22-07-2025
Owners of Fort Lauderdale assisted living home rack up $40,000 in fines, board says
The owners of an assisted living home accused of removing all of its residents to convert to luxury apartments have now racked up $40,000 in fines over the renovations, Fort Lauderdale code enforcement officials said at a meeting Tuesday.
Management for Oasis Living Quarters announced the controversial evictions at a meeting in March, according to residents, employees and a state inspection report. As residents moved out, workers began tearing down partitions, demolishing kitchenettes and installing air conditioning units. But the facility never received a permit for the renovations or changed the building's use from an assisted and independent living home to apartment buildings, according to city officials.
The removals, which included residents who were bedridden or had dementia, also led to a lawsuit and citations from the state over the lack of written notice. Attorneys for Oasis have claimed that it did provide notice.
At a May 27 code enforcement hearing, an angry code enforcement board decided to give the owner of the property, Lauderdale Commercial Blvd Partners LLC, two weeks to comply with code and then begin fining them $1,000 a day if they did not comply. The LLC is connected to Lee and Jay Podolsky, members of a family of notorious landlords in New York City, the Sun Sentinel previously reported.
On June 11, the fines began. By Tuesday, the fines totaled $40,000 and are continuing to increase each day, officials said. Andrew Gebbia, the building inspector, said he visited the property last week and the owners still were not in compliance with code. At that point, the contractor had not submitted applications for plumbing and electrical permits, Gebbia said. As of Tuesday, he had submitted the two applications but both still required additional documents and information.
Asked if the building was occupied, Gebbia said yes, but not the units that were under construction. Half of the property that was once Oasis' assisted living side is already operating as Waterview luxury apartments. The assisted living residents had first been moved into the other half, then told to leave in March.
Ariel Grosfeld, an attorney for the Abrams Law Firm in Fort Lauderdale, appeared at the Tuesday meeting on behalf of the owners, asking the board to postpone the case until the next meeting because the attorneys for the owners are at trial. She also cited 'the convoluted nature of the case, the procedural history, and the irregularities from city staff.'
'If they get the continuances, the fine still accrues, it's still a thousand in a day?' asked Jacquie Shaw, a member of the board.
Assistant City Attorney Rhonda Montoya Hasan said yes, unless the board decides otherwise.
The board voted to postpone the hearing until August and to continue fining the owners $1,000 a day in the meantime.
A lawsuit in Broward County Court over the removals remains active. It was originally filed on behalf of a bedridden tenant still living at the facility. She later died shortly after moving out.
Grosfeld, the attorney for the property, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
