Removal of collapsed condo approved

Article Courtesy of Florida Keys News
By Kevin Wadlow

Published December 17, 2018

   
ISLAMORADA — Fifteen months after Hurricane Irma brought the Matecumbe Sandy Cove condominium tumbling down, work to remove its flattened remains was expected to begin this week.
   

“It was a complicated permit process, but now they have been given the permits to start,” Islamorada Village Manager Seth Lawless said Friday. “That’s absolutely good news for the neighbors.”

The condominium, built in 1973 across from Sea Oats Beach at mile marker 74.8 on Lower Matecumbe Key, held a dozen units in two stories above covered parking.

During Hurricane Irma, ocean water flowed beneath the building toward Sandy Cove. The three-story structure collapsed, destroying at least two vehicles parked underneath.

“After the storm, the first two floors were underground,” said Don Horton, a consultant to the condominium association.

Due to materials used in construction more than four decades ago, environmental agencies insisted on testing and careful removal of debris.

“There probably were six or seven agencies involved,” Horton said. “They all had their own agendas and concerns.”

Getting documents from the affected unit owners also slowed the start of removing what’s left of the building.

Work to remove the flattened remains of the Matecumbe Sandy Cove condominium complex in Islamorada is expected to begin this week.


 

The collapsed condo, one of the Upper Keys’ most visible scars from Hurricane Irma, was among issues raised by the Lower Matecumbe Key Association during a November meeting with Lawless.

No information was available on the future of the property that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean.

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