Altoona Department of Codes and Inspections condemns Broad Avenue apartment building
Rented U-Haul vans that are parked in two lines in front of a nine-unit apartment building on the 2200 block of Broad Avenue across from the front of the Jaffa Shrine Center. Mirror photo by William Kibler
A resident removes belongings from an apartment building on the 2200 block of Broad Avenue. Mirror photo by William Kibler
Rented U-Haul vans that are parked in two lines in front of a nine-unit apartment building on the 2200 block of Broad Avenue across from the front of the Jaffa Shrine Center. Mirror photo by William Kibler
A resident removes belongings from an apartment building on the 2200 block of Broad Avenue. Mirror photo by William Kibler
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The city Department of Codes and Inspections this week condemned a nine-unit apartment building on the 2200 block of Broad Avenue across from the front of the Jaffa Shrine Center for "observed structural deficiencies," according to department Director Rebecca Brown.
Building residents and people they recruited to help them were scrambling Thursday morning to get their belongings out and into rented U-Haul vans that were parked in two lines out front.
Evidence of the problem that led to condemnation has included a couple of tan stones falling off the structure's facade and a couple of bricks falling off its side -- as well as a small tree growing at the front edge of the roof, according to resident Carol Adams, who was among those moving items out of the building Thursday.
The city has reached out to the owner and the owner's property manager and to social service agencies, which have all been cooperative, according to Brown.
"(W)e understand the impact this action has on the occupants," Brown said in a prepared statement. "(But) our priority is to ensure the safety of the residents, neighboring properties and the general public."
This week, all the residents got notices taped on their doors that they had to be out by Friday, Adams said.
The next day, a code official came and posted notices that included an order with the requirement to leave by Thursday.
On Thursday, a structural engineer was slated to come to the building to determine whether it was safe enough to permit the residents to get all their belongings out, Adams said.
Landlord ALT Realty Group has returned renters' security deposits and a share of July's rent proportional to the percentage of the month during which they won't be staying there, Adams said.
For Adams, that meant $675 for the deposit and $387 for the pro-rated share of rent.
She isn't satisfied with those amounts or with the requirement to leave quickly, she said.
"This is totally unfair," she said. "Everybody is stressed out and rushing."
Adams has three children: 14, 9 and 1.
Her expenses have included renting a truck and renting a storage unit.
She and her fiance will be staying with a friend until they can get enough assistance to stay in a hotel, she said.
Resident Betty Helsel moved into the building June 1.
She plans to put her stuff in storage and move in with her stepfather until a hotel may become available.
"A lot of people have nowhere to go," Helsel said.
Adams is hoping for more agency assistance.
The Center for Community Action has made serving the residents a priority, she said.
All the residents who've come forward have been screened by Community Action, according to agency Executive Director Wendy Melius.
Community Action will be trying in the short term to get them into hotels and in the longer term into stable housing, she said.
"We'll work together and try to figure it out," she said.
Another agency may be a potential source of help in getting assistance for hotels, according to Adams.
Seven of the nine units in the building were occupied, Adams said.
She doesn't intend to clean when she exits the apartment complex, she said.
"What is the sense of me being a responsible person to clean," she asked rhetorically.
She has lived in the building for about nine months.
The Mirror left several voicemails with ATL Realty Group.