Breaking News/11.13.2024

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Not so luxury problems: Structural issues force Cambridge condo owners to vacate prominent luxury mid-rise near Harvard Square

Condo owners at the Riverview probably didn’t bank on this happening when they spent millions for their units overlooking the Charles River.

Residents at the 80-unit, eight-story Riverview Condominiums are in the process of moving out as construction crews get ready to descend on the 61-year-old building to tackle serious structural problems, Contrarian Boston has learned.

While the building “remains habitable,” residents have agreed to move out due to … structural concerns and needed repairs,” Jeremy Warnick, a spokesperson for the city of Cambridge, told Contrarian Boston.

The decision to vacate the building came after consulting engineers hired by the Riverview Board of Trustees found “multiple issues” when examining the “core elements” of the structure, Warnick noted in an email.

Residents have been given a “near-term” timeframe to move out, with the duration of the work not currently known, according to Warnick

Still, at least one resident was told to be out by the end of November, with the work slated to take a year, according to a source familiar with the matter.

City officials could not say how much the work will cost, though similar projects have run into the tens of millions of dollars.

There have been an upsurge in major structural repair projects at various residential buildings in Cambridge over the past few years, motivated in part by the notorious Surfside condo tower collapse in Miami back in 2021, according to an industry source.

Condos at the Riverview, which is located at 221 Mount Auburn St., range in price from $800,000 to $3 million or more.

The concierge-elevator building, which was built when John F. Kennedy was president, boasts Boston skyline views from its upper floors, while units that face the Charles have floor to ceiling windows.

For Riverview condo owners, some of them elderly, having to evacuate their condos and find other living arrangements for up to a year won’t be easy, noted one industry executive.

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