Residents in Bal Harbour are suing the owners of their glitzy condo buildings — saying living conditions have turned dangerous. 7’s Heather Walker investigates.
At first glance, the three towers that make up The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort appear lavish and luxurious.
Steven Leoni/resident: “A little slice of paradise.”
But a closer look reveals trouble in paradise.
Steven Leoni: “You can see the rebar is all coming apart.”
Exposed rebar, rust, and cracking concrete.
Steven Leoni: “The cracking through all this caulking, these are expansion joints.”
Henry Sasson has lived here since 2017.
Henry Sasson/resident: “You feel slowly, slowly, a deterioration. Then you become more curious: What the hell is going on here?”
Steven Leoni: “You just would not know unless you spent time here or lived here. You wouldn’t realize how bad the problems are.”
Steven Leoni bought his condo here in 2019 and is on the association’s board.
Steven Leoni: “What makes us unique is it’s a condo-hotel.”
People who own units here at the St. Regis spend tens of thousands of dollars in maintenance fees and assessments. But unlike a regular condominium, they don’t control how most of their money is spent.
Steven Leoni: “The money is going somewhere, but it’s not going into the buildings.”
The buildings located on the beach in Bal Harbour are owned by a company in Doha — the capital of Qatar — and its South Florida based subsidiary.
Al Rayyan Tourism Investment Company — or ARTIC — bought the resort for $213 million in 2014. Now, 11 years later, the unit owner’s association is suing ARTIC and others.
Juan Morillo/plaintiff’s attorney: “It’s going to take tens of millions of dollars to remediate, to fully remediate this building.”
The lawsuit alleges the resort is “…in a dangerous state of disrepair…” including widespread water intrusion, structural, mechanical, electrical defects and invasive colonies of mold — which “…pose serious and urgent health, safety… risks…”
Juan Morillo: “It’s incomprehensible to us. It’s a building that’s owned by the Qataris, the common areas are owned by the Qataris, the hotel is owned by the Qataris. It doesn’t make any economic sense for them not to maintain the project. It’s losing value.”
The court filing contains pictures of “cracks throughout the building facade…” with temporary netting set up and a sign that said: “Caution: Please watch for possible falling debris.”
A structural engineer said in an October 2024 report contained in the lawsuit that conditions in the garage “…could result in collapse if not properly addressed…”
Juan Morillo: “I want to be very clear. The building is not facing any imminent collapse. If these structural issues are left unaddressed, there could be a partial collapse.”
Steven Leoni: “The absolute neglect to do preventive maintenance or any maintenance whatsoever is just, it’s just unbelievable.”
Steven showed us around the property.
Steven Leoni: “Water intrusion completely rotting away our parking elevator systems. They’re completely rusted out.”
In a statement to 7Investigates — ARTIC’s subsidiary, Seldar Miami Holding, LLC, said: “Unfortunately, the plaintiff in this matter continues to irresponsibly spread unfounded and exaggerated claims. The court is overseeing a process to look into these alleged issues and we will continue to abide by that direction. We take the health, safety, and security of our properties very seriously…”
Steven Leoni: “All we want is the place to be fixed. We want it to be a nice place and healthy and safe. And we just don’t have that right now.”
Both sides agreed in court to a plan for additional inspections at the towers. But the multi-million dollar question is: What will get fixed and who will pay?
Marriott International manages the resort and owns the St. Regis brand. The company tells 7Investigates it is not part of the lawsuit and has no comment.
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