- May 6, 2014
Fallen ceilings, pungent odors, and fungus growing in the hallways… These don’t exactly sound like sanitary conditions to live in, but sadly, they are the conditions that apartment dwellers in a Milwaukee complex are being forced to deal with. The owner of the building has a long history of violations at the properties he owns.
Community activist Tory Lowe said, “I’ve seen a lot of poor living conditions, but this is horrendous.” She said that the conditions at the 2710 West Juneau Avenue apartment building are the worst that she has ever seen.
“I thought, is this America? Is this something that’s going on in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,” she said.
The ceiling caved in in one of the units in the building. A plastic tarp and towels were placed over the floor and water dripped from the ceiling into a bucket.
The walls of the halls are covered in mold, too.
“When you walk in, you see fungus growing on the side of the walls, mushrooms coming out of the walls,” said Lowe.
Regine Gholson, a resident of the apartment building, said that she has been horrified by the conditions that she has experienced inside the building since she moved in.
“Every month, I tell them I need this done, I need that done. They say they’ll get it done, but it never gets done,” Gholson said. She also reported that there is fungus growing in the building; that it is all across the wall on the first floor. She also stated that there are rats and mice living in the building.
Elija Rashaed is listed as the owner of the building. He was also the owner of an apartment building located at 2405 West National when a balcony on the building collapsed, injured two people, and resulted in the building being condemned.
Lowe is pushing to have the same order put into place for the West Juneau Avenue building; she wants it condemned. Given the conditions inside the building, it’s easy to see why she would want that to happen.
A local news station spoke with the crew that was working on the building’s roof. While speaking with the crew, reporters saw that the mushrooms had been removed from the hallway.
The Department of Neighborhood Services told the news station that a city inspector is going to meet with the architect of the building. However, all of the action that is taking place now is too late for one tenant who resided at the apartment building. Lowe helped her move out of her unit and she says that she hopes that the person isn’t homeless now.
Reporters from the news station also visited two other addresses that are listed to the property owner, but they did not receive any response.
Mold Inspection & Testing Milwaukee has performed countless mold assessments throughout the city. We urge Elijah Rashaed to arrange for regular mold testing in the apartment building after remediation is complete to ensure that it is safe for residents to live there. To speak with an MI&T representative, call 414.939.5969.
