[Baltimore Sun] Since fire, troubled Lansdowne apartments have made progress on long needed repairs, HUD says
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A Lansdowne apartment complex that was in disrepair even before an Oct. 6 fire has undergone enough improvements that federal officials said this week it will continue to receive low-income housing subsidies.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which had given the complex a failing grade at an inspection earlier this year, said managers had made progress on a range of repairs, among them, renovating and readying 70 vacant apartments for leasing, restoring the laundry room, installing security devices and hiring structural engineers to evaluate the entire property.
HUD had given the complex until Monday “to rectify the conditions at the property,” or it would “evaluate additional remedies,” the agency told The Baltimore Sun earlier this week. On Monday night, the agency said it had withdrawn its abatement of the Housing Assistance Payment Contract that it has with the property, which provides rental subsidies to to cover the difference between the rent and what residents pay, which is typically capped at 30% of the household income.
Sixteen residents were displaced by the fire, which brought renewed attention to the long-neglected 303-unit complex in southwest Baltimore County. Lakeside’s management company said those residents have all been offered newly remodeled apartments at the complex.
Built with HUD funds in 1977, Lakeside has been beset by multiple legal and financial woes: HUD had banned its owner, the Cleveland-based Millennia Companies, from new federal contracts for five years over improprieties involving at least $4.9 million in security deposits at other apartment buildings it owns. Additionally, Millennia’s partner company, Holiday Heights, defaulted on a $27 million loan, sending the property into receivership.
Residents have long complained about deteriorating and unsafe conditions, including mold, rodent and insect infestations, sagging ceilings, hot water outages and malfunctioning appliances, heating and air conditioning.
Earlier this month, a new company, Paths Management, was put in charge of the complex, and residents said they began seeing crews on site daily, clearing overgrown vegetation, emptying dumpsters and making repairs.
“As new management at Lakeside, we are moving through each building to identify long-neglected problems and urgently make repairs,” a spokesman for Paths said in an email. “We hope that residents are beginning to see progress, as we work to deliver the safe, quality housing they deserve.”
Paths said crews have been inspecting and planning repairs to building roofs, patching potholes and performing pest control in every apartment as well as common areas and exteriors.
One resident, Ciera Goodin, said Wednesday that workers have made several repairs in her apartment.
“I just got my heat fixed. They put down a new floor over the old one,” said Goodin, who has lived in the complex for six years. “They painted in here. It looks way different.”
Goodin said she worries that there are foundation and structural issues in the complex that will require more extensive work than has been done to date. But conditions have started improving at the complex, she said, including to a feature that gives it its name.
“They tore down a lot of trees,” she said. “You can actually see the lake now.”
Have a news tip? Contact Jean Marbella at jmarbella@baltsun.com.
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