(WSVN) - A seawall has started collapsing, now threatening a major road in South Florida. But it can’t be fixed because two condo associations own the seawall and have reached a stalemate, which is why the call went out to Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
Once upon a time there were two towers side by side on the Intercoastal in Hollywood, run by two separate associations living happily. Oh, wait. this is not a fairy tale. It’s South Florida.
Luis Prada: “They should do whatever they have to do, assess everybody, signed the contract and we are ready to go.”
Luis Prada has been the president of Trafalgar Tower two for the past 23 years, while also acting as the property manager of the well maintained building.
Luis Prada: “We had the lower, maintenance, on Ocean Drive. We keep it as low as possible. You can see the building the way it is as you come through the lobby.”
Next door is Trafalgar Tower One, where, in Luis’ opinion, things aren’t run as well.
Luis Prada: “They change the board every year so they don’t have a continuity. They change the board, back to square one. Nothing gets done.”
But unfortunately, something did get done. The Intercoastal took out the seawall on the Tower One side.
Luis Prada: For 40 years, I was trying to get those people to do the repair, they always say, ‘No, no, no,’ so finally, the sea wall collapsed in April.”
The seawall collapsed in 2023, closing off a parking lot for the residents.
But remember the towers share the property, so Luis’ association has to pay half of the $950,000 repair bill. His people are ready to write a check.
Luis Prada: “And I already got the money from the association, assess everybody, so we are ready to go. But we need to get these people to do something about.”
But for nearly a year, Tower One is not ready to go. Luis says it’s money.
Luis Prada: “They’re going to have to do the same thing so they’re going to have to do the pool, the seawall, the guest parking lot. So, they have to assess the people.”
In the meantime, the ocean is eating away at the collapsed seawall. Recognize the road the water is approaching?
Luis Prada: “That if we continue to let the seawall collapse the way it is, pretty soon, A1A is going to collapse. You know, you see the picture, you will see the wall is almost right there now.”
Luis hoped the City of Hollywood would see the road in danger and push his neighbors to pay to repair the seawall. But this is not a fairy tale.
Luis Prada: “My feeling is that the city says that they don’t want to get involved. They feel that it should be between two associations.”
The crumbling seawall is on the Tower One side but Luis fears it could also now affect the Tower Two side.
Luis Prada: “The wall could collapse and it could even damage our building too.”
Well, Howard, sharing a property cut some costs, but if there is a problem, can one group force the other to pay up?
Howard Finkelstein, 7News legal expert: “Yes, they can. Even though there are two separate associations, when they share a common area, along with that, comes the responsibility to pay for it. If they don’t, one side can go to court and a judge can force the other side to do it.”
We tried to talk to the representatives from Trafalgar Tower One. They wouldn’t respond.
But Luis’ push to get the seawall repaired worked.
A year after it collapsed, a permit was approved and Luis’ neighbors at Tower One signed a contract to pay to replace their share of the seawall.
And we must have irritated someone because Luis told us as part of the deal, he couldn’t talk to Help Me Howard anymore. But we know he’s happy because of what he told us earlier about the responsibility of helping take care of his building.”
Luis Prada: “You can see how the building is doing, the construction that we do, the new paint job. I love it.”
And a spokesperson for the City of Hollywood told us they’ve stepped in to harden the ground under A1A so there is no water intrusion and will repave it after the seawall is rebuilt.
A problem left you crumbling? Hopes of solving it washing away? Don’t accept a watered down solution. Let us give you a sturdy wall-to-wall effort.
With this Help Me Howard, I’m Patrick Fraser, 7News.
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