7343 Sand Lake Dr. Orlando FL Rialto Apartment Structural Failure
Flight Planning Assessment
The Rialto Apartments located at 7343 W. Sand Lake Road in Orlando.
The apartment complex contains 200 units, which are approximately 93% occupied. Some 358 individuals were displaced.
Orange County’s Division of Building Safety has directed the building’s property management to retain a Florida licensed engineer or architect to perform a complete structural evaluation of the building to determine if the structure is safe to occupy, the cause of damage, and any needed repairs. Orange County was not aware of any structural issues with this property until today.
According to OCFR Division Chief William Farhat, 200 units and 358 residents at The Rialto Apartments in Orlando were evacuated due the structural concerns.
Obviously from what I saw was serious cracking in and around fire doors, in and around residential doors. We had to force open several of them. It wasn’t just one door that was affected, it was several of them. So we had to use tools to open the doors to let people out of their apartments,” Farhat said.
Farhat said the Orange County Division of Building Safety also inspected the building and recommended that the building be evacuated due to further signs of instability.
Deputy Chief Building Inspector with Orange County Division of Building Safety Gilbert Mercado says the most immediate concern was not knowing the stability of the building as they saw damage in all floors to some degree.
“We saw obvious signs of fresh cracking … through the drywall,” Mercado said. “It got progressively worse as we went up,” Mercado said.
Orange County Property Appraiser records show the 5-story building was built in 2014, with businesses on the first floor and residential apartments on top. According to OCFR, the building had its last annual fire inspection in September, and at that time there were no signs of structural instability.
A link containing photos from the Building Department is provided here: https://ocfl.box.com/s/xt8q1anz0z03jlz3szyay9lq8xjrl3xn
Please direct all public record requests, including for 911 audio, to PublicRecordRequet@ocfl.net.
Owner Gilbert.Mercado@ocfl.net
Created Mar 19, 2026, 11:40 AM
Modified Mar 20, 2026, 10:47 AM
Size 930.2 MB 132 Files
FAA Flight Approval Confirmation
