Five years ago, a massive beachfront condo building near Miami collapsed, marking one of the deadliest structural disasters in the nation’s history. Now, a firm seeking to build new condos at the site is reportedly running into issues selling its units.
Champlain Towers South, a 12-story condo building in Surfside, Florida, collapsed on June 24, 2021, killing 98 people and injuring several others. About a year later, a Dubai-based company acquired the site for its own luxury condo tower, with units starting at $15 million.
But no units have been purchased since the company began the sales process about 18 months ago, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Martin Langesfeld, whose sister and brother-in-law died in the collapse, told the newspaper: “It’s prime real estate, but it came at the cost of 98 lives.”
The firm, Damac Properties, described the upcoming condos as “true mansions in the sky, averaging more than 7,000 square feet and supported by more than 55,000 square feet of unparalleled amenities,” according to a 2025 press release.
open image in galleryConstruction on the project paused in February, after the company said it hadn’t obtained the necessary insurance to continue building, The WSJ reports. A Damac spokesperson told the newspaper the site is “one of the best” in Miami, “past unfortunate situation notwithstanding.”
“We are respectful of the past, but confident about the site,” the spokesperson added.
The Independent has requested comment from Damac Properties.
Damac purchased the site in 2022, and the sale helped fund a $1 billion settlement for the victims’ families, many of whom had initially called for the land to be used for a memorial instead.
Some families advocated for the firm to include a memorial on site, but after they couldn’t reach an agreement, local officials committed to building a memorial nearby, which Damac pledged $1.5 million toward, the Miami Herald reported last year. Damac would also be willing to give up seven feet into its property line for the project, the firm’s spokesperson told The WSJ.
open image in gallery“We have worked diligently to be collaborative at every stage of this process. We are operating in accordance with the development agreement, which is the approval of the project by the City of Surfside,” the spokesperson said.
Construction on that memorial project has not started yet, the Miami Herald reported Sunday.
The Champlain Towers South collapse is under investigation by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency within the Commerce Department. In March, investigators submitted an annual report to Congress describing their progress.
“The report outlines how the investigation’s team has completed the majority of its technical work, including the testing of materials beneath the building site; full-scale building replica tests; analysis of data and evidence to update the building collapse timeline; and more,” the agency said in a release.
Investigators are also planning to publish a video update this month.