Florida judge endorses planned $120M sale of collapsed Surfside condo site

SURFSIDE, Fla. (NewsNation Now) — A plan to possibly sell to a developer the South Florida property where the collapse of a condo building killed 98 people was endorsed Thursday by a Florida judge.

Under the plan, the almost 2-acre, oceanfront property would be purchased for $120 million in cash by United Arab Emirates-based East Oceanside Development. At the same time, an attorney appointed to manage the interests of Champlain Towers South will continue to market the Surfside property, and an auction will be held if competitive bidders emerge willing to pay a higher price.

Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Michael Hanzman said during a court hearing that he would approve the plan, provided his court maintained jurisdiction over any lawsuits that come out of the proposed sale. He said he didn’t want the property “tied up in litigation” if the contract falls apart.

The proposed sales contract makes no mention of a memorial that many family members of survivors are pushing for at the property.

The collapse of the 12-story condominium in June is being examined by federal investigators, but homeowner association documents show that the building had many unaddressed repairs for years.

About half of the building’s 130 units collapsed June 24, tearing away walls and leaving a number of homes in the still-standing part of the building exposed in what looked like a giant dollhouse.

Rescue workers spent about a month searching the site for remains. Rescuers used bucket brigades and heavy machinery as they worked atop a precarious mound of pulverized concrete, twisted steel and the remnants of dozens of households. The efforts included firefighters, sniffer dogs and search experts using radar and sonar devices.

Wooden hearts with the names of victims are erected along side the photos, flowers, and other memorial items as visitors walk through the memorial site. 90 people have been confirmed dead due to the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Fla., on Sunday, July 11, 2021. (Carl Juste/Miami Herald via AP)
Rubble and debris of the Champlain Towers South condo can be seen in Surfside, Florida on Tuesday, July 6, 2021. The rubble shown here is from the front portion of the condo towers, which was demolished 11 days after the back part of the tower collapsed with people inside. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald via AP)
FILE – In this July 3, 2021, file photo Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, right, and his wife Casey tour a makeshift memorial near the Champlain Towers South condo building, where scores of victims remain missing more than a week after it partially collapsed in Surfside, Fla. As he prepares for a reelection bid next year that could propel him into a presidential campaign, the tragedy in Surfside is exposing voters to a different side of DeSantis. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)
Crews work in the rubble of the demolished section of the Champlain Towers South building, as removal and recovery work continues at the site of the partially collapsed condo building, Monday, July 12, 2021, in Surfside, Fla.(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
A worker waits to load his truck with debris from the rubble of the Champlain Towers South building, as removal and recovery work continues at the site of the partially collapsed condo building, Wednesday, July 14, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Crews work in the rubble of the demolished section of the Champlain Towers South building, as removal and recovery work continues at the site of the partially collapsed condo building, on Monday, July 12, 2021, in Surfside, Fla.(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
FILE – In this Saturday, June 26, 2021, file photo, rescue workers search in the rubble at the Champlain Towers South Condo, in Surfside, Fla. Even as the search continues over a week later for signs of life in the mangled debris of the fallen Champlain Towers South, the process of seeking answers about why it happened and who is to blame is already underway in Florida’s legal system. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
Rescue workers move a stretcher containing recovered remains at the site of the collapsed Champlain Towers South condo building, Monday, July 5, 2021 in Surfside, Fla. The remaining structure was demolished Sunday, which partially collapsed June 24. Many people remain unaccounted for. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Rescue crews work in the rubble of the collapsed Champlain Towers South condominium building, Tuesday, July 6, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Rescue workers lift a tarp containing recovered remains at the site of the collapsed Champlain Towers South condo building, Monday, July 5, 2021 in Surfside, Fla. The remaining structure was demolished Sunday, which partially collapsed June 24. Many people remain unaccounted for. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Rescuers search for victims at a collapsed South Florida condo building Monday, July 5, 2021, in Surfside, Fla., after demolition crews set off a string of explosives that brought down the last of the Champlain Towers South building in a plume of dust on Sunday. (Carl Juste/Miami Herald via AP)
The damaged remaining structure at the Champlain Towers South condo building collapses in a controlled demolition, Sunday, July 4, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. The decision to demolish the Surfside building came after concerns mounted that the damaged structure was at risk of falling, endangering the crews below and preventing them from operating in some areas.(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Demolition teams bring down the unstable remainder of the Champlain Towers South condo building, late Sunday, July 4, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. The work to demolish the remains had suspended the search-and-rescue mission, but officials said Sunday it should eventually open up new areas for rescue teams to explore. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
SURFSIDE, FLORIDA – JUNE 30: Search and rescue teams look for possible survivors and remains in the partially collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South condo building on June 30, 2021 in Surfside, Florida. Over 100 people are being reported as missing as the search-and-rescue effort continues. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Furniture and household items are perched in the remains of destroyed apartments, in the still standing section of the Champlain Towers South condo building on Thursday, July 1, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. Scores of people remain missing one week after the building partially collapsed.(AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
A parked crane sits beside the still standing section of Champlain Towers South, which partially collapsed last Thursday, as rescue efforts on the rubble below were paused out of concern about the stability of the remaining structure, Thursday, July 1, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. Scores of residents are still missing one week after the seaside condominium building partially collapsed. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
A dog aiding in the search walks past a team of Israeli search and rescue personnel, left, atop the rubble at the Champlain Towers South condo building, where scores of people remain missing one week after it partially collapsed, Friday, July 2, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
SURFSIDE, FLORIDA – JUNE 29: Search and Rescue teams look for possible survivors and to recover remains in the partially collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South condo building on June 29, 2021 in Surfside, Florida. Over one hundred people are being reported as missing as the search-and-rescue effort continues. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
South Florida Urban Search and Rescue team look through rubble for survivors at the partially collapsed Champlain Towers South condo building in Surfside, Fla., Monday, June 28, 2021. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald via AP)

Investigators have not concluded what caused nearly half of the 40-year-old Champlain Towers South condo to crumple as residents slept. Ninety-eight people were killed in the disaster, which ranks as one of the deadliest accidental structural failures in U.S. history.

An appraiser has valued all the units of the building at more than $95 million, according to Michael Goldberg, the lawyer handling the interests of Champlain Towers South. Almost $50 million will be coming from insurance coverage.

The valuation of the condos came from “a fair market appraisal” of what they would have sold for the day before the collapse and used comparisons from other, similar properties, Goldberg said.

The judge told the condo owners that they would be able to review the appraisal of their units and he would listen to their concerns, but he still expected many of them would feel their units were being undervalued.

“It’s a science, not an art,” Hanzman said. “It’s going to be one of those incidents when the perfect is going to have to be sacrificed for the greater good.”

Plus, the judge said, if the amount of damage to the building had been known publicly before the collapse, “The units probably couldn’t be sold.”

The judge also asked attorneys in the case to research how any excess between the $95 million appraisal value and a sale valued at $120 million or higher should be distributed. Without yet making a decision, Hanzman said he was inclined toward giving the additional money to the relatives of the 98 people who died in the building collapse.

He urged family members of the deceased and surviving owners not to fight over how proceeds are distributed.

“We have 98 people who perished in this. If the choice I have is to give unit owners more, or take the excess and give it to relatives of family members who died, I’m going to go with the latter,” Hanzman said. “These decisions are difficult. It’s going to be sad, in my view, if we see unit owners going up against each other on this issue.”

A judge ruled in July that the victims and families who suffered losses in the collapse would get a minimum of $150 million in compensation.