Florida Surfside condo collapse victims have reached a proposed $997 million settlement in a court hearing on Wednesday.

Wall Street Journal originally reported that the reached settlement is much larger than legal experts were predicting.

The defendants were named as the insurers, developers, and an engineering firm that warned of the tower's structural issues.

The settlement is still pending final approval and comes six weeks before the first anniversary of the tragedy on June 24.

Judge Michael A. Hanzman of the Circuit Court in Miami-Dade County said in a New York Times report that he is shocked by the result, describing it as "fantastic."

Hanzman added that it is a recovery that is far in excess of what he had expected.

The judge had approved a smaller settlement of $83 million to be split among condo unit owners for their property losses before the nearly billion-dollar settlement that was announced on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, how the money will be split among the relatives of the victims will be determined in the coming weeks.

All but one of the defendants is part of the settlement, with GeoSonics being the lone remaining defendant.

The company is the vibration monitoring firm for nearby condominium complex Eighty-Seven Park.

As negotiations with the vibration monitoring firm go on, the settlement could reach over $1 billion.

READ NEXT: Miami-Dade County Condo Building Collapsed: Death Toll Rises to 3, 99 Still Missing 

Champlain Towers South Collapse

On June 24, 2021, the 12-storey Champlain Towers South condo collapsed in the early morning hours, destroying dozens of individual condo units and burying its residents under rubble.

The death toll for the incident has reached 98 people, including four Canadians, according to a CBC News report.

A team of federal investigators released a video showing evidence of extensive corrosion and overcrowded concrete reinforcement in the building.

Several measures were passed to address the Florida Surfside condo collapse.

In February, the Florida House unanimously passed a bill that would require statewide recertification of any condo building above three stories high.

It would also require recertification after 30 years or 25 years if the building is within five kilometers of the coast.

Champlain Tower South's Settlement

The $83 million fund for the unit owners will come from Champlain Tower South's insurers and the sale of the land.

The condo owners were released from any liability for negligence in the building's maintenance as part of their earlier settlement.

Some of the victims' families earlier argued that the money recovered through the lawsuit should be allotted to them and none to the unit owners, which Hanzman disagreed on.

Hanzman argued that unit owners had to rebuild their lives from scratch after economic losses.

Lawyers then argued that settlement for victims' families could expand further to about $1 billion if they reach an agreement with a remaining company.

Hanzman said he would like to finalize the settlement before June 24 and compensate survivors and victims' families by fall.

READ MORE: Oceanside Condo Partially Collapses in Miami; At Least 1 Dead

This article is owned by Latin Post

Written by: Mary Webber

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