Paul Bass Photo
Tenant Vincenti: Giving up on management, moving out.
It turns out that the Strouse, Adler apartment complex by the State Street train station has far bigger problems than a busted water-heater — and the city has issued an emergency demand for immediate action.
City Building Official Jim Turcio issued the demand by certified mail this week to PMC Property Group of Philadelphia, which 14 years ago converted the former “Smoothie” corset factory built in 1876 at 78 Olive St. into 140 upscale apartments.
Turcio wrote that a recent inspection revealed that the apartment complex has operated without basic safety features required under Chapter 34 of the state building code to limit the rapid spread of fire: a sheetrock “one hour separation” ceiling in the corridors and “two-hour separation” double five-eighth-inch sheetrock along both sides of the stair towers.
“You are hereby ordered to take the proper corrective action to remove or remedy all above listed violation(s) immediately,” Turcio wrote.
Markeshia Ricks Photo
Turcio on site at Strouse Adler.
Turcio conducted the latest inspection of the complex as a follow-up to a Dec. 14 visit to there, when a busted pipe — the result of an unpermitted repair of a water heater — flooded several apartments on the third-floor as well as apartments and hallways below. The city ordered PMC to put three tenants up in hotel rooms while making repairs.
Turcio said he noticed other apparent problems during that initial Dec. 14 visit , leading to his follow-up inspection, where he discovered what he called the serious violations of the fire code.
Attempts to reach PMC CEO Ronald Caplan or his local attorney, Christopher McKeon, for comment were unsuccessful Thursday.
The PMC/Strouse, Adler order marks the second time this year that the city has taken urgent action to protect tenants in large housing developments that have for years been allowed to operate under allegedly unsafe conditions — one time involving low-income renters, the second involving white-collar renters. The first instance centered on the Church Street South housing complex, where tenants receive federal Section 8 housing subsidies. The second, at Strouse, Adler, involves an early entry into what has become a gold rush of development for upscale center-city renters in New Haven.
On the web page for its “renovated historic apartments offering exceptionally charming modern downtown living!” at Strouse, Adler, PMC advertises one-bedroom apartments “starting at $1,010” a month and two-bedrooms “starting at $1,750.”
The city decided not to order PMC to remove all tenants from the building as part of the latest order this week because sprinklers are currently working in the building, Turcio said. The fire marshal earlier this week ordered PMC to fix a broken back-up generator so that those sprinklers can be counted on to work; a repair truck was on premises Thursday.
In 2001, More Leniency
The emergency order raises a question: Why did the city allow PMC to open the apartment complex in the first place without those sheetrock separations?
A visitor from New York raised that very question with the city back in 2002.
In a letter on file with the Building Department, the writer — who remained anonymous but gave a Manhattan address — wrote that he had visited the building to scout out a potential apartment for a child coming to Yale. The writer, who said he had background in the field, said he was startled to find the building in unsafe conditions that violated basic practices. He specifically mentioned the lack of the 5/8‑inch sheetrock.
Then-Building Official Andrew Rizzo drafted a response letter that, according to the file, never got mailed. He defended his decision to grant a certificate of occupancy to PMC.
“As for your contention that the floors were not protected by 5/8” sheet-rick, the building is fully sprinklered, with sprinkler heads above the suspended ceilings, as well as below …” Rizzo wrote.
“I am confident that all occupants of the Smoothie Building” will be safe.
He added that he “would have preferred a visit or phone call rather than an anonymous letter accusing me of ‘screwing around.’”
Reached Thursday, Rizzo said, “It’s too long ago for me to even think about it” or comment.
Mayor Toni Harp said Turcio’s discovery “really lets us know how important to safety that our building code inspector. We’ve got to uphold standards.” She said “it appears” that back in 2001 “there was great excitement about having the building rehabbed [and] some things just fell through the cracks. Now we understand how important making sure we have thorough inspections before we give certificates of occupancy.”
Disgruntled Tenants
Markeshia Ricks Photo
Strouse Adler tenants have been complaining for years about poor conditions and lack of responsiveness from PMC, with concerns ranging from frigid common areas to water leaks.
Tenant Chad Sagnella (pictured above), an emergency room physician who had to move out temporarily last week when the flood filled his apartment with a foot of water, said he’s been living in the Strouse, Adler building for nearly four years. He called the flood just one more in a long list of problems he has experienced since he moved in, including unresponsive management, elevators that work only occasionally, stolen packages and the fact that someone allowed a dog to poop in a stairwell near their apartment and management still hasn’t cleaned it up.
Tenant Abraham Vincenti said he’s packing up to move this month to a different downtown apartment complex. He moved into the Strouse, Adler building a year ago. At one point water started leaking into his apartment. Management was “slow” to respond, Vincenti said. He subsequently noticed that the maintenance staff, shared among several PMC buildings, is “stretched thin.” “I still have water stains on my walls,” he said. “At some point, I stopped reaching out” to management for help. (He’s pictured at the top of the story preparing deliver homemade coquito—which he described as “Puerto Rican egg nog, without eggs; basically a coconut drink with some booze” — to friends for the holidays.)
PMC is currently suing the city to try to stop a competing apartment complex from being built across Chapel Street.
Above is a promotional video it made for one of the apartments, minus flooding.
Paul Bass Photo
A ceiling in the first-floor hallway Thursday.
Repair truck on premises Thursday.
Markeshia Ricks contributed to this story.
Harp says, "really lets us know how important to safety that our building code inspector. We've got to uphold standards." She said "it appears" that back in 2001 "there was great excitement about having the building rehabbed [and] some things just fell through the cracks. Now we understand how important making sure we have thorough inspections before we give certificates of occupancy." Some things like safety and decent living conditions "just" fell through the cracks..Why do I think there was a little giggle coming after that statement?
What it REALLY means is that in the rush to OVERdevelop N.H. inspections are not done, maintenance is not performed and tenants are left paying outrageous rents. Replace 2001 with 2015 and what's the difference? Obviously this city cannot keep up with inspections and cannot perform safety inspections on a regular basis. Or, is there another reason why these "little" issues just get overlooked?? Not in 2001 but in 2015.
Evidently when it comes to out of town carpetbaggers, you really don't get what you pay for. How many more Harp before there is a real tragedy??