The remaining residents of a Pembroke Pines condo community plagued by unsafe structure notices will need to evacuate, the city said Wednesday.
The Heron Pond Condominium at 8400 SW 1st Street received an evacuation order for the third time since August of 2023. The remaining 170 units have to evacuate no later than Aug. 29.
If the area is placed under a tropical storm advisory, residences must leave immediately.
According to a news release, the city’s engineer of record, ACG Engineering Services Inc (ACG), reversed a previously issued safety assessment. It was not immediately clear why.
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“These updated findings now impact all 304 units within the Heron Pond Condominium,” the city said. The orders are “in the interest of public safety and full compliance with Florida” building and fire codes.
In August of 2023, seven buildings in the condo community were declared unsafe, forcing the evacuation of those structures.
At that time, NBC6 reached out to the condo association, which put us in touch with its lawyer, Ben Solomon with Association Law Group. NBC6 asked how the buildings got to the point of needing such drastic repairs.
“It’s an unfortunate situation this is an older condo,” Solomon said then. “The product is decades old. It was a wood construction project so it’s much more susceptible to termites, water damage and other casualties. The association maintains the property but these things have caught up.”
NBC6 is working to learn what's next for the condo community now that all of its residents have been ordered to evacuate.
The city of Pembroke Pines told impacted occupants to "communicate directly with their landlord, owner, or the Condominium Association to address the situation.”
