Creekside violations were cited before call that led to building condemnation

ROCHESTER — The recently condemned Creekside Apartments building didn’t have a valid rental certificate when city officials ruled that it was unsafe and ordered that it be vacated.

“It’s been expired since 2021,” Taryn Edens, manager of Rochester’s Housing and Neighborhood Services, said of the rental certificate for the 24-unit building at 1455 Marion Road SE.

All rentals are required to renew their certificates every two years, which comes with a required inspection.

The last full routine inspection on the building at 1455 Marion Road SE was conducted in 2019, according to Edens, adding that another was required in March of 2021, but records show the property owner was notified of a missed appointment for the inspection and fined.

A limited complaint-driven inspection was conducted on Dec. 16, 2022, and several violations were documented, including the lack of secure entry doors, needed repairs to hallway ceilings and a lack of sanitary conditions.

“There seems to be individuals entering the buildings and sleeping in the hallways,” the Dec. 16, 2022, violation notice states. “It is advised that the entry doors to the buildings have some sort of locking mechanism.”

The building was slated to be reinspected on Jan. 24, 2023, but Edens said property management didn’t have enough staff to accompany the inspectors and all the required work had not been completed.

“Essentially, they explained it wasn’t a worthwhile time to do the inspection, as they hadn’t met our requirements yet,” she said.

Violations similar to the ones cited last year were listed in the March 22, 2023, condemnation notice, which said the building had non-operation door closers and inoperable locking mechanisms on exterior doors, along with various unsecured access points for non-tenants, numerous holes in hallway ceilings and unsanitary conditions.

Adding to the concerns were issues connected to a March 18 call to the Rochester Fire Department, which reported water was rushing into an apartment.

It was determined the unit had a broken water line and no direct water shut off was available, which led to water service being disconnected. It was also reportedly discovered that the building’s sprinkler line had been vandalized and copper pipes had been removed, which could have been done by nonresidents seeking to sell the copper.

The condemnation notice also points to missing smoke detectors, the need for fire extinguishers, and missing carbon monoxide detectors.

It wasn’t the first time the building’s owners were required to address fire-safety concerns. In January this year, the fire marshal mandated a temporary fire watch for the building due to a fire alarm issue.

“The building was unsecured, and it was speculated that unauthorized folks got into the building and damage was caused on the fire alarm system,” Edens said, saying the circumstances were similar to the latest issue.

She said the building is again on a fire watch while the owners work on repairing the system and the last families living in the building move out.

Condemnation doesn’t necessarily mark the building for demolition. Edens said the owners can make the needed repairs and be permitted to move people into the building after passing an inspection.

She said the owners appear to be making efforts to secure the building and address at least some of the city’s concerns, but it’s unclear how much is being done.

Randy Petersen / Post Bulletin

A representative of St. Paul-based BB Housing, which owns the building under the umbrella of Phoenix Development, declined to comment to the Post Bulletin when called Thursday about the status of the repairs.

Edens said several questions remain about how things will unfold related to the tenants displaced by the condemnation .

“This is very unprecedented for us,” she said. “To my knowledge or any of my long-standing staff’s knowledge, we have never had to condemn a multi-family building.”

The condemnation of the building led to general inspections of the other two Creekside buildings, but Eden said any violations found did not rise to the severity seen at 455 Marion Road SE.

Rental certificates on both buildings are listed on the city’s website as being expired since March 1, 2021.