MIAMI — A Miami-Dade County judge faced a Solomonic choice:
Should he donate $3 million in “excess funds” from the legal settlement in the collapse of a Surfside condominium tower to a memorial honoring the 98 people who died? Or, should he give that money to their families and other survivors of the tragedy?
On Friday, Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman chose the latter solution, saying it was “their money” and “their choice.”
“The victims can decide what to do with their money,” Hanzman said. “I don’t think it’s something the court should be involved in.”
During a court hearing, Hanzman listened to a dozen people who either survived the collapse of the 12-story, 136-unit Champlain Towers South building or were relatives of family members who died in the catastrophe on June 24, 2021. Each gave a personal answer about what the judge should do with the money — but one voice stood out.
“I know many people who want to see a memorial and there are many who don’t,” said Mauricio Kaufmann, whose mother Maria Gabriela Camou Font, died in the collapse. “The money should go to the victims, and they can decide whether to donate the money to a memorial.”
The extra money became available after the receiver in the Champlain Towers South class action distributed more than $1 billion to the families of the deceased and survivors, an additional $96 million to all of the condo owners for the loss of their units, and another $75 million in attorney’s fees and costs to the lawyers involved in the massive case.
The receiver, attorney Michael Goldberg, recommended in a court motion that “excess funds” — estimated to range from $2 million to $3 million — “be directed to the funding of an appropriate memorial for the victims who perished in the collapse.” The extra money came from interest earned on the settlement funds, he said in court.
Goldberg noted that if the judge approved the plan, then he would donate the remaining settlement money to help build the memorial, which is still a work in progress and may be built at the end of the street on the north side of the condo tower at 8777 Collins Ave.
If the judge didn’t go along with his recommendation, Goldberg said he would give the excess funds to the families of the deceased and survivors on a pro rata basis that he calculated could run from the low thousands to tens of thousands.
With the judge’s prior permission, Goldberg said he had already planned to distribute an extra $6.5 million in settlement funds to the families and survivors.
“I take no position on where the money should go,” Goldberg told the judge about the excess funds. “I just raised it as an issue for the court. I’m not advocating one way or the other.”
The response from Champlain Towers South family members and survivors was mixed.
Sara Nir was a renter who fled from her first-floor unit with her two children after the pool deck collapsed and she alerted the security guard in the lobby to activate the alarm system.
“The money should go to survivors and victims who are still suffering,” Nir said at the hearing. “The lives we’re going through — it’s a nightmare. I do not have enough to support my kids to go to therapy.”
Leah Fouhal’s parents — Leon Oliwkowicz, 80, and Cristina Beatriz de Oliwkowicz, 74 — died in the collapse. She advocated that those who received settlement money should make their own decisions on how to use it.
“We could do a lot of productive things with these funds to pay it forward — to the firefighters or survivors or people who provided so much help,” she said. “A stone isn’t going to do that. I question whether a memorial is a service to the departed or whether there’s a self-serving, ego need to build it?
Others recommended that the excess funds go to the memorial.
“I’m a strong believer in the memorial,” said Pablo Langesfeld, whose daughter and son-in-law died in the collapse. “It needs to be placed to honor the victims so we can remember them forever.”
Resolving the complex class action case took 14 months, which was perhaps the most unexpected result. While it was agonizing for the victims’ families and survivors, the resolution was stunningly swift, according to legal experts, including attorneys involved in the litigation.
Not only were there more than 30 defendants, from consulting engineers to contractors building a luxury condo next door, but infighting also erupted between the 36 unit owners and the families of 98 residents killed in the collapse.
It was a festering dispute that Hanzman, in a September interview with the Miami Herald, likened to a “cancer” that threatened to upend any potential settlement.
In addition to settlement funds, the 1.8-acre oceanfront property was sold for $120 million to billionaire developer Hussain Sajwani, of the Dubai-based DAMAC Properties, after no other prospective buyers bid on the land. His company plans to build a high-rise luxury condo project.
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