From Neighborhood Cancer to Community Asset: Turning an Apartment Building Around
Prior to receivership,
vulnerable young children as well as elderly tenants lived inside an apartment building with broken stairs and doors, inoperable plumbing,
and an exterior littered with graffiti and trash.
Post-receivership, the property has become
—
much needed—safe, clean, and affordable housing for this community.
We took over this 14-unit apartment building after poor management rendered it unsafe for tenants to live in and it had become an attractive nuisance to local criminals. Municipal code enforcement found 84 violations of health and safety laws onsite, including broken stairs and doors, an exterior littered with graffiti and trash, inoperable plumbing, as well as apartments without working electricity. Despite the fact that vulnerable young children, as well as elderly tenants, lived inside the apartments, and even with multiple opportunities to fix the issues plaguing the property, the owner refused to cooperate. The lack of oversight of the apartment building did not go unnoticed; gang activity became prevalent, with heavy drug usage onsite
In Four Months CRG Relocates Tenants, Rehabilitates the Building, and Sells the Property to a Responsible Buyer
When we took over this property, having been appointed as the Receiver by a Superior Court Judge, every unit was occupied by tenants. It was already dangerous for these individuals to reside in the property, given the serious violations of state and municipal health and safety codes, and it would not be safe for them to stay onsite during construction. We provided the tenants with relocation assistance, including first and last month rent payments for alternative housing, and we made any accommodations necessary to ensure that their moves were as smooth as possible. Four months after our appointment, the property was renovated and sold to a buyer committed to taking care of it moving forward. Thus, what was once a cancer in the neighborhood has been turned into much-needed safe, clean, and affordable housing for this community.
