Horizon West condo building, evacuated nearly 2 years ago, will be torn down by year's end
WAUKESHA - Now 22 months since the emergency evacuation of the building, city officials have begun taking the final steps necessary before leveling the Horizon West Condominiums by year's end.
But as that process plays out, the condos' former residents have continued to struggle under a legal battle aimed at getting some funds from the insurance company that covered the structure as a whole, an uphill battle made more difficult for those still paying mortgages on their derelict home while also paying living expenses elsewhere.
On Wednesday, in its weekly newsletter, the city of Waukesha confirmed plans to raze the West Avenue building have advanced following the Sept. 5 bid awarded to The MRD Group, a demolition specialist firm also trained in asbestos removal.
Process to full teardown of Horizon West condos has already begun
Work crews were already on site in the final week of September, beginning an abatement process, regulated by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, which is expected to take six to eight weeks. The demolition of the building, 315 N. West Ave., will follow as early as Nov. 20, with the goal of having the condominium building fully leveled by Dec. 31.
The process — particularly the asbestos abatement process — raises many questions from neighbors and others, which is why the city is hosting an informational meeting at City Hall from 6 to 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 2.
The city has already provided a variety of details about the overall three-month process, including safety steps that have to be taken to seal the building floor-by-floor during asbestos removal and the strategic decision to demolish the building from the top down. Those details are spelled out on a special page on the city's website.
Beyond the demolition itself, crews will have to return to the site in spring to regrade the property. The ultimate fate of the land is unclear, given the complex nature of its ownership shared by dozens of former residents, city officials have acknowledged in the past. A land sale would require the approval of all owners.
The building has stood vacant since December 2021, when residents were forced to evacuate in mere minutes after safety officials declared the building at risk for "imminent" collapse. The building was temporarily shored up, allowing residents to retrieve their possessions that month, but without a place to live.
The building was ultimately deemed unrepairable against its value.
Courtroom battle continues with insurer
On one hand, a legal battle ended a year ago in a key settlement protecting residents from demolition costs. On the other, residents are still on the hook for losses they sustained when the 57-year-old structure was deemed unlivable, taking their equity away.
Under an October 2022 settlement approved in Waukesha County Circuit Court, the city and the condos' residents reached a deal which essentially put the city on the hook for demolition costs if residents don't prevail in their separate case to get reimbursed by their losses from the building's insurer, Travelers Indemnity Company of Connecticut.
"There are no more legal concerns at this time," Waukesha City Attorney Brian Running said in an email Thursday. "Going forward, it’s a practical matter of taking the building down and trying to recoup the city’s costs in doing so."
The likelihood of insurance money is, however, on the negative side of the legal ledger for now.
In April 2022, in a $17 million federal lawsuit, the Horizon West Homeowners Association and its individual owners alleged Travelers unfairly ignored or indefinitely delayed payment claims for accidental physical loss and damage of their condo homes.
But in November, U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman ruled in favor of a motion from Travelers to dismiss the condo owners' claim, stating in his 21-page ruling that their complaint did not "state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." In essence, the ruling said that Travelers' policy did not cover the kind of loss residents experienced when they were forced out of their building due to structural issues.
The association and owners appealed that decision in the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. An oral argument is set before the appellate court is currently set for Tuesday.
"That is the current focus," Mike Ganzer, the attorney representing the condo owners, said Thursday. "The decision in that case will determine the future course of events."
In a related interview in June, Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly acknowledged the financial realities facing both the city and former condo residents. While he isn't happy that the city may have to cover the full costs of demolition, he recognized the residents' plight, facing a monetary challenge that left them empty handed and a building with no saleable value that needed to be razed.
"I'm not surprised that they haven't taken it down because the value of the property is less than the building and the land," Reilly said.
Contact Jim Riccioli at (262) 446-6635 or james.riccioli@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @jariccioli.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Waukesha sets timeline for razing of Horizon West condo building
