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Background
• Seaview Lofts is a privately owned market rate, 15 story, 150-unit apartment building. The
building was constructed in the early-1970’s, and as such is not equipped with a sprinkler
system. In Feb. 2020, the building was purchased by Seaview Lofts LLC.
• March 10, 2022 - inspection found three (3) significant building deficiencies:
a boiler problem caused the building to have no heat
egress doors were not functional
Elevator Car 2 was shut down due to an equipment failure
• April 11, 2022 - the City received complaints from tenants that both elevators were broken
which meant some ambulatory residents could not travel the stairways and the height of
the building made emergency rescue operations exceedingly more difficult. Due to the
severity of the situation a fire watch was ordered to safeguard against the risk of fire.
• April 18, 2022 - The City petitioned the Circuit Court for an emergency mandatory
injunction requiring that Seaview LLC complete the cited repairs by April 24, 2022.
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Background
• Following the April 18th court hearing, Fire Marshal’s Office (FMO) and Codes Compliance returned to
Seaview Lofts to evaluate the Seaview Mgmt.’s relocation efforts of the residents and review repair
progress. FMO/Codes Compliance found the HVAC boiler in dire disrepair, electrical hazards in
equipment rooms, a boiler issue that caused a major leak and problems with the building’s fire
alarm system. FMO locked out the boiler to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning and explosion.
Citations were issued for the additional hazards.
• April 19, 2022 - City officials appeared in Circuit Court for a second hearing to obtain a second
emergency mandatory injunction for the above hazards.
• Over the next two months, City staff would learn that Seaview on-site management did not have the
capacity to address the problems they faced. Examples include (a) the on-site manager did not have
significant purchase authority, (b) no appropriately licensed repair staff employed and (c) several area
contractors were unwilling to work at Seaview. As a result, conditions continued to devolve to an
unacceptable level.
• Over the next two months no significant progress was made to address the hazardous conditions cited
and conditions actually worsened. On June 28, 2022 the Court ordered the building condemned within
48 hours due to the following:
Boiler hazards
Fire alarm system, emergency egress and lighting
Elevators out of service
HVAC chiller
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