ORLANDO, Fla — 9 Investigates has learned the owner of a Daytona Beach landmark property collected more than $20 million dollars in insurance payments after Hurricane Ian, yet the city says no permits have been pulled for repairs.
The Plaza Resort and Spa has been shut down since September 2022.
Tuesday, during a Special Magistrate hearing, the building was officially declared non-compliant due to an extensive list of code violations and public health and safety concerns.
“It’s heartbreaking to walk through that building. There’s no walls, there’s no upgrades, you know all the furniture is out of it,” said Unit Owner Pat Camp.
Special Magistrate David Vukelja called the 100-year-old hotel the flagship of the community.
“I am going to order him to come into compliance and much like that property on university and A1A, I am going to bird dog him until he does,” said Vukejla.
The building was taken over by Jonathan Eid, CEO of Vienna Capital in 2021. Eid is also the president of the condo’s HOA.
During a special magistrate hearing – which he didn’t show up to Tuesday– Daytona Beach code enforcement confirmed Eid hasn’t applied for any permits to make repairs to the property.
“I am not confident things are moving forward the way they should be,” said a code compliance officer.
Hundreds of unit owners say they’ve paid thousands in HOA dues and assessments but are still waiting to see repairs. They said a milestone inspection, required by state law for condos over three stories after the 2021 Surfside Collapse, should have been completed by the end of last year — but wasn’t.
“We don’t know where any of the money is, he won’t give us any records, he’s required by state law although he won’t and hasn’t,” said Unit Owner, Dennis Warren.
Unit owners are asking the city to make efforts to gain entry to the building to do its own inspection because they believe it’s a public safety concern that’s in need of emergency repairs.
“Go ahead and give us daily statutory fines for everything that’s not being done correctly, we’re not making any progress the way we’re going right now,” said Pat Camp.
Jonathan Eid told 9 Investigates over the phone that there were no individual unit owners; they only own air space to individual units. He has not agreed to do a sit-down interview to explain further.
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