Article Courtesy of The St. Petersburg Blog
By Phil Ammann
Published February 14, 2017
Condominium owners in downtown St. Petersburg are hopping
mad over alleged “defective” construction of their complex, as well as a
variety of building code violations.
The 1010 Central
Condominium Association, a nonprofit corporation
representing owners in the complex at 1010 Central Ave., are
suing the project’s owners and general contractor for what
they claim was failure to “employ good design engineering
and construction practices.”
Defendants in the case, filed Feb. 3 in Pinellas County
Circuit Court, are Georgia-based Batson-Cook of Tampa Inc.
and MPI 1010 Central LLC.
In 2004, Miles Properties of Atlanta announced plans for a
five-story mixed use condominium complex, featuring 112 one-
and two-bedroom apartments and retail stores on the ground
floor. To
develop the project, Miles created MPI 1010 Central. In
2010, Miles declared bankruptcy. |
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Batson-Cook was the general contractor on 1010 Central. Residents began
occupying the units in 2007, and Batson-Cook went on to develop other
projects in the Tampa Bay region.
As the owners’ representative, the Association claims many Central units
have “defects and deficiencies,” first hidden from owners, who later found
it would take large sums of money to fix.
While the Association is blaming both Mills Properties and Batson-Cook for
alleged violations of building codes, court documents do not specify the
problems at the now-decade-old building. They do say the issues were “hidden
and/or concealed and were not discoverable by reasonable and customary
inspection.”
Per the suit, Baston-Cook “breached implied warranties by failing in
designing or constructing the buildings and the improvements, to comply with
the requirements of applicable building codes, failing to design or
construct in accordance with proper and approved construction plans and
specifications, and failing to employ good design, engineering and
construction practices.”
The Association is demanding a jury trial.
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