City officials have declared the Wilshire Village Apartments on Dunlavy and West Alabama a fire hazard, reportedly slapping these notices on all the buildings. Residents, here’s that number to call: (713) 865-7100. A little more here.
- Wilshire Village Apartments: Condemned? [Swamplot]
- Wilshire Village coverage [Swamplot]
Talk about fast moving news.
I would love to know the rest of the story. That place has been in a state of fascinating decay for many years- why now? Who stands to gain from this?
From Sheila:
I would love to know the rest of the story. That place has been in a state of fascinating decay for many years- why now? Who stands to gain from this?
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Those questions occurred to me. Then this one: could the fire department actually be corrupt and in the bag for someone? I may be naive, but the very notion is shocking to me.
I wouldn’t throw corruption at this one.
My guess is the current owner (the new developer) has put a request in to have the place condemn (anyone can do this). The fire marshalls have to investigate and make a decision.
In the mean time, the developer also sent those notices that started this whole discussion on Swamplot. When the notices were sent, the discussion asked how can these residents be forced to moved so quickly. Now we know. The plan was all along to have the place condemned.
Nothing technically illegal. More like bad timing. Now that the fire marshalls have step in, there is little recourse unless someone steps up and rehabs all the buildings to current fire codes. Once that can of worms opens up, then the plumbing and hurricane proofing come into play.
So, you can pretty much kiss this place goodbye.
The obvious gainer is the developer, but that was never really a question from the beginning anyway.
That still doesn’t explain why the fire department, who never cared about the tenants lives in the past, is suddenly involved or why the owner didn’t just evict them. Eviction is easy in a city with few tenant rights and no enforcment. What am I missing here?
In other cities, people renovate their well designed buildings, and that’s a big reason why Houstonians vacation there, and spend money there on their hotels and restaurants and attractions.
Of course those cities’ economies are doing worse than ours right now, there’s not a substantial tourism sector of the Houston economy to take a hit, so maybe there’s something to be said for rapacious developers. At least we’ll never be bothered with gawking tourists. Or an Olympics, or World’s Fair.
When the tenants would not move out, the developers contacted the fire department, filed a complaint. That is what brought the fire department into it. Fire marshalls don’t generally get to every building on their own, but if they get a complaint, they have to. They could also complain to the city health department if there was standing water anywhere or other types of things that could be deemed dangerous to public health. Legal yes, neighborly or acting in good faith…maybe not. But developers don’t seem to care about popularity.
From EMME:
Legal yes, neighborly or acting in good faith…maybe not. But developers don’t seem to care about popularity.
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Indeed, these guys are on their way to being Dickensian villains. Seriously, I wonder if they twirled their mustaches and cackled when they called the Fire Department. And they are further tarnishing the reputation of their industry, which is not exactly beloved these days.
Not doubting your info, but what’s up with the developers complaining about everyone not moving when the end of the month cited as the move-out date is still 8 days away? And Jay Cohen contacting some of the tenants and saying they did NOT have to move?
For some reason I’m picturing everyone in this management company with little moustaches, speaking very loudly and wearing knotted hankies on their heads….
Really people?
The condemnation supersedes the eviction notice. The condemnation could have well came from a neighbor who is just fed up with living next to this place. I don’t think it’s likely though.
To me, these people fall in a similar category as the Park Memorial Condos, but instead they rent.
Renting is temporary. Assuming you can rent your apartment indefinitely is a bad one to make even if you lived there for 30 or 40 years. Although it may be your home, it’s not your house.
We sold some property in East Houston that had tenants in it, 40 year tenants. The buyer (a well known broker/developer/jerk) wanted to stall the sale and as a threat, threatened to call the fire department, department of health, etc. Did we have some vulnerability? Yep. Were we going to let him manipulate us? Nope. He was already past closing date so we put the sign back in the yard, and lo and behold he finally closed.
Unless there’s some plot for the residents to barricade themselves into their apartments and fend off the feds with empty film canisters and cat litter, I haven’t heard about any mass refusal to move. This is falling under the “oh, come on” category. The end of the month falls on a Saturday; perfect time for a new lease to start on March 1st in a new place. Now people who had plans settled have to find someplace to store their lives for a week and themselves as well. I don’t care who made the complaint or whatever that got the fire marshall out there – he/she is a shithead of the first water. The complex didn’t just fall into total entropy in the last few days. No one got electrocuted or drowned or caught on fire. A week isn’t going to make one bit of difference to the developers or owners.
Yes, it’s a rental property. Yes, the owners will do what they want with it. People are living there who made plans in good faith based on the information provided, depending on who from the apartment management they spoke to. I really can’t see how getting all involved to stay on the same damn page with a firm move-out date is such a challenge.
Right on Hellsing. However, I would say that the confusion within the management company may have caused the fire marshall to be called. Perhaps the Dilick guy didn’t have a right to evict, so this way the city evicts for him and then whoever is arguing not to evict has no footing.
From EMME:
However, I would say that the confusion within the management company may have caused the fire marshall to be called. Perhaps the Dilick guy didn’t have a right to evict, so this way the city evicts for him and then whoever is arguing not to evict has no footing.
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This sounds plausible to me. I would substitute the word conflict for confusion though. It may be that if Dillick can clear the buildings and do a quick teardown and scrape, whatever claim Cohen or his relatives may have (if any) is weakened by facts on the ground.
Sheer speculation on my part of course. But there has to be some kind of motivation for the apparent dickery going on with the condemnation.
If the trees could talk..
My bet is that our Monkey-Mayor Bill had a hand in this, since it sounds like a developer in distress situation.
It is peculiar that the neighborhood fire station is a block away, and the firemen drive their bright shiny firetruck past these apartments several times a week in their quest for groceries either at Fiesta or Krogers and safety of the complex apparently hasn’t been an issue?
Come on, I have lived in the neighborhood for 25 years and the place has been sitting there looking the same for all these years? With the firefighters driving by probably a dozen or more times a week? And this week there is a problem? Something smells fishy here.
Mathew Dillick, who was been named as a person involved in the property on some recent documents used to work for Landry’s Restaurant Group. I have heard a number of stories that indicate a… less than ethical means of doing business, to put it nicely, that was rumored to have been used by that group, and its infamous… douchebag of an owner. It would not surprise me at all if there was a little corruption in this one.
^Yep, Director of Real Estate for Landry’s. Too bad he slumlorded this property for its final years (the final being his doing).
What a waste. Way to go, Dilick.
Wow – does this mean a Joe’s Crab Shack with a carnival ride and maybe some endangered species soon?