CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Affordable housing rehab takes toll on residents

The Record-Eagle - 1/23/2022

Jan. 23—BELLAIRE — Village Apartments resident Charles "Chapi" Lowery II said if he were writing this news story, the headline would read, "Vetrins Night-Maire."

"Most PPl know me as that cranky old guy w/a white dog," Lowery said in a handwritten statement. "I put my butt in harms way so everyone else could pursue happyness. To PK I would say, 'Where's your respect?'"

Lowery, a U.S. Army veteran, is one of 10 Village Apartment residents who on Thursday opened their doors to a Record-Eagle reporter, after expressing a growing sense of bleakness over the living conditions there.

"PK" refers to Okemos-based PK Development Group, which in 2020 purchased Village Apartments and nine other affordable housing projects throughout Michigan, with $19 million in bond-financed mortgages and federal tax credits.

Affordable housing landlords like PK Development receive a portion of the rent from tenants directly, and subsidies from a variety of state and federal programs, administered by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, records show.

MSHDA administers the money — $2 million of which is earmarked for Bellaire — paying for the rehab of 264 apartments spread over 10 complexes in rural areas from the Thumb to the Upper Peninsula, state records show.

Katie Bach, MSHDA communications director, said Friday the agency's rental development team has received recent updates from PK Development on the project.

"It is important to note that while MSHDA is involved with the funding of this development, MSHDA is not the lender in this case and therefore does not perform standard lender construction oversight," Bach said, in an emailed statement.

"However, as always, we want to ensure that the renovation is considerate of resident needs and that residents are being treated well during the process," Bach said, adding that PK Development has a history of success with the agency.

PK Development spokesperson Marea Powell previously acknowledged delays she said were caused by pandemic related supply chain issues.

"The plan is to come back after the first of the year and go through each unit with a fine-toothed comb," Powell said in December.

On Friday, PK Development President Pete Potterpin said he's had some tense conversations with those in charge at Oakwood Construction, the project's general contractor.

"There have been supply chain issues, in Bellaire and at the other projects," Potterpin said. "We had to change our cabinet manufacturer three times even though we'd ordered six, eight weeks in advance. Also, there's been human error."

Shoddy work, drug use, rude subcontractorsTenants said shoddy workmanship, disrespectful laborers, scheduling mix-ups and concerns about illegal drug use mar life at the complex and have nothing to do with supply chain issues.

"It was a useful apartment before they destroyed it," said Marty Griffore, who uses a walker for mobility.

He pointed to the spot where someone working at the site drove a tractor into the building, damaging the wall near his air conditioner.

Canned and dry goods are stacked on kitchen counters, on the stovetop and on the floor because, Griffore said, workers removed the shelves in his pantry and didn't replace them.

Clothing is piled on the floor in his bedroom, while doors of a nearby closet swing off their tracks — which Griffore said was a particular hazard for someone who is disabled.

Outside, closet shelving is stacked on the ground, covered with snow.

"I do have concerns about workmanship," Potterpin said. "Residents' concerns will be addressed, we'll fix what needs to be fixed and hopefully when it's finished people will be happy with what we've done."

Bach said MSHDA, too, remains optimistic about the project.

"The good news is there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and we hope residents will soon appreciate the renovations to their units and the property," she said.

Potterpin's office is in the Lansing area, but he has visited the site several times, he said, and is aware of issues like scratches in new flooring, missing trim and faulty cabinets. He isn't happy about the problems.

"I feel for the residents," Potterpin said.

If all goes according to a new plan — more supervision for work crews, a commitment to work on each apartment until it's finished instead of piecemeal — the project will be finished by the end of February, Potterpin said.

Residents say in the meantime, their mental health has suffered.

One resident, who has a brain disorder and depends on television for his mental health and his connection to society, was recently hospitalized with dehydration and stress, his family said.

A worker had accidentally cut through a cable tv cord servicing this resident's apartment and he was without television for several days, they said

John Koslosky, a family friend, declined to share the man's name, citing privacy issues.

Another resident said her son, who suffers with anxiety, went to stay with her mother after months passed and the rehab of the family's apartment still wasn't finished. The rest of the family is living in a motel and cooking meals on a hotplate.

Lycan Aldrich, who has lived in his apartment for more than three years, said he knows what it feels like to be displaced.

"I've been living like this since the summer," Aldrich said, pointing to a stack of boxes taking up half his living room. "I have so much stress and anxiety — my life has been hell because of this. My beef with PK is the fact that this has been going on for so long."

Aldrich said he sleeps on his couch because the rest of his belongings are packed in more boxes stored in his bedroom. He, too, is waiting for workers to complete the rehab of his apartment.

On-site manager arrested on drug chargesCourt records show Sarah Harp, on-site property manager of Village Apartments, was arrested in March on felony drug-related charges and pleaded guilty Jan. 11 to a single count of obstruction of justice.

"What she admitted to was going into an apartment as the apartment manager and disposing of heroin at an overdose scene," Antrim County Prosecutor James Rossiter said Thursday. "This was done before the police were called."

Harp did not return a call seeking comment Friday.

Bach declined comment on the charges, stating MSHDA has no day-to-day role in on-site property management but said the agency had faith PK Development would take appropriate action.

Potterpin said he was made aware of the charges only recently and if true, were a violation of company policies.

Illegal drug use is not allowed on the property or by company employees, he said.

"I'll be taking the appropriate action," Potterpin said, meaning possible termination of Harp from company employment, pending sentencing, which is scheduled for Feb. 14 in 13th Circuit Court.

Rossiter said he understands why tenants might be concerned, and urged anyone suspecting that illegal drugs are being sold or used, to contact law enforcement.

"Let someone know, put it on somebody's radar," Rossiter said. "You can call without identifying yourself. Staying silent is like giving tacit approval."

Harm Reduction Michigan, a statewide nonprofit organization, is a resource offering information on health care, changes in drug treatment, mental health and social services on their website.

Stress on familiesA number of tenants who spoke with the Record-Eagle are single and live alone or with their pets, but families with school-age children live at Village Apartments, too.

Like Kelly Watkins, who for three years has lived with her two sons in a ground floor apartment.

"I can't take the stress or the disfunction and violations from management anymore," Watkins said. "It's terrible. Plus, workers just walk in without even knocking at all. A light bulb shattered outside, they didn't clean it up and my son cut his foot. I-I just have to leave."

Watkins said she'll be okay — she has a friend with a place to rent she can move into on short notice.

Other tenants might not be so lucky.

Mary Pecar, who has lived in her apartment for a decade and has become an organizing force among her neighbors, said because of poor workmanship by laborers hired to do the rehab, she's now in a tight spot.

Pecar's rent assistance comes from MSHDA, which sent an inspector to her apartment, found it wanting and served PK Development with abatement notices, one Nov. 29 and a second one month later.

Meaning, the agency isn't paying their portion of Pecar's rent until the shower is installed properly, a broken light cover is replaced, the medicine cabinet is attached to the wall and a dozen other deficiencies from the rehab are fixed.

Pecar, who has continued to pay her portion of the rent, said she agrees with the fixes yet fears the worst.

"If I get evicted, I've got 60 days to find someplace else," Pecar said. "There is no place else. Where am I supposed to go?"

Affordable housing in the region is scare, funded by an often-inefficient patchwork of state and federal programs, which can have a long waitlist — people may qualify for help with rent, advocates say, but that doesn't mean there's availability.

A 10-county survey of employers and workers conducted last summer by Housing North, for example, found that a shortage of affordable housing, the competing demand from short-term rentals and lack of housing options were listed as the region's three biggest challenges.

Attention on "workforce housing" is needed, Pecar said, yet can be a loaded term for those, like Pecar, Lowery, Griffore and others, who did work but because of age, disability, mental health challenges or a combination, are not currently employed.

"Since honorably discharged in 1987, I have been a rollin' stone," Lowery said, in his handwritten statement. "Have not been anywhere for more than a couple years. Was only here for a few months before the Night-Maire began. In those months I'd become comfortable, in my, what was becoming, home."

___

(c)2022 The Record-Eagle (Traverse City, Mich.)

Visit The Record-Eagle (Traverse City, Mich.) at record-eagle.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.