Heat a frigid Troy apartment with a space heater or kitchen oven? 'Recipe for disaster'
A luxury apartment complex in Troy came close to evacuation on Thursday after residents suffered through four days of low or no heat.
Their complaints led city officials to declare the 147 units uninhabitable and to offer relocation assistance to residents. On Thursday, the American Red Cross set up a reception center at a nearby church, shuttle buses were hired, and the county’s mental health provider sent six social workers to help developmentally disabled residents find shelter.
But by day’s end, the crisis had eased. The Cleveland, Ohio-based owners of Troy Place Apartments finally responded to city demands, promising to make boiler repairs starting on Friday morning. Residents got the word just as some were leaving, and they returned to their units, city officials said.
If the building's owners follow through, the city won’t seek a court order demanding evacuation of the units, City Manager Mark Miller said. Owners of the complex, built in 1974, owe past due taxes plus a late fee and interest of $324,069. From here on, Miller said, Troy’s city building department will keep a close eye on the apartments at 2869 Troy Center Drive, just south of Big Beaver Road and east of Crooks Road, while the city’s tax department watches for the tax payment.
A website for the complex boasts of "luxury amenities" overseen by "a professional on-site management team and 24-hour emergency service." But the outdoor pool and tennis court were of little value this week when one of two boilers failed. The second boiler "was old and not enough to heat the whole building," Miller said.
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After inspecting, the city failed to get a commitment for repairs from managers yet lacked direct contact with the owner, officially listed as Troy Place Owner LLC in Beachwood, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. Meanwhile, managers of the complex "issued space heaters to people and some were using ovens. That's a recipe for disaster," Miller said, especially if pipes that feed water to the apartments' overhead sprinkler system were allowed to freeze.
So the city posted a rare "Do Not Occupy" order at four entrances to the complex, citing its "lack of a fully functional heating system, apparent fire suppression frozen pipes and elevator failure." That led Miller, a veteran city employee, to declare: "I don't remember the city of Troy ever doing this."
By late Thursday afternoon, although the phone number listed for the apartments' office had been disconnected, and although no one had responded to a Free Press email, Troy's building official heard from what seemed to be a new management company suddenly in charge.
"They say they've ordered parts for the boiler and they're going to start work on this on Friday morning," Miller said, adding: "We're fairly confident that the owner is going to get this fixed. But I think us issuing the official order pushed them to take action."
In Pontiac, 15 miles from the apartments, staffers at Oakland County Emergency Management were ready to respond if residents were forced to evacuate, public information officer Kevin Sadaj said. If that happened, the county was prepared to offer rental assistance to those in need, Sadaj said.
Contact Bill Laytner: blaitner@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Residents in Troy had cold temps inside and out until city stepped in
