Developer sues Miami-based contractor over Hurricane Irma damage
by Lyle Adriano
October 31, 2017
Developer South Beach Group Hotels (SBGH) has filed a lawsuit against a contractor over hurricane-related damage at a construction site in Miami Beach.
The developer and its affiliates alleged that the contractor, Miami-based Allied Roofing’s Fidelity GBH Group, was negligent in its duties and had breached its contract. The suit was filed in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court this month.
North Beach Properties II, one of SBGH’s affiliates, stated that the contractor left the roof on one of its properties unfinished at the time of Hurricane Irma’s arrival in the area, which led to extensive damage to the property.
Allied Roofing was hired to build new roofs for three buildings – one at 6755 Harding Avenue, the other at 8320 Harding Avenue and the last at 2365 Pinetree Drive in Miami Beach.
Marcial Garcia, Allied Roofing owner, told The Real Deal that his workers completed all three roofing jobs, but were unable to perform a complete final inspection for the roof at the 6755 Harding Avenue building – the building where part of its roof blew off during the storm.
6755 Harding Ave is a multi-family home in Miami Beach, FL 33141. This 15,547 square foot multi-family home sits on a 0.38 acre lot and features 30 bedrooms and 30 bathrooms. This property was built in 1953 and last sold for $4,800,000.
SBGH’s suit alleged that the roofing company did not complete the roof installation, nor close the permits. Garcia has also filed a lien on the property for unpaid work.
“We are entitled to get paid for the work we did,” he said. “If roofing companies had to be responsible for the damage sustained by hurricanes, we would be out of business.”
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Hurricane Irma produced a lawsuit between a Miami Beach hotel group and its roofer less than a month after the wind cleared.
South Beach Group Hotels Inc., owner and operator of hotels in Miami Beach, said its roof at 6755 Harding Ave. was destroyed by the Sept. 10 storm because Allied Roofing didn’t secure the roof correctly and used subpar materials and shoddy workmanship, according to the complaint.
The Oct. 3 complaint alleging negligence, breach of contract and breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing, which was first reported by The Real Deal, was filed by limited liability companies affiliated with the hotel owner against Fidelity GBH Group Inc., Allied Roofing’s registered name in Florida.
The owner claims the roofer didn’t finish the roof work — something Allied Roofing President Marcial Garcia denied.
Allied Roofing finished the work about a day before the storm but didn’t have enough time for a city inspection before Irma blew through, Garcia said. The hurricane made landfall Sept. 10 on Cudjoe Key and traveled up the peninsula in the following days.
The contractor is not responsible for the damaged roof because it completed the work to the city and manufacturer specifications, Garcia said. He speculated the roof damage might have been caused because the building under renovation had no doors or windows.
“The hurricane went into the building and from the bottom blew the roof off,” he said. “If you are in your house during a hurricane and there’s no windows, the air comes in and blows the roof off. That’s basically what happened.”
Aside from the storm claims, South Beach Group Hotels also alleged Allied Roofing used subpar materials and handiwork on two other properties under its contract.
Allied Roofing failed “to use appropriate and reasonable materials and/or appropriate and reasonable workmanship in the installation of the roofs” and, as a result, the hotels “suffered and will continue to suffer economic losses and other general and specific damages,” the complaint said.
The company is asking for compensatory damages and pre- and post-judgment interest.
Garcia denied the allegations, saying Allied Roofing used materials manufactured by GAF. Its website identifies it as North America’s largest commercial and residential roofing manufacturer.
For its part, Allied Roofing made claims of its own against the hotel operator. South Beach Group Hotels still owes it money for some of its work, Garcia said. Allied Roofing filed a lien for $21,400 on Oct. 13. That’s the amount the contractor insists it’s owed under the $53,000 contract for work on the Harding Avenue property.
The three-property contract was signed Feb. 13, according to the complaint. Two are at 6755 and 8320 Harding Ave., according to the Miami-Dade Circuit Court complaint and Allied Roofing.
The location of the third property is in dispute. The hotel company said it was 2365 Pine Tree Drive, but Allied Roofing said it was 7600 Harding Ave. Both are owned by LLCs affiliated with South Beach Group Hotels.
Joshua Entin, the South Beach Group Hotels attorney who filed the complaint, and the hotel group didn’t respond requests for comment by deadline.
South Beach Group Hotels owns the Chesterfield Hotel & Suites at 855 Collins Ave. and apartment-hotels, such as the Tradewinds at 2365 Pine Tree Drive and Seaside Apartment Hotel at 7500 Collins Ave., according to its website.
Jason Kellogg, a partner at Levine Kellogg Lehman Schneider + Grossman in Miami, said more lawsuits stemming from Hurricane Irma might arise in the coming months.
“After Wilma, we were helping clients file lawsuits six months to a year after the storm,” he said in an email.
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Miami Beach developer sues contractor over Hurricane Irma damage
Contractor filed lien against property for unpaid work
By Katherine Kallergis | October 26, 2017 08:45AM
Alan Lieberman with the property at 6755 Harding Avenue in Miami Beach (Credit: Getty Images)
Alan Lieberman’s South Beach Group Hotels is suing a contractor over damage to a construction site in Miami Beach, alleging negligence and breach of contract.
Affiliates of the hospitality firm filed the lawsuit against Miami-based Allied Roofing’s Fidelity GBH Group Inc. in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court this month. North Beach Properties II is alleging that the contractor left the roof on one of its properties unfinished at the time of Hurricane Irma, leading to extensive damage.
Allied Roofing was hired to build new roofs for the building at 6755 Harding Avenue, 8320 Harding Avenue and 2365 Pinetree Drive in Miami Beach. Owner Marcial Garcia told The Real Deal that his workers completed all three, but that he wasn’t able to get a final inspection completed for the property at 6755 Harding Avenue, where part of the roof blew off during the storm.
The lawsuit alleges the roofing company didn’t complete the installation of the roof and close the permits and that Allied refused to install a completed roof. Garcia also filed a lien on the property for unpaid work.
“We are entitled to get paid for the work we did,” he said. “If roofing companies had to be responsible for the damage sustained by hurricanes, we would be out of business.”
South Beach Group affiliates allege that Allied used “the same inferior materials and/or inferior workmanship” for all three properties. Garcia said he used materials from GAF, the largest roofing manufacturer in North America, and the same crew for all three buildings. The roof likely blew off, he said, because the building had no windows and doors. Winds during intense hurricanes and tornados can rip through properties, causing pressure to build inside a structure.
Property records show North Beach Properties II LLC, which leads back to Lieberman’s PCCO Inc., paid $4.8 million last year for the two-story, 30-unit apartment building at 6755 Harding Avenue. No financing was recorded.
South Beach Group has 18 hotels in its portfolio, according to the company’s website. Last year, Lieberman paid $5.5 million for a development site in North Beach.
Lieberman said he wasn’t familiar with the suit and couldn’t immediately comment on it.