MILWAUKEE — One of the owners of the recently evacuated SoHi Lofts says repairs may keep tenants out of the building for months.
"This is a real black eye for us. Nothing like this has ever happened to us. We pride ourselves on our reputation. We're embarrassed by what's happened," said Richard Sciortino, principal owner of Brinshore Development.
Last week, the Department of Neighborhood Services (DNS) evacuated 16 families from the SoHi Lofts at 26th and Wells. According to the emergency order, the building was "unfit for human habitation." They cited the lack of a second exit after the property manager sealed off a rear stair exit that was unstable.
At a City committee meeting Tuesday, DNS Division Manager Jumaane Cheatham said over the last two years, DNS issued a number of repair orders and some were made, in addition to the payment of fines.
But, Cheatham said, a permanent fix never came. And after issuing an emergency repair order on Sept. 1, he said DNS made the decision to evacuate last Wednesday after never hearing back from an owner.
"We talked to them on and off throughout the entirety of the process, but did they make a formal appeal and or give us some sort of plan or solution as to what would happen ... so the residents would not be displaced? No. That did not happen," said Cheatham.
Sciortino, with Brinshore Development, said owners had been making repairs and seeking funding for a bigger fix, but loan requests from the City, WEDA were denied. He said Brinshore's been waiting for months to hear back from LISC about a loan.
Up until the evacuation, he said, Brinshore didn't know about the dire state of the stairs and never received an inspection report the area was "hazardous."
"Forget about the LISC loan at this point," said Sciortino, at the meeting. "It has gotten to a point now that it's beyond that. And we are prepared now to tear down the rear part of the building, whatever it costs."
DNS said it looks like a full replacement of rear porches and stair system is necessary. Sciortino said that's the plan unless another temporary repair can be made to get the tenants back in sooner than the roughly two months it's estimated to build new stairs.
Tenants have also complained, as documented by DNS, that the rear external elevator — now also inaccessible — hasn't worked for years.
Sciortino said they'd like to avoid replacing it, explaining that replacing an external elevator that rarely worked — before Brinshore was an owner — would be "throwing good money after bad."
He said they could consider an accessibility lift in addition to the new stairs, or help current SoHi tenants into other Brinshore properties that have elevators. A decision not to replace the elevator would require approval by the state because the building is three stories or higher.
As far as the tenants, Sciortino said Brinshore will cover all costs during this interim period — including hotel and transportation, among others — until they're able to return to SoHi, choose to break their lease or want to consider the option of moving into another Brinshore property.
Brinshore said they expect to submit plans for a building permit to the City this week in order to make repairs.
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