Quick answer: A 1973 waterfront building in Edgewater whose milestone inspection deadline has passed, which means an engineer’s report on this structure already exists and can be read before you offer. And unlike most old buildings, this one has 445 owners to share whatever that report found. At this vintage, the denominator is the argument.
Scale is the case for old stock
This site now covers three buildings from the same era, and the difference between them is not the architecture.
| Building | Completed | Residences | A 2,000,000 USD remedy per owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantis on Brickell | 1982 | about 96 | about 20,800 USD |
| Tower 41 | 1972 | about 420 | about 4,800 USD |
| Charter Club | 1973 | about 445 | about 4,500 USD |
That illustration applies one round figure across three buildings to isolate the effect of scale; the real number at each depends on what its own engineer found. The ratio is the point, and at this vintage it is the most consequential structural fact about a purchase.
An old building with many owners is a fundamentally more comfortable place to face a milestone finding than an old building with few. That is the argument for Charter Club and it is worth stating plainly, because “1973” reads as a warning on a listing and is only half the picture.
The report exists
A 1973 completion puts the building decades past the 25-year coastal trigger. Buildings already past the threshold when the statute took effect had until 31 December 2024 to complete the initial inspection, and the repeat interval is 10 years.
| Document | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Completed phase one milestone inspection report | what the engineer found |
| Phase two findings, if one was required | how serious it was |
| Board resolution on those findings | the plan, the timing, the cost |
| Structural integrity reserve study | the wider component schedule |
| Reserve funding percentage | whether the remedy is paid for |
| Assessments levied, pending or discussed in 24 months | what is already in motion, with minutes |
This is better information than a new building offers. At a 2020 tower the inspection is a forecast; here it is a finding, in writing, from an engineer who examined this structure. Read it, and you know more about what you are buying than most purchasers of anything newer.
What a low price means at this vintage
Charter Club sits at one of the lower entry points on the Edgewater waterfront, and on a 1973 building that deserves a question rather than enthusiasm. Two explanations are both legitimate:
The stock is mid-century. Residences of roughly 757 to 1,850 square feet from studios to two bedrooms, in a 1973 building, are modest by current standards and price accordingly everywhere.
The reserve is thin. A building that has completed an inspection and identified work it has not funded carries a liability that transfers with the deed.
The reserve funding percentage separates the two in one number, and it is the first thing to ask for. A well-funded 1973 building with high dues is a sounder purchase than a cheap one with low dues and an open finding.
What fifty-three years uses up
Ask what has been replaced and when, with permits:
- Roof and waterproofing, the largest insurance variable after location.
- Plumbing risers, which on stock of this era drive both claims and assessments.
- Electrical distribution, for the same reason.
- Lifts, a substantial line on 23 storeys.
- Glazing and sealants, which govern water intrusion on an exposed waterfront elevation.
- Seawall and waterfront structure, which on a bayfront site is a reserve item buyers routinely forget to ask about.
That last line is specific to this building. A waterfront parcel has a seawall, and a seawall has a maintenance cycle and a replacement cost. Ask where it appears in the reserve study and what is allocated to it.
Coastal master policies have repriced every year since 2022 and sit inside the dues. Ask for the premium as a separate figure for each of the last three years. See the Florida property insurance guide and the Citizens insurance guide.
Read the letting rule from the document
The building carries rental restrictions and the terms are not reliably reported by listings for stock of this age. Read the recorded declaration with all amendments and establish:
- The minimum lease term.
- Any annual cap on lettings.
- Any waiting period after purchase before letting is permitted at all.
The third is common in older Miami associations and is the one that most often surprises an investor, because a rule barring letting for the first year changes the purchase entirely.
With residences from about 757 square feet up to penthouses, the tenant profile spans a single occupant to a household. Underwrite from achieved rents by unit type inside the building over a full year rather than from Edgewater averages, which are now dominated by much newer towers. See the HOA and association restrictions checklist.
Edgewater has changed around it
When this building opened in 1973, Edgewater was a quiet bayfront strip. It is now one of Miami’s most actively developed corridors, and the towers that arrived after 2015 brought newer amenity programmes and much higher prices.
Two effects on an owner. Competition for tenants is broader, because a renter choosing this corridor now compares against buildings built four decades later. And the entry price here is a fraction of the new stock, which is the compensation and the reason the building trades at all.
The residences that hold value best in that comparison are the larger ones and the penthouses, where the space advantage over a new studio is real. For the surrounding market see Ocho Edgewater, 1800 Club and the Edgewater area page.
Financing an older building
Reserve funding is the test under real pressure, and a lender will want to see both the inspection finding and how it is funded. Investor concentration is the second, and older buildings with compact units often run high.
Obtain a written project eligibility determination before offering. Where a project is non-warrantable the conventional thirty-year loan is unavailable building-wide, leaving cash, portfolio lending or a DSCR loan underwritten on rent at a larger deposit. Overseas buyers work through foreign national mortgage programmes. See also the Florida condos hub.
Assemble the document pack once: the lender wants what you should already be collecting.
Verification checklist before you wire
- Get the completed milestone inspection report and any phase two findings.
- Get the board resolution, with dates and amounts.
- Get the structural integrity reserve study and the current funding percentage.
- Ask about assessments levied, pending or discussed in 24 months, with minutes.
- Ask what the reserve study allocates to the seawall and waterfront structure.
- Get the permit history for roof, risers, electrical, lifts and glazing.
- Request 3 years of master insurance premium as a separate figure.
- Read the letting term, annual cap and any waiting period from the declaration.
- Get achieved rents by unit type inside the building over a full year.
- Obtain a written lender project eligibility determination.
Which buyer this building suits
It suits a buyer who wants Edgewater waterfront at a fraction of new-build pricing and is prepared to read an engineer’s report rather than a brochure. On a 1973 building the report exists, the reserve position is knowable, and 445 owners is the largest denominator this site has documented at that vintage. That combination is genuinely defensible.
It suits a buyer who wants to skip the reserve conversation badly. A 1973 waterfront building with an unfunded finding is a bill you take on with the deed, and no amount of location compensates for it. Ask for the funding percentage first. If it is healthy, the rest of this building is ordinary diligence on well-located mid-century stock.
Frequently Asked Questions
It has passed. A 1973 completion means the building crossed the 25-year coastal trigger decades ago, and buildings already past the threshold when the statute took effect had until 31 December 2024 to complete the initial inspection, repeating every 10 years. Ask for the completed report rather than a date.
Twenty-three storeys at 600 NE 36th Street on the Edgewater waterfront, with about 445 residences. Layouts run from studios to two bedrooms plus penthouses, roughly 757 to 1,850 interior square feet. Completed in 1973.
Materially. A remedy costing a fixed sum divides across about 445 owners here, against 96 at Atlantis on Brickell. On a building whose inspection has already produced a finding, that denominator is the strongest argument for buying scale at this vintage.
The building carries rental restrictions and the specific terms are not reliably reported by listings. Read the recorded declaration with amendments and establish the minimum lease term, any annual cap and any waiting period after purchase before underwriting rent.
It depends entirely on the reserve funding percentage. On a 1973 waterfront building that has completed an inspection, a low price can reflect modest mid-century stock or an unfunded finding, and those are opposite situations. One number separates them, and it is available before you offer.
The permit history: roof and waterproofing, plumbing risers, electrical distribution, lifts, glazing and sealants. Fifty-three years in, every original system is beyond its first cycle, and a building that has replaced its risers and roof is a different asset from one that has not at the same asking price.
Get the inspection report and funding percentage at Charter Club
Tell us which unit type you are considering. We will come back with the completed milestone report and any phase two findings, the board resolution and assessment history, the reserve study including what it allocates to the seawall, the permit history for roof and risers, and the recorded letting rules.