Maya McFadden Photo
The scene at 335 St. John after this week’s partial collapse.
Maybe there was no car.
And maybe that raises questions about why a 169-year-old building partially collapsed in Wooster Square.
Those questions have emerged in the wake of the partial collapse that occurred overnight this week from late Wednesday into Thursday at the two-and-half-story residential building at 335 St. John St.
Avi Meer, a local landlord who has been buying up property in the neighborhood (including this Olive Street site), purchased the brick St. John St. building in 2018.
Last May 15, some tenants who were already concerned about the condition of the building heard a loud noise. Then they discovered a hole on the side of the building facing into a lot.
Two wooden planks were placed against the side of the building. The tenants were moved out. The city ordered the building secured and a plan drawn up to remediate the unsafe conditions.
Almost a year later to the day, this week, the side of the building collapsed. The plan hadn’t been put into place.
In explaining why, Meer told the Independent that a dispute with his insurance company was preventing him from obtaining the money to make the repairs. He said tenants told him a car had slammed into the building, but the insurance company is contesting it.
Two tenants told the Independent Friday that they never said a car hit the building.
One of them, Justin Knapp, said he was on the phone with Meer describing the hole that afternoon before Meer arrived. “We said, ‘There’s a hole the size of something like a car,’” Knapp recalled.
He said there was no evidence of a car having hit the building. No one saw a car, heard a car. There was no debris from a car.
Knapp said he later clarified to Meer that he hadn’t meant that a car had literally hit the building.
Genevieve Brock and boyfriend Justin were planning to move out of 335 St. John when circumstances forced the issue.
Another tenant, Genevieve Brock, had the same recollection. She said she and others were concerned about conditions in the building and had been complaining.
Tenants also noted that St. John is a one-way street — with traffic coming from the other side of the building, not facing the wall that crumbled.
Meer was asked about that Friday afternoon.
He noted that people did pay to park in that lot. “What we suspect is that somebody, when he was pulling out, backed in” to the wall, he said.
“It just seems like the only likely thing. I wasn’t there. That was what we thought it was.”
He was asked if he came across any physical detritus from a vehicle that had slammed into the wall hard enough to break it. He said he wasn’t sure. “There was a pile of rubble on the floor,” he said.
Shore Enough?
Jonathan Cook Photo
The original attempt to “shore up” 335 St. John last May.
The question of the phantom car factored into what happened next, and didn’t happen next, on St. John St.
Two days after the incident, tenants were still living there. An architectural designer who lives across the street, Jonathan Cook, looked out his window and grew concerned about whether the building itself would collapse.
“I saw that hole and thought they ought to take care of that right away. They put two sticks of wood up. People were still living there,” Cook recalled. (He took the above photo.)
“I thought, ‘This is insane.’ I called the fire department. I wanted to make sure the city was aware of this situation.”
The city ordered the tenants removed and temporary measures put into place to secure the building. Meer put Brock and her boyfriend up in a building he has on Orange Street, a rooming house-like facility with shared kitchens and bathrooms. Months of disputes ensued over access to belongings and payment for damages.
Paul Bass Photo
Landlord Avi Meer: Suspects a parker was backing up and hit wall.
Meanwhile, Meer enlisted an experienced engineer, Thomas Torrenti, to come up with a plan to secure the building so it wouldn’t collapse. Torrenti said he came up with an extensive plan by May 27.
None of it was put into place, Torrenti said.
“Those wood braces are nothing I directed them to do. Those were not done under my direction. I think somebody just threw those in there on their own. I would never have directed them to do something like that.”
Months passed; the insurance company dispute dragged on. No work was done. Neighbors raised concerns about the building at a community management team meeting.
“Nobody expected it to go on so long,” city Building Official Jim Turcio said. Meer “was working with us,” and the city approved of Torrenti’s design. And “Covid screwed everybody up” because a governor’s executive order limited the city’s ability to cancel permits or take other potential actions.
Fast forward to this week’s partial collapse. On Friday Meer had a company called Litchfield Builders shoring up 335 St. John. They started in the basement, then worked their way up floor by floor. “They’re a very reliable company,” Turcio said. “They do good work.”
Torrenti stopped by the premises to inspect. He recognized the work being done, he said: It was pretty much the plan he drew up a year ago.
Maya McFadden Photo
Outside 335 St. John on Thursday.
This is the kind of reporting that tries to create a story where there is no story. Full disclosure, Mr. Meer is a client but also reliable and honest always.
I saw the partial collapse last year because it was unusual for a wall to fail and interesting. Not an everyday occurrence. Maybe a first for me. It looked like a part of the exterior wall failed at the height where a car would hit it backing up.
And it's normal that no one looked for car parts buried in thousands of pounds of bricks because everyone would have thought insurance would cover the damage regardless of cause.
Safety of tenants is paramount; so relocation. I've been in the "rooming house" on orange street and they are fully furnished with every amenity (except kitchen) and were brand new at the time. I'd choose orange street over a long Wharf motel. A central downtown location makes sense for young tenants.
Using Litchfield Builders shows a willingness to spend real $$ to fix a problem; their reputation is impeccable. Instead of some unlicensed loser with no insurance, Meer hired the best; that says a lot.
It sucks to be a tenant in casualty loss situations like fire, flood, or structural collapse but it really sucks to be the landlord and have the insurance company deny coverage, but have to pay mortgage, taxes, repairs, and legal fees with no rents coming in.
Tenants should carry renters insurance. It's like $20 per month. No brainer there and most issues would have been avoided.
I'm only responding because I know Avi Meer is honorable, won't post on the sabbath, and won't post on Shavuot. And slanted reporting should be countered with a competing narrative when it goes too far, like here.
The building department did its normal process; get the tenants safe; work with the owner on a plan. Saving old buildings takes time. Especially during a pandemic.
No story here. Just spin and fluff. Love NHI but you can do better. Really.