licensed engineer.
After years of enforcement action and litigation, including over $1.7M in fines, the owner
has finally provided the required Structural Condition Assessment Report. Unfortunately,
that report (which the Building Official is in the process of verifying) makes clear that the
building is unsafe and cannot be saved due to structural defects in the building.
Following the issuance of the L TC multiple questions were submitted to the City
regarding this situation and the next steps associated with the Deauville. The intent of
this document is to update the City Commission and constituents on what actions are
being taken by the City and what the next steps will likely include.
THE BUILDING OFFICIAL'S INSPECTION
After carefully reviewing the Report, the Building Official immediately sent a structural
and building inspector to the property to verify the exterior conditions of the building as
depicted in the Report. The Building department exterior inspection verified those
elements of the Report visible from outside the building.
The Deauville owner for the first time in more than five years has agreed to allow the
City to inspect the interior of the building in areas detailed in the Report in order to verify
the interior site conditions. The site visit is scheduled for later this week. The team that
will be inspecting the building will be a combination of City Structural Engineers and
Threshold Inspectors as well as Consultant Structural Engineers. This team has over 90
years of cumulative licensed experience with Florida Building Code (FBC), previous
South Florida Building Code (SFBC) as well as the High Velocity Hurricane Zone with
regards to design, construction, and inspection. The intent is to verify the information in
the report and obtain the necessary information for the Building Official to make an
informed decision regarding the safety of the building.
Simultaneously the City has submitted the engineers structural report to the County staff
that administers the Board Of Rules and Appeals (BORA) for peer review. BORA is the
designated entity that oversees the day to day operations of Building Officials across the
County and ensures that all decisions are consistent with the Florida Building Code .
In the event that the interior conditions depicted in the Report are verified by the Building
Department at the inspection, then a demolition order by the Building Official is likely due
to the significant structural damage outlined in the Report.
HISTORIC PRESERVATION AFTER-THE-FACT DEMOLITION POLICY
If the Deauville is demolished by order of the Building Official, the demolition permit will
be conditioned to require the property owner to file an after-the-fact application for
Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) for the demolition to the Historic Preservation
Board (HPB). Subsequently, the HPB will review the application for after-the-fact
demolition and determine whether/how the demolished building shall be replaced.
Before any new construction occurs on this property, either the current owner or a future
owner will be required to obtain an after-the-fact COA for demolition pursuant to Section
118-503(b )( 1) of the City Code.
Under the City's Historic Preservation Ordinance, Sec. 118-503(b )(2), there is a
presumption that "a contributing building demolished without obtaining a COA from the
HPB, shall only be replaced with a new structure that incorporates the same height,
massing and square footage of the previous structure on site, not to exceed the floor
area ratio (FAR) of the demolished structure and not to exceed the maximum FAR and
height permitted under the City Code, with no additional square footage added."
According to architectural plans submitted to the City by the property owner in 2013, the
existing Deauville site contains approximately 319,137 square feet of floor area (1 .92
FAR) and the maximum floor area currently allowed for the site is approximately 499,848
(3 .0 FAR+ 20,000 sq. ft. for hotel amenities).
The presumption may be rebutted, and the HPB may allow for the addition of more
square footage (not to exceed the property's maximum FAR) if the HPB finds that:
(a) The proposed new structure· is consistent with the context and character of the
immediate area; and
{b) The property owner made a reasonable effort to regularly inspect and maintain the
structure free of structural deficiencies and in compliance with the minimum
maintenance standards of this Code.
Replication of demolished contributing structures --Pursuant to Section 118-
503(b)(3) of the City Code, the HPB has the authority to require the replication of an
original, contributing structure. Replication is defined as "the physical reconstruction,
including all original dimensions in the original location, of a structure in totality, inclusive
of the reproduction of primary facade dimensions and public area dimensions with
appropriate historic materials whenever possible, original walls, window and door
openings, exterior features and finishes, floor slab, floor plates, roofs and public interior
spaces. The HPB shall have full discretion as to the exact level of demolition and
reconstruction required."
Additional mitigation efforts -As is recommended by the National Park Service in
cases where there is a potential loss of a historic building, the Administration has begun
the process of engaging a professional with experience in documenting historic buildings
with high-definition laser scanning. The use of this technology will allow for rapid and
precise documentation of the property from the right-of-way.
EC/AS