Article
Courtesy of The Miami Herald
By Nicholas
Nehamas
Published November 11, 2015
The ultra-modern robotic parking garage at a luxury
Brickell condo has gone from slow to shut down.
A spat between the developer of Brickell House and the garage’s operator has
left residents parking their cars at a nearby office tower and asking the
condo’s management to reimburse them.
Workers at 46-story Brickell House,
located at 1300 Brickell Bay Dr., said the garage had been
shut down since Tuesday night. They didn’t know when it
would reopen.
Tempers among residents are running high. Many told the
Miami Herald in May that they had to wait half an hour for
their cars even though developer Harvey Hernandez promised
the cutting-edge system would deliver their rides in less
than 10 minutes.
“We ask that everyone remain calm,” the building’s
management wrote Thursday to Brickell House’s 374 unit
owners in an email obtained by the Herald. “This is not the
time to panic, sell your unit, or move out. This is a time
for patience.”
The garage’s operator, New Jersey-based Boomerang,
voluntarily declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August.
Boomerang said in court papers that one
of its lenders, a company called Parking Source that is
controlled by Hernandez, had stopped funding its operations.
Boomerang is seeking at least $25 million in damages against
Parking Source, and alleges that the company is trying to
steal its employees and ruin its business. |
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A hand-written note says that Brickell House’s
robotic parking garage is shut down.
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The messy financial relationship between Hernandez and Boomerang has left
Brickell House residents in the lurch.
In November, according to the email from Brickell House management,
Boomerang suddenly demanded an extra $100,000 “without any supporting
documentation,” in addition to its monthly $50,000 fee.
Hernandez, the developer, didn’t return a call requesting comment Friday
afternoon. Neither did James Gelly, Boomerang’s CEO.
Units at the luxury tower, which was completed late last year, sell for an
average of $456,000, according to CraneSpotters.com. For now, in-house
parking isn’t included.
“It’s ridiculous,” said Beatriz Guerrero, a marketing executive who’s lived
in the building since March. “We can’t park. What are we supposed to do?”
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