EXCLUSIVE: Controversial south Lansing apartment complex sold

Todd Heywood
·4 min read

UPDATE: 6 News report Josh Sanchez reports from the apartment complex that residents received a letter announcing new ownership. The apartment complex has been renamed Evergreen Park Townhomes and Apartments.

New owners of the apartment complex formerly known as Autumn Ridge wasted no time in renaming the troubled property as Evergreen Park Townhomes and Apartments. (WLNS)
New owners of the apartment complex formerly known as Autumn Ridge wasted no time in renaming the troubled property as Evergreen Park Townhomes and Apartments. (WLNS)

Here’s the letter from Beztak Management to residents:

The letter sent to residents of the newly named Evergreen Park Townhomes and Apartments received this letter notifying them of the ownership change at the troubled property. (WLNS)
The letter sent to residents of the newly named Evergreen Park Townhomes and Apartments received this letter notifying them of the ownership change at the troubled property. (WLNS)

UPDATE: This story has been updated to include a comment from Lansing Mayor Andy Schor’s spokesman on the sale of the property.

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Autumn Ridge, a controversial Lansing apartment complex that’s been cited with hundreds of pages of code violations and tried to evict residents who had
The property has been in the headlines for years for alleged unsafe conditions — from fire safety violations to unsanitary conditions — has a new owner. OPV Partners LLC of Southfield sold the property Tuesday.


Lansing City Council President Jeremy Garza tells 6 News via text message in response to an inquiry if the property had been sold wrote, “Yes, sale was final as of yesterday.”

Garza represents the area of south Lansing where Autumn Ridge is located.

(WLNS)
(WLNS)

A message to OPV Partners, LLC was not immediately returned.

Scott Bean, a spokesman for Lansing Mayor Andy Schor, tells 6 News by text Schor spoke to the new ownership Wednesday.

“Mayor did talk to the new owner today and the conversation went great,” Bean wrote. “Mayor is very encouraged after the conversation and excited for a new direction for Autumn Ridge and the residents there.”

6 News is still working to identify the company that has purchased the troubled property.


OPV Partners has been under scrutiny after multiple lawsuits against the city of Lansing over enforcement of the city’s housing codes. 6 News obtained a 361-page report of inspection findings from December 2022 and January 2023.


City officials allege the company has taken no action to correct the code violations, and on January 12, 2024, posted red and pink tags throughout the complex at 900 Long Blvd. Red tags mean the property is unsafe to live in. A pink tag means the property is not a registered rental and may have issues requiring repair. A person can continue to live in a pink-tag property.

Autumn_Ridge_Inspection_Notices_PacketDownload

Court records show the property has not been registered with the city as a rental property since 2018. All of the property’s 618 units are subject to code action by the city, whether as a red-tag or pink tag.

Once a property that is either red-tagged or pink-tagged is vacated, it cannot be rented to a new tenant until city code officials have cleared the property as safe and is a registered rental property.

The company sued the city in federal court in February alleging, among other things, that the municipality did not have the right to enforce its housing law.

Verified Complaint for Declaratory and Other Relief – filed 022124 (1)Download

Attorneys representing OPV in the federal case did not immediately respond to messages.
Some tenants have been withholding their rent and paying it into an escrow account. As a result, they were facing eviction proceedings in 54-A District Court.

But Wednesday morning, attorneys representing OPV Partners, LLC in those eviction proceedings withdrew from representation of the company in all the eviction cases before the court.

Attorney Jackie Snyder on behalf of attorney Mark Wasvary asked Judge Kristen Simmons of 54-A District Court to allow the attorneys to withdraw.

“We’re asking the court to allow us to withdraw under the Michigan Code of Professional Responsibility, 1.16.b due to an obligation that has not been met by the client to our office,” Snyder said.

Mark Dotson a professor of law at Cooley Law School said an attorney withdrawing from a case because of conflicts with the client, including whether the client has paid their bills.

6 News reported last month, that eviction cases against tenants in the troubled complex had ramped up dramatically since January.

A message was left for Wasvary, but not immediately returned.

Since January 10, 2024, OPV attorneys have filed 95 eviction cases in 54-A District Court. That’s 46% more cases than they filed in all of 2023.

Court records reveal in 2023, attorneys for OPV filed 65 eviction cases – in at least two instances, more than one case was filed against the same tenant.

This is a developing story.

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