At Rundown Apartment Complex in Bel-Ridge, Complaints Fly About Mold, Heating and Plumbing
Date Posted: February 28, 2019
Posted In: Discussion,
From St. Louis Post-Dispatch: One of more than a dozen residents who spoke here at City Hall about substandard living conditions at Springwood Apartments stopped to ask if any of the property owners were present.
Though at least one T.E.H. Realty representative, a lawyer named John Singer, sat near the back taking notes, he didn’t speak up. Nor did he answer questions at the end of the meeting, which was held Tuesday night to address problems at the 271-unit apartment complex near Interstate 170 and Natural Bridge Road.
“He didn’t say a word,” Mayor Willie Fair said. “With him not being able to defend that place, that tells you that we have some real issues over there.”
In 2018, Springwood Apartments was cited for more than 160 unsafe conditions and building code violations. Bel-Ridge condemned a few buildings and many units.
Though he didn’t speak, Singer showed city officials paperwork after the meeting indicating T.E.H. Realty was trying to meet a 10-day deadline to install about 100 smoke alarms. There’s also a 30-day deadline to fix about 50 heating and air conditioning units.
“There is so much stuff, man,” inspector Raymond Winston said in an interview. “It’s heating, plumbing, mold, fix the walls.”
Springwood Apartments became in December 2014 the first of at least 10 apartment complexes that T.E.H. Realty affiliates acquired in the St. Louis area. With at least 2,400 rental units, it’s one of the largest providers of affordable housing in the region.