Marliz Nevarez is racing against the clock to find a home she can afford for her and her two children, now frantically searching listings and calling real estate agents.
She recently got the tough news: She’s among the scores of residents who must move out of their Heron Pond community in Pembroke Pines. The city deemed the entire complex unsafe and uninhabitable, saying it would close Aug. 29. “Everyone woke up to a notice on their door,” she said. “Everyone is in a frenzy.”
The 25-acre Heron Pond Condominium, a series of 19 buildings making up 304 units, is off Southwest First Street, just south of Pines Boulevard.
Entire buildings, and isolated apartments within some buildings, have been steadily shut down since last fall. On Wednesday, the last 170 units were tagged with the notices to their front doors to be out by late August — or “immediately” in the case of a “tropical weather advisory, whichever happens first.
Three months ago, Nevarez said she thought she found the perfect apartment. At $1,750 a month for a two-bedroom unit at Heron Pond, the single mom planned on staying for awhile. Now, Nevarez is searching for housing before school starts in just more than two weeks for her oldest who is age 11.
She said her landlord would return her $1,700 security deposit, but it won’t get her far since the only apartments she has found so far in the area are in the $2,800 range.
“Can you imagine?” she said. “I’m at a loss for words. We definitely don’t deserve this.”
The property was initially developed as an apartment complex known as Runaway Bay in 1988. The project was converted to a condominium in late 2006.
But city officials have said the condo has fallen into disrepair.
In June 2023 the city hired a consultant who determined “many of the structures are exhibiting severe structural distress.”
That 2023 report cited rotten wood columns and walls “in every building.” The report also cited steel stairs that had “completely rusted out and were no longer providing sufficient bearing.” The balconies were “shored,” or propped up to avoid collapse, “to prevent them from further deflection.”
The first evacuations started last August.
More buildings were soon added to the list, and then select units within other buildings.
And it’s now considered by inspectors as dangerous to stay for anybody who is left on site, leaving the residents in a bind.
In April, the property fell into a receivership, and a court-appointed attorney is now acting as the legal authority with the power of the condo’s Board of Directors.
The attorney, Daniel Stermer, said he is reviewing the “potential rehabilitation of the buildings and dual tracking a potential sales process.”
“We’re looking at both,” he said.
He has called a meeting for unit owners for Tuesday to keep them up to date and discuss potential next steps.
If there were to be a sale, the proceeds would be divided among the 155 property owners.
Of those, 20 property owners are homesteaded, meaning they live there, and the rest are investors — including a foundation, which owns 111 units alone, he said. The money from any sale, however, “doesn’t help the current tenants” who are renting from the investors who are landlords, he said.
“We understand and appreciate the heartache and hardship this is causing,” Stermer said. “It’s clear that some of these building issues go back to the original construction of the building but that was not known until we did our in-depth investigation since my appointment.”
“It’s a terrible situation,” acknowledged Pembroke Pines Mayor Angelo Castillo.
The city’s building inspectors “have found structures are unsafe and riddled with terminates and structural problems.”
He said, “It’s a horrible, horrible situation.”
City officials said there was water intrusion into units, poles are supporting balconies that have started to crumble, and residents were warned to use their balconies for emergency access only.
Diana Pineda Quintero, 32, of Pembroke Pines, said she has lived in her Heron Pond home with her husband, Juan Otalara, and her two daughters ages 1 and 17 for about a half-year. She says she’s “very worried” that she now must move.
“We’ve been searching everywhere to find a place to live,” she said. “The rents are too high.”
Pineda Quintero works afternoons as a cleaner who helps tidy up at child care sites, she said. Her family lives in a condo they rent for $1,300 a month, she said. She realizes that’s more affordable than elsewhere.
So far, “I’ve been talking with friends and rental listings to see if I could find something similar,” but to no avail, she said, yet still hoping to live nearby in Pembroke Pines to not uproot her family.
City officials are referring people to their Heron Pond webpage for information: https://ppines.com/1627/Heron-Pond-Information. The city is also urging residents to talk to their landlord to try to at least reclaim their security deposits and discuss rent obligations.
The website also ticks off a list of financial documents that will be needed if they need to apply for financial assistance to relocate. Residents can contact the Pembroke Pines Planning and Economic Development Department at 954-392-2100 for information about relocation assistance. Assistance is subject to income qualification and availability.
The webpage also provides contact information for Legal Aid Service of Broward County, if residents have questions about their legal rights pertaining to vacating their residence.
Brisha Grooms, 28, wasn’t terribly surprised to get her orders to move out as she watched the buildings around being emptied.
But now she’s at a loss for where to go with her husband and four children, ages 1 through 8. She’s paying $1,900 for a two-bedroom unit but feels she’s going to have to rely on powers bigger than her to get through this.
“I know God goes before me,” she said.
Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at [email protected]. Follow on X, formerly Twitter, @LisaHuriash
Source Agencies
