SURFSIDE, FLA. (WSVN) - Developer Damac International celebrated the launch of the Delmore, a major luxury condominium building, Tuesday morning, however not everyone was ready to turn the page on the tragedy that occurred on the grounds of the project.
A private soft launch event was hosted by developers and real estate brokers at the Surf Club restaurant as the 12-story ultra-luxury condo building, featuring “mansions in the sky,” is starting to be built in the same place where the Champlain Towers South once stood.
Amidst the celebration, families still affected by the Surfside Collapse in June 2021 are still looking for answers to the tragedy.
Martin Langesfield’s sister and brother-in-law were among the 98 lives lost in the incident.
“All we’re asking is to simply find out why this building collapsed before allowing another one to go up,” he said. “It’s hard. You learn to walk around the hole inside you. There is nothing to celebrate here. 98 people were killed.”
They said it was all happening too soon.
“There’s nothing to celebrate,” said Langesfield.
The luxury condos, which begin selling at $15 million a piece, are hitting the market amid an ongoing fight by the victims’ family members to ensure a memorial for their loved ones becomes part of the new space.
So far, Langesfield said they’ve yet to have any luck.
“We’ve been calling for the developers to work with us in incorporating a memorial on the site of the collapse. There are ways to make this happen with the building behind me,” he said.
He added that he’s not against the new development, but would like to see the investigation into the collapse be completed first.
“Why is everyone turning the page now? We don’t know why this building collapsed. There are millions of people in the state of Florida that live in condos. We don’t know the cause of this collapse.”
Additionally, the marketing for the new high-rise also fails to acknowledge the history behind the site and the tragedy that took place in 2021.
The exact cause of the Champlain Tower collapse is still under investigation.
7News attempted to speak to the developers about the project and their plans to honor the victims, but were turned away.
The project is expected to be completed by 2029.
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