City, owners seek solution for evacuated apartments
TROY, N.Y. (News10) -- “Clearly, there were some issues. That should’ve never escalated to the point it is today,” said Troy City Council President Carmella Mantello. Mantello is pointing to the Harbour Point Gardens apartment complex and buckling brick facades which have resulted in the city evacuating 58 apartments.
"Clearly, Code wrote them up on a number of issues,” said Mantello, who is also the Republican candidate for city mayor. She told News10's Anya Tucker that she was alerted to some of the code violations, included the brick, only recently.
Representatives with Lexington Property Group, which purchased the apartment complex about a year ago told News10 that the issues mounted well before they took over the property. They told News10's Anya Tucker that they have since renovated roofs, installed gutters and made other improvements. In the meantime, the same representatives told Anya that they were paying for displaced tenants, totaling about 100, to stay in area hotels.
One tenant who has lived at Harbour Point Gardens for 11 years says the owners even relocated her and her disabled adult daughter to an available studio apartment on site. "I was going to say that I hardly ever need a maintenance man. The maintenance has been perfect,” she told Anya over the phone.
A spokesperson for the city says they are not able to speak about previous code violation at this time, but that the property owners and their lawyer met today with officials to come up with a solution. An engineering firm hired by the city says brick facade has to be removed from 6 affected buildings within the property which was constructed back in the 1960’s. He added that it's unclear if the removal of the bricks could affect stability, so there is no set date for residents to return as of right now.
Statement from Troy City Hall: “As any first responder knows, emergencies require swift action. Multiple departments, including Mayor Madden, Deputy Mayor Nolin and Code Enforcement officials, have been on-site since last Thursday. The bowing brick veneers at Harbour Point Gardens posed an imminent threat which is why the city acted immediately. We hope the property owner expeditiously repairs the building so families may return to their homes. Tenants in need of assistance should reach out to our helpline at 518-279-7156, and regular updates are posted to social media pages and TroyNY.gov.”
Lexington Property Group representatives say their own engineering firm did not find any structural issues with the buildings and that they have already removed some of the brick facade.