Last Update

It's been three months since this blog was updated after residents of Building A received notice to clear their balconies so demolition and reconstruction could begin that week.  To date, there has been no work done on those balconies, there have been no further notices distributed with information on when the work will begin, and attempts to find out on an individual basis have been unsuccessful. To note that calls are no longer returned is the kindest thing to say here about that.

In the fifteen months since the collapse of a landing on the back stairs, numerous long term residents have moved out as conditions here decline and I'm personally aware of four more apartments occupied by long term tenants who are actively looking for a place to move to.  The bottom line is that those who have the resources to do so are getting out and this is a property rapidly losing its base of long term residents.  

This will be the last entry for this blog.  As I've tried to make clear all along, I never wanted to do this in the first place.  (If you're just getting here, the quickest way to catch up is by reading the timeline in the entry HERE and the FAQs about this website HERE.)  I think the thing I hate the most about living here is that Urban Housing Solutions' most usual response to problems on this property historically has been to scapegoat as unreliable or worse anyone who asks for problems to be addressed.  That's not a good thing to say about anyone but is especially contemptible for a not-for-profit whose public mission is to serve those least able to help themselves, as people are forced into a position in which they must put up with conditions or be labeled a trouble maker. There will be much more to say in another forum after I'm safely moved myself, but to continue posting here is to participate in the charade of pretending UHS is operating in good faith when the preponderance of evidence makes it clear they are not. 

(Debris remaining from when the Building B balconies were torn down earlier this year.  Photo shot in October, but the debris is still there today.)

Retaliation: A landlord must not terminate, refuse to renew a lease, or fine a tenant for complaining to the landlord regarding the deposit, complaining to a government agency, or exercising a legal right. (Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-51 and  § 66-11-105)

One Year Later - A Timeline

It's been a year since a landing on the back stairs for Building A collapsed on September 29, 2013. Here is a timeline of what's transpired relative to that event since then.

BACKGROUND:  In 2012, at least one resident at Greentree (this writer) fell on the back stairs when a step wasn't stable and it moved under their weight as they descended. In April 2013, a television crashed to the ground when movers attempting to go down the back stairs lost their balance as they stepped onto another unstable stair that moved under their weight.  Also in 2013, at least one resident fell on the side stairs, again due to the instability of a step.  Numerous residents report complaining and wondering when the stairs will be repaired, and in early June 2013, some of them approached Neighbor 2 Neighbor to discuss what could be done, as simply calling the UHS office to request maintenance wasn't getting the stairs fixed. 

(April 13, 2013, TV that fell when faulty stair moved under weight of people descending.)

June 14 - 20, 2013 - Video and photos were shot documenting some of the problems with stairs and ramp access to the buildings and posted to this blog.  The GALLERY page here has those photos and video footage.

June 26, 2013 - Neighbor2NeighborGT emailed a link to the video and photos posted here documenting the problems with the stairs and ramp to the Regional Property Manager at Urban Housing Solutions.  An email response on the same day assured the issues would be addressed.

July 7, 2013 - We documented with video and photos new boards being in place for the ramp in front of building and a new railing on the back stairs.  That post was  here.

September 29, 2013 - A landing on the back stairs of Building A collapsed.  Photos of that can be seen here.

September 30, 2013 - NewsChannel5 sent a team out to do a story about the collapse and efforts to get repairs. You can see that report here.

October 1, 2013 - Metro Nashville's office for building codes enforcement came out to inspect and initially posts the buildings as unsafe.  However, by October 4, 2013, we had contacted our Metro councilman (Tony Tenpenny) and been assured that the codes department would work with the construction people and UHS to assure repairs could take place without displacing tenants.  The post here documents the first week after the collapse.

October 2, 2013 - UHS sent Greentree residents a memo advising to "not overcrowd" the balconies, but no plan was announced for their replacement.

October 13, 2013 - Temporary stairs to be used for emergency purposes are in place for both Buildings A and B, as documented in photos here.

December 18, 2013 - No work was done between October 17 and December 18, as documented in the blog entry here, but a permit for construction goes up and work begins on new stairs on this date.

January 22, 2014 - Four months after the collapsed landing, new back stairs for Building A and side stairs for Building B are constructed and being used, as seen here.

April 9, 2014 - No work was done during February and March, but began again on April 9th to tear down and replace the front landing that connects the two buildings and the front stairs, as seen here.

April 20, 2014 - The new stairs and landing for the front were in place.

August 4, 2014 - No work was done during May, June, and July, but work began August 4 to replace the balconies, which had been found faulty after the landing collapse.  Permit posted, work began, as documented here.

September 29, 2014 - Work to tear down and build replacement balconies for Building B (there were 12 to be done) appears to be complete, as several are being used now by tenants.  It was eight weeks from the time the first two were torn down.

Also, residents in Building A received notice today that work is to begin on balconies for their building. Since the memo mentions inconvenience, we're hoping that means that the next round of people impacted won't have to endure the delays those in Building B did, with some of them living in airless apartments for two months while work was being done.  Someone I know from the Gulf area likes to say "I've seen whole casinos go up quicker than this."

Photos below taken today of newly completed balconies for Building B, back and front.

Progress Made on Balconies

There has been some progress made in tearing down and replacing balconies at Greentree.  The photo below was shot on September 5th of the two balconies (of 42 to be done) that had been torn down on a month earlier, on August 4th.

Photos below were shot on September 8th.  The first two are of the back of Building B and show that four more balconies have been removed.  The last photo shows that some work has begun for balconies on the front side of that building.

Photos below were shot on September 9th at the end of the day, showing that the balconies on the back of Building B are now almost all down; there were eight there to be removed. The third photo shows the progress made so far on the two torn down on August 4th. The last photo shows that removal of one of the balconies on the front of the building has begun.

At this rate, it shouldn't take more than a year or two for the job to be completed.

Work on Balconies Started

This blog has not been updated in four months because I was trying to wait until I could get a definitive answer from someone at Urban Housing Solutions about what was going to happen with the balconies here. The last official word about the balconies from management at that time had been a brief memo sent to us advising to not "overcrowd" them (photo of memo in April 21, 2014 entry on this blog).

I still do not have answers (and I refuse to ask even one more person one more time), but there has been work done, so this entry will document what's transpired on the property with the balconies to date.

On August 4, residents of Building B received the following memo, advising that work would begin to tear down and replace their balconies.

By noon on the 4th of August, the concrete flooring of the two balconies had been torn down.

Photo below shot on August 9th.

Sometime between August 9th and the 13th, when the two photos below were shot, permits for demolition and construction were taped to the (left) bottom glass door pictured.

The above photo gives a good look at the remnants of thin plywood that had been attached and then painted black about two years ago to cosmetically cover structural problems with the balconies.

It's not clear from these two permits exactly what work is to be done (there are dozens of balconies here) or what the time frame for the work is.  In any event, the two balconies that came down on August 4th are the only two down as of today and it appears no progress has been made to begin constructing the new ones.  In the meantime, two and a half weeks since the doors were made inoperable, people in the involved apartments have only one door out of their apartments and the other one is dead bolted so it cannot be used.  It also means there is only one small window to open for any ventilation whatsoever.

Photos below taken August 21.

I am no longer actively trying to find out what's going on with the balconies.  If someone knows and wants to advise, please do, but I'm just not chasing the wind anymore on this mess.  I will continue to update this blog, as I said I would, until the work is finished, but considering the flow of information, updating may be slow.

While I'm here, however, I'll also leave one more picture, this one of one of the steps from one of the new stairways recently built.  You can see where the wood is splitting; I don't remember whether this step is in the front or back, but I've seen at least one in this shape in both staircases.  I have not looked at the side stairs.

Front Stairs and Landing

After the new back stairs were completed at the end of January, no new construction work was done on the property here for over two months.  Then on April 8, I noticed a guy on the property who had identified himself to me on October 1st of last year as being from the codes division of Metro and I wondered if construction might be about to resume.

I didn't have to wonder too long, because when I attempted to leave the building via the front entrance late morning the following day, I found the exit blocked by chairs that used to be sitting on the landing that connects buildings A and B and a new sign announcing the area as a construction zone.

Walking back down the hall and around the building to the front revealed that work had begun out front.  By about 11:30 a.m. on the 9th of April, the connecting landing was down.

Photos below were shot April 10th through April 16th.

By April 20th, construction was far enough along that the chairs of those who like to loiter with their cups on the connecting landing between buildings A and B were back in place and it appears this part of the project may be nearing completion.

No word yet on construction or repairs to the balconies at Greentree.  Most of the apartments here have balconies constructed of the same materials and at the same time as the landing that collapsed seven months ago.  UHS sent Greentree residents a memo on October 2, 2013 advising caution with the balconies, but there has been no clarification of what it means to "overcrowd" them or if repairs are going to be made or not.

Back Stairs Available

As of today, the new back stairs of Building A are still posted for emergency use only, but are no longer boarded up and people are using them.

Photos below taken on January 20th.

Below, new side stairs, Building B, also still posted for emergency use but available and being used.

Side Stairs Available

There's been a lot of activity since the last post, with a crew working even New Year's Day and this weekend.  As of today, Building B side stairs are no longer locked and boarded.  This means that even though the stairs are not officially completed and they're still posted for emergency use only, they could be used by those people living in the eight apartments on the top floor of that building if they needed to.

Photos shot January 5, 2014

 Side of Building B

 Back of building A

Photos shot January 4, 2014