A jury handed down a nearly $8.7 million verdict in a shoddy construction lawsuit over a Dania Beach apartment building, though an attorney in the case said claims had already settled during the trial.
A Broward County jury determined AHS Development Group and Resia Construction were negligent and violated the Florida Building Code in a seven-story development, The Palace at Dania Beach at 180 East Dania Beach Boulevard, according to the verdict issued on Friday.
Real estate investor Guillermina Dawson’s trust bought the 144-unit property for $38 million in 2018, a year after Resia Construction and AHS Development completed development.
Dawson’s affiliates Dawson Operations and Dawson Johnson Operations sued AHS Development and Resia Construction in 2023 over alleged latent defects to the garage, roof, balconies, walls and pool room, which caused “premature deterioration” to other areas of the building, according to the complaint.
The Dawson entities retained Hollywood-based engineering firm VLC One in 2022 to inspect the property. The engineering firm found defects with metal HVAC stands, floors, walls, waterproofing and the steel canopy in the roof, according to court filings. VLC estimated it would cost $10.4 million to fix the defects, Dawson alleged.
AHS Development and Resia denied any wrongdoing, arguing in part that any building defects were due to the landlord’s lack of maintenance, according to court filings. AHS and Resia then sued 13 subcontractors and other firms that had worked on the project.
In its verdict, the jury assigned 49 percent of the negligence to AHS Development, 50 percent to Resia Construction, and 1 percent to concrete subcontractor Pre-Cast Specialties. The jury found no fault with the project’s architect.
The jury pegged damages at $3.8 million for the building’s concrete, $2.3 million for HVAC stands, $1.4 million for handrails, and nearly $274,200 for the roof canopy, according to the verdict. It also included $770,800 for miscellaneous items such as taxes and fees.
But by the time the verdict came down on Friday, the Dawson entities and AHS Development and Resia Construction had come to an agreement, said Gabriel Saade, an attorney for AHS and Resia.
The details of the settlement agreement weren’t disclosed.
Roger Brown and William Lewis, the Morgan & Morgan attorneys for the Dawson entities, declined to comment on the settlement, saying the claims “have been amicably resolved.”
Subcontractors “were not responsible” for the defects and violations, Lewis and Brown said they argued at the trial, and the jury placed 99 percent of the responsibility for negligence on AHS Residential and Resia Construction.
The verdict was for 100 percent of the Dawson entities’ alleged damages, Lewis said.
Attorneys for Pre-Cast didn’t return a request for comment.
Construction defects lawsuits are common in South Florida. Last month, the association for the 60-story, 249-unit Missoni Baia conto tower in Miami’s Edgewater sued developer OKO Group, led by billionaire Vlad Doronin, as well as the general contractor, architects and subcontractors over alleged construction defects.
Last year, The Seminole Tribe of Florida sued Miami-based homebuilding giant Lennar for allegedly building 465 defective homes on tribal land across Florida.
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