Comments about Poorly Maintained Apartments in Riverside

[riverside planner]

Not to be snarky, but I really wish that Steve would put a little more effort into the maintenance and tenant screening of his many rental properties in Riverside before expanding the restaurant (Kickbacks).  Subjecting homeowners who have invested heavily in their homes and the neighborhood to poorly maintained apartment buildings filled with tenants of even poorer quality is in my opinion much worse than long ticket times.  I'm just saying.

[ben says]

This has nothing to do w/ Steve or Kickback's, but in general, Riverside has tons of lost potential with regard to the many apartment complexes in the neighborhood.

Riverside is one of the only, if only places where I've seen "named/themed" apartment buildings. The Celena, The Lucerne, The Fenimore, The Charron, etc etc....

Every night I walk, I'm consistently amazed at how 'cool' that aspect of the neighborhood is.

That being said, it seems like 90% of them are complete dumps! The Lucerne on the corner of Park/Copeland is the 'nicest' one I've seen yet, as far as upkeep goes....

Can you imagine the potential of this area if people/owners cleaned these places up?!? It drives me insane....

One of the most unique aspects of a neighborhood, something that could drive growth and historic preservation, right down the toilet...

[riverside planner]

Exactly!  I'm normally not one to call out someone in a forum such as this, however, reading about the expansion plans of a business knowing what I do about the owner's other ventures drive me to call him out.  The mixture of small apartment buildings and single-family homes on a block is such a unique feature of our neighborhood and it pains me to see so many in disarray.  Imagine living next to one of the eyesores!  We've spoken to the owner countless times over the years about the state of his building and the revolving door of scumbag tenants, but to no avail.  There have been a couple of good tenants over the years, but they never stick around long.  I applaud the success of Kickbacks, however, the residential aspects of Riverside are at least as important.

[Dog Walker]

The rental houses are even worse, especially the older big houses that have been sub-divided.  

There are several really nice, older apartment buildings like the Lucerne in the area.  Corner of College and Osceola (?) is one.  St. Francis on the corner of Barrs and Oak is another that was converted to condos many years ago.

No one should be afraid to use the City's online complaint system to report code violations or public safety issues.  Bottom of the page at coj.net click complaints.  You can even do it anonymously so that you don't get any kickback.  Code Enforcement is very responsive to the online tickets.

[Captain Zissou]

I hope they don't clean them up so I can buy one on the cheap

The neighborhood would really benefit from some better upkeep.  A few of the 2 story red brick buildings are in horrible disrepair.  I think the regional notoriety of the neighborhood would increase greatly if we just cleaned it up!

[Dog Walker]

+1

And thanks to the historic district zoning overlay we can't get to "gentrified" and have rents sky-rocket.

[riverside planner]

No one should be afraid to use the City's online complaint system to report code violations or public safety issues.  Bottom of the page at coj.net click complaints.  You can even do it anonymously so that you don't get any kickback.  Code Enforcement is very responsive to the online tickets.

Yes, code enforcement does a very good job.  I have made calls many times and action has been taken.  Some property owners just don't get the hint!  

[ben says]

I think in most of the cases (with the themed/named apartment buildings), it's less 'code violation' and more 'owners too lazy/disinterested to keep up with appearances'.....

I mean, think about it...has anyone ever seen this kind of apartment set up in any other city/area but Riverside Jax?! Anyone I bring in town from Charleston/NY/Boston is amazing at how cool that is....

Anyone know where this originated? Outside of knowing that The Fenimore is named after the author (who was popular at the time), I can't seem to find any information on it...

[ben says]

Also, anybody know what's up w/ those 2 condemned houses on Park between Copeland and Osceola?

[north miami]

I had an apartment in a widely admired,really complex complex that I really cherished.

Finally moved to the rural fringe of Avondale,and when the landowner learned of my intent to leave she offered to sell the building to me,however by that time I had become familiar with the property condition,looming maintenance needs.It would have been easy to proceed with the transaction,in retrospect glad it did not happen.

Can't help but notice a seemingly spreading general state of entropy scattered throughout,even on a statewide basis.

[danem]

I'm curious, how fixable are these properties? Do they just need desire and resources?

[mtraininjax]

You can even do it anonymously so that you don't get any kickback.  Code Enforcement is very responsive to the online tickets.

Cannot do it anonymously. You may think you can, but you get tracked just the same using the IP address. Best to come clean, put it in as you would as a business owner or resident. Once you hit submit it is a public record though and anyone can search on the ticket. If the City cannot find who put it in, they cannot call and confirm and thus has no record of the ticket. Let's not give the city any reasons to be less efficient than they already are.

[Jumpinjack]

Just saw a presentation at the TPO which pointed out that our new working population will be seeking apartments in highly urbanized areas where less use of cars and shorter commute times are possible. Home ownership is not appealing anymore. Any smart apartment owner should be getting his property ready now.

[mtraininjax]

Any smart apartment owner should be getting his property ready now.

Yeah sure....I guess. Have you looked at the purchase and sale values of multi-family properties since 2007? They have taken the same swan dive that all of real estate has taken. So people lose their homes, move in with other family members in SFH, so you get 2-3 families living in a SFH or apartment to cut down on costs and share expenses. Meanwhile the people who own the Multi-family cannot find new tenants to backfill the old tenants leaving, their properties are depressed from the short-sales and foreclosures and their property values are 25-50% of their value when they bought during the boom years. Of course, you could be battling the big guys down the street who are offering 2-3 months FREE rent, when you cannot afford to offer the same thing because your pockets are not as deep.

Take a look at the for rent signs, they are everywhere, property owners are hurting because we have 11% unemployment and its really hurting every phase of our economy.

[Debbie Thompson]

Just remember, as we have found out to our everlasting dismay in Springfield, once the house in in the "Care" system, and code enforcement has a case file, it could be on the road to rolling fines and eventual demolition.

I don't know if RAP would be willing to contact the owner first instead of involving the City, but you may want to take that route first.