High Rise Disaster

[Laramie]

An awful site that to some brought back chills of the Murrah Building bombing in our city.

Speaking on behave of our community, our players and condolences go out to those who are in search of love ones, friends & relatives--we are familiar with your situation.

Salt and wind is believed to have contributed to the high rise that collapsed in Surfside, FL., also many of the high rise developments are treated to lessen the results of what occurred in Florida. The final results and conclusions are pending.

Do you think we'll see any future high developments on the Oklahoma River, downtown or more low rise townhouse colonies constructed similar to the Wheeler District.

We've seen plans in the past (eg., IM Pei Project) for possible high rise developments in Oklahoma City. Our riverfront doesn't pose the salt & wind threat ocean front beach properties present in places like Florida, California & Texas known for high rise residential.

The tallest high rise in Oklahoma City is the Regency Tower listed at 24 stories in downtown.

[Laramie]

My first thoughts are for the families, relatives & friends of those involved in this tragedy.

Riverfront development:

What infrastructure is needed to support residential housing on the Oklahoma riverfront.

Would affordadable high rise or luxury towers be appropriate. We've tackled this question on a number of threads on our forum.

[Laramie]

My first thoughts are for the families, relatives & friends of those involved in this tragedy--peace and comfort be with you.

Riverfront development:

What infrastructure is needed to support residential housing on the Oklahoma riverfront.

Would affordable high rise or luxury high towers be appropriate...

We've tackled this question on a number of threads on this forums.

[chssooner]

I don't know if it is fiscally responsible to build up along the river, yet. There is so much space, that building out is cheaper and easier, that it would be hard to build up without some incentives.

[mugofbeer]

High rise living with downtown, water and park views? I think if you build it, they will come (within reason).

[jn1780]

I don't think they have an idea yet on what caused the Miami Condo collapse. I have seen some talk that there was some sinking of the foundation reported throughout the years. It seems very plausible that led to a structural failure. The basement was also used for parking I think? So a car could have hit an already weaken support. Lots of theories.

Miami beach is on an island so sinking foundation is my leading theory.

[WheelerD Guy]

I’m told the bedrock in the Miami area consists of oolitic limestone. That is very porous stuff. Arguably not the best foundation for 10+ story buildings.

[Laramie]

Amid probe of Surfside partial condo collapse, FIU researcher points to sinking during 1990s: https://wsvn.com/news/local/amid-pro...-during-1990s/

Again, our prayers and comfort goes out to the survivors of love ones and those lost or unaccounted for in this tragic incident.

[jn1780]

Of course as usual with these type of collapses, there were warning signs of a pending structural failure in the years prior. The condo association had plans to repair the damage that an earlier engineering firm had reported. If the they actually started that work, I guaranteed you that contractor would have realized the damage was a lot worse than earlier reported and the building would have been condemned. So sad...

That's two major engineering failures in the path month or two. That Arkansas/Tennessee I-40 bridge was a clean break of a major truss. Luckily there was just enough redundancy built into that bridge.

[catch22]

Indeed. As is common with most large accidents, the actual chain of events started years before the actual accident.

This one is tough on me for some reason. I have no personal connection to this, but just the confirmed death count being so low, with so many still missing is heartbreaking. So many people sleeping soundly in the middle of the night, to be woken up for just seconds to fall to their likely immediate deaths. You really never know how much time you have left.

[soonerguru]

Florida apparently has very lax requirements for condo associations regarding the amount of financial assets on hand for building maintenance. There were an estimated $15 million in building repairs that were needed to shore up the building. They did not get approved by the condo association.

Condo associations are made up of members who don't necessarily want to shoulder the costs associated with such maintenance. They probably thought the rotting concrete and corroded rebar was no big deal.

Definitely a cautionary tale if you're considering buying a high-rise condo.

The state apparently also has lax building codes for homes in general.

This is the net result of having a weak regulatory framework.

[soonerguru]

Indeed. As is common with most large accidents, the actual chain of events started years before the actual accident.

This one is tough on me for some reason. I have no personal connection to this, but just the confirmed death count being so low, with so many still missing is heartbreaking. So many people sleeping soundly in the middle of the night, to be woken up for just seconds to fall to their likely immediate deaths. You really never know how much time you have left.

100%. Just a terrible tragedy.

[Swanky]

Florida apparently has very lax requirements for condo associations regarding the amount of financial assets on hand for building maintenance. There were an estimated $15 million in building repairs that were needed to shore up the building. They did not get approved by the condo association.

Condo associations are made up of members who don't necessarily want to shoulder the costs associated with such maintenance. They probably thought the rotting concrete and corroded rebar was no big deal.

Definitely a cautionary tale if you're considering buying a high-rise condo.

The state apparently also has lax building codes for homes in general.

This is the net result of having a weak regulatory framework.

I'm not familiar with how condo associations are run - would they have told all the residents about the needs? Or would it have been voted on by a select few and never spoken of?

[mugofbeer]

Mine would have been totally open but l can't speak for others. The HOA Board should be made of people who own and likely live in the building. No association would have had $15 million laying around but it's starting to sound like they had plenty of warnings.

[Jeepnokc]

Florida apparently has very lax requirements for condo associations regarding the amount of financial assets on hand for building maintenance. There were an estimated $15 million in building repairs that were needed to shore up the building. They did not get approved by the condo association.
.

I have read that the HOA Board did approve it.

https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/mia...be96e690871f30

[WheelerD Guy]

Mine would have been totally open but l can't speak for others. The HOA Board should be made of people who own and likely live in the building. No association would have had $15 million laying around but it's starting to sound like they had plenty of warnings.

Would have worked out to more than 100k per unit. That’s almost real money.

[Jeepnokc]

Would have worked out to more than 100k per unit. That’s almost real money.

From the article I posted in post 15. "Owners would have to pay assessments ranging from $80,190 for one-bedroom units to $336,135 for the owner of the building’s four-bedroom penthouse."

I had read earlier that they could pay up front or monthly over 15 years

[catch22]

It should be required that multi-story condos have a certified structural engineer on retainer, serving on the board. There also needs to be a vigorous progressive maintenance and inspection schedule. Or, having the building managed by a professional firm that manages the upkeep of commercial high rise structures. Laying the burden of maintenance on the individual owners who are not professional building managers is a recipe for disaster.

I am sure this is not the only multi-level condo in the country that has severe structural problems. The condo boom of the 70’s and 80’s is approaching 40-50 years old, which is approaching the structural lifespan of most concrete.

[Laramie]

Our prayers go out to the those impacted by this tragedy.

[jn1780]

Its starting to become clear as to the root cause of the collapse. First there was a design flaw that did not allow water to allow rain water to properly drain off the pool deck which caused water damage to slowly eat away at the rebar and concrete. The second issue was gross negligence to address this damage in a timely matter. Once the pool deck finally gave way, it took out or overloaded a few columns supporting the main tower.

[Plutonic Panda]

I will say this, if anyone that had a condo during this tragedy that wasn’t in it when it collapsed and wanted to fake their death, this would be the time.