Residents at a 410-unit Detroit riverfront high-rise where the air conditioning is out amid a crippling heat wave were told to find somewhere else to stay Wednesday and Thursday and sent off with a list of cooling centers.
The Free Press and Outlier Media caught the exodus from Jeffersonian Houze, where management company Hayman declined to say when the air conditioning system would be repaired or give residents money to seek alternative shelter. The company did promise a $400 rent concession.
Angel Marino, 39, is among a number of residents struggling to find last-minute accommodations to stave off the heat. ... she doubts she’ll have enough money to cover a night at a hotel.
“If I could leave this place and just go to a shelter with my kids and never come back, I would,” said Marino, who has lived in the building for three years with her three children, ages 12, 8 and 7. “It’s not about the heat wave, this place has been hell on our lives.”
Tenants pay $999 to $2,899 in rent, but say the building has fallen into disrepair and the AC has been inoperable for years. Marino tells Outlier about bug infestations, broken elevators and neglected service requests to a management representative.
The 30-floor building, owned by by West-Bloomfield based investment firm Barbat Holdings and Southfield commercial real estate firm Ari-El Enterprises, was further set back by the pandemic. Jeffersonian Houze was auctioned to Fannie Mae in March following a foreclosure, and is currently in a six-month redemption period.
Last year, owner Barbat was accused by another firm of mismanagement, self-dealing and accounting and financial reporting failures in a complaint in Wayne County Circuit Court. The company told the Free Press it hasn't been involved in operating the building since.
