There's plenty of trouble at five of the buildings of Plaza Square. Hope this starts to straighten things out:



http://www.mayorslay.com/desk/display.asp?deskID=753

Note, it's my understanding that the police get a lot of calls from these buildings. I think a fair amount of drug activity and other crime. Check out the wonderful ratings Plaza Square receives: http://www.apartmentratings.com/rate/MO ... ments.html



Unfortunately, this adds to the issues that already exist around Lucas Park. Good to see the city working the issue. Will be even better to see results.

Is this the complex that has the Blu condo conversions?

^ Looking at Google Maps, they do appear to be on the same block.

Yes, it is the same complex. Blu is obviously now separate and not suffering from the same management problems.

MattnSTL wrote:Yes, it is the same complex. Blu is obviously now separate and not suffering from the same management problems.

Could be nice to turn those into condos or keep as apartments, but with a new owner.

Plaza Square is a mess. I witnessed 2 people fighting and wrestling on the sidewalk last night outside one of the buildings and then police arrived on the scene. If you havent driven by in the morning it is a big bum convention outside the one church.

^ Yes, hopefully Blu is very successful and more buildings are converted.

I think this Plaza Square revelation brings to light a big problem that goes unnoticed. The problem is with residential property that isn't owner-occupied and other property types owned by absentee owners.

Latest developments at Plaza Square:



<a href="http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/s ... >Elevators to be fixed by the city</a>



It sounds like the current owner has no interest in paying for anything - the sooner the buildings are out of Mr. Shaikh's control the better for the whole neighborhood. Nice to see the mayor getting personally involved in this.

Bastiat wrote:


That is ridiculous. The city should not be paying for upkeep of others property. If the owner refuses to fix things, then the residents can break their lease or sue him. When the city reacts like this, the owner becomes immune to pressures for fixing things. I hope he gets sued.



Hopefully the rest of these buildings are converted to more upscale condos.

The owner isn't immune: as the article points out, the city attorney will place a lien against the building for the cost of the repairs if payment isn't forthcoming. It's no different from the approach used in many municipalities in St. Louis County to deal with property owners who fail to keep their buildings up to code.



As for the tenants simply breaking their leases without a court ruling in their favor, that would leave them open to potentially expensive legal action - a favorite tactic by unscrupulous landlords in such situations. Then there's the often overlooked difficulty of finding another landlord willing to rent to someone who has broken a lease elsewhere, regardless of cause.



In this case, the city is acting to safeguard the physical wellbeing of the tenants, some of whom are elderly and/or essentially confined to their apartments as long as the elevators are inoperative. If they were to wait for the situation to be resolved through private lawsuits, lives could continue to be at risk for months or even years.



Edited for update: It seems that there may be a lawsuit pending, with the tenants paying their rent into an escrow account until the repairs are completed:



http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.a ... yid=125483

^Nicely summed up.

PLAZA SQUARE APARTMENTS LISTED ON NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES



July 31, 2007



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For further information: Carolyn Hewes Toft or Michael Allen, 314.421.6474



The Plaza Square Apartments Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on July 12, 2007. Located between 15th, Olive, 17th and Chestnut Streets in downtown St. Louis, the district includes St. John the Apostle & Evangelist Catholic Church from 1860 and Centenary Methodist Church from 1870 as well as the signature high-rise apartments completed in 1961. The Plaza Square apartment complex, the cornerstone accomplishment of the city's first Urban Renewal project, was designed by the newly formed Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum architectural firm in collaboration with Harris Armstrong--an acclaimed leader of the Modern Movement in the Midwest. Evenly divided into two different configurations with a total of 1,090 apartments, the six buildings utilized native limestone, brick, concrete and colorful enameled metal panels (most now painted tan) to create a sleek contemporary aesthetic enhanced by balconies, landscaped grounds and underground parking.



Although the "skyscraper home in a garden" initially attracted urbanites of all ages, Plaza Square soon experienced increasing vacancy rates. In 1965, Building # 60 at the southeast corner of 17th and Olive Streets was sold to Bethesda General Hospital which converted it into the Town House

retirement community. Now dubbed BLU CitySpaces by a new owner, Building#60 is being converted to condominiums utilizing historic rehab tax

credits. Thanks to the National Register nomination prepared by Landmarks Association for that developer, the other five buildings (which have been subjected to repeated foreclosures) are also prime candidates for reinvestment.



# # # # #

There is an idea here for tenant action. Each and every tenant should be informed of their right to file a dispute against the landlord. The civil money penalty against the landlord could be very significant for each tenant.

Looks like things are getting worse.



http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/s ... enDocument

Plaza Square must relocate tenants

By Jake Wagman

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

08/09/2007



A judge has ordered the owner of Plaza Square to offer relocation to about two dozen residents because more elevators have failed state inspections.



St. Louis Circuit Court Judge John Garvey issued the order this morning. The order requires management to offer to move 23 elderly or disabled tenants to a downtown hotel at the company's expense.



continues...

Think the owner will still be able to flip the complex for a profit?

I wish the city could take the complex by eminent domain and turn it over the people doing the Blu building.

Hopefully this turns out to be a good thing.

Downtown2007 wrote:Hopefully this turns out to be a good thing.

i stay here and and still no elevaters. i have severe asthma and others with bigger health probloms. the manager and owner at the end gets all they want but us resedent have to deal with this.i was going down from 12 and cme accross 2 elderly women that was caring bags an helped them out. on the way down we came accrss an elderly woman going up with groceries, the a firefighter was comin down and we asked if he could help her and he said "that is not my job and all of you are a liabilaty and just need to move out of here". so the questions we ask is if the firefighters are here to help but do not then why are hey here but most important, who is paying for them to sit around an talk on there phones, read the papper or go to room 308 in buld. 30 in the ac and chill, while others are wthout an ac and repares need to be made that are life treating.(mold in the appartments from water damage,laundry rooms have live power cords in water, plaster and ceiling tiles falling),

Although we sympathize with your plight, the job description of a fireman doesn't include grocery delivery. The city has been in the news, applying leverage to the owner to improve living conditions. If the conditions are as bad as they seem, it might be a good idea to look for a better place to live.

It certainly would have been nice to have the fireman lend a hand. A lot of the most important work of firemen, policemen and other public empoyees isn't in their job description, the best do these things anyway.



I hope that you will continue working to improve your building. It's good that it's been in the news and the situation seems to have the attention of the city. Hang in there - things are on their way to getting better. Be sure to call your alderperson, the mayor, whomever when you observe a problem. It takes time, but persistence will pay off.

Hope and "hanging in there" never accomplished a damn thing. They will be better off being proactive and finding a new place. Money talks, bullsh*t walks. If renters speak with their wallets and leave, the owner would be forced to take action.

a lot of resedents have been here for 20+ years so why should we have to move?to make room for condos and lofts? i read the report, saint louis is over saturated withe condos/lofts. saint louis has more condos/lofts than there are perarsons seeking to buy into on.true a fire fighter job is not to carry up groceries, but there are medics and at a cost of 13 thousand a day to have them here why did a 52 year old man have to call for an ambulance because he fell down one flight and broke his ankle and dislocated his knee and cracked a rib . the firefighters (lazy free loaders as we call them ) . did not do anything and refused to even call an ambulance. to respond about the mayor getting involved, he showed up on tv but word from his office is he will not keep his word on what he said, so we at plaza square have all aggred that we will not vote for slay and we have all aggred that whom ever that runs against him WE WILL VOTE FOR THAT PERSON.. we maynot be able to afford 100+thosand dollers for a place but we can and will come up with about 4 thousand to go towards canadite that go agains slay. sorry to say, even if that mean it goes to a rep. slay has the same chance to win a reallection as bush has walking down bagdads main street without protection.

reddragon wrote:a lot of resedents have been here for 20+ years so why should we have to move?to make room for condos and lofts? i read the report, saint louis is over saturated withe condos/lofts. saint louis has more condos/lofts than there are perarsons seeking to buy into on.true a fire fighter job is not to carry up groceries, but there are medics and at a cost of 13 thousand a day to have them here why did a 52 year old man have to call for an ambulance because he fell down one flight and broke his ankle and dislocated his knee and cracked a rib . the firefighters (lazy free loaders as we call them ) . did not do anything and refused to even call an ambulance. to respond about the mayor getting involved, he showed up on tv but word from his office is he will not keep his word on what he said, so we at plaza square have all aggred that we will not vote for slay and we have all aggred that whom ever that runs against him WE WILL VOTE FOR THAT PERSON.. we maynot be able to afford 100+thosand dollers for a place but we can and will come up with about 4 thousand to go towards canadite that go agains slay. sorry to say, even if that mean it goes to a rep. slay has the same chance to win a reallection as bush has walking down bagdads main street without protection.

I am disappointed that you claim all the residents at Plaza Square are not for Mayor Slay. I am also a resident and will look forward to voting for Mayor Slay should he run for office. As for the Fireman, they are here to cut the response time if help is needed and they are not here to be porters. You should place the blame for these problems where it belongs and the problem is the landlord. maybe they should carry your groceries up the stairs. If they really cared, they would lend a helping hand. They haven't even so much as offered an apology. I think if you took a poll of the tenants you may find your opinion to be in the miniority.