Insurance Costs Tripled After Hurricane Katrina
by May 22, 2006 12:00 am 53 views
Springdale developer Gary Brandon said he was paying about $150,000 per year to insure Pallazzo, a 24-story condominium project under construction on Panama City Beach, Fla.
After Hurricane Katrina hit in August, the insurance costs more than tripled to $500,000 per year, he said. That amount paid for a builder’s risk policy, wind-storm policy and flood policy.
“They will only renew it until Aug. 1 because they don’t want to go through another hurricane season,” said Kim Williams, office manager for Gary Brandon Enterprises Inc.
Since the project is slated to be finished in June, though, they aren’t concerned about the renewal.
The 200,000-SF, 129-condo project is a partnership of Brandon (45 percent), Ron Durham of Birmingham, Ala. (45 percent), and B.L. Harbert International LLC, a Birmingham construction company (10 percent).
Brandon is also involved in the construction of a 50,000-SF, 21-condo building called The Alexander in Seacrest, Fla., and an 87-lot subdivision called Serenity east of Destin, Fla.