The new condominium being built on the site of the collapsed Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida, hit a vital development milestone.
The city of Surfside recently issued a foundation permit for The Delmore at 8777 Collins Ave., Dubai-based developer DAMAC International said. The permit allows construction to move forward on the luxury condo’s base.
DAMAC received the go-ahead after a period of deep soil mixing that fortifies it by blending it with a binder such as cement or lime, “to stabilize soil and create a watertight perimeter around the project’s basement,” the release said.
The developer did not offer a timeframe for laying the foundation for the project, but it did say vertical construction is set to begin in 2026, with an expected completion date in 2029.
Champlain Towers collapsed in the early hours of June 24, 2021, killing 98 people. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's investigation into the causes of the building failure is ongoing.
In a June update on the investigation, the federal agency cited “understrength of the building’s original structural design relative to requirements of the building code” as one of the potential contributing factors. The final report is expected to be released next year.
In the wake of the collapse, Florida passed legislation aimed at ensuring condo safety, mostly by mandating inspections and repairs for older buildings. The new laws also established new reserve requirements for condo associations to keep up with maintenance.
Those laws placed assessments as high as $100,000 on some condo owners. In the new regulatory environment that resulted, condo sales have declined. Sales in 2024 dropped 10.5% from the previous year, according to Homes.com data.
New luxury remains popular
This year, Florida passed revisions to the original laws, revising which buildings required inspections and how condo associations could fund required reserves.
South Florida’s condo market has remained relatively strong, partially thanks to the popularity of luxury condos among foreign buyers. The median condo price in the Miami-Dade market that includes Surfside was $432,000 in June, up 8.1% year-over-year, according to Homes.com. Active listings, though, have flattened.
“We are committed to progressing with construction, irrespective of the current market slowdown,” said Jeffery Rossely, senior vice president of development for DAMAC, in a statement.
With prices starting at $15 million per unit, The Delmore is expected to contain 37 four- to five-bedroom condos that average 7,000 square feet. Penthouses will start at 10,000 square feet, according to the developer.
The condominium project's features will include a 75-foot-long acrylic see-through pool, 125 feet in the air that connects two towers, the developer said. Other amenities will include private elevators and butlers.
In an email to CoStar in January, Rossely said The Delmore “will not erase the memory of what happened on the site” four years ago, instead representing “a new beginning and something of which we trust the Surfside community can be proud of.”