BALTIMORE — Three historical apartments near Druid Hill Park fell into receivership in mid-2024, the Esplanade, Temple Gardens, and the Emersonian.
"The receivership is ultimately there to allow us to do the best thing possible to get these buildings into the hands of a person who will take care of not only the residents but the conditions and safety of the buildings overall," says Councilman James Torrence.
The problem is the previous owner of the three buildings, Roizman Development, defaulted on loan payments of up to $57 million for the buildings.
On top of that, people living there have experienced years of poor living conditions.
"There needs to be some changes because it can be hard sometimes," says Noah.
Noah, who is 22, says he's been living in the building since he was nine.
He says things were not always bad, but lately, conditions are worse.
"The elevators are old. They need to re-do the whole thing, but for the past two years, like I said, they have been acting weird lately, like shutting down for weeks at a time and stuff like that," says Noah, an Esplanade resident.
Shawn Owens lives in the Esplanade building with his 11-year-old son, he says although the building has a number of problems, he is just glad to provide a roof over his son's head.
"He [doesn't] wanna be moving nowhere and keep having to go from this place to this place and I don't blame him. I don't want it either. I hate to move," says Owens.
Councilman Torrence says the city and state have been doing all they can to try to improve the living conditions but without a clear owner, it is difficult.
"We also had some refugees who had issues with rats in their apartments as well as just basic sanitation issues in the apartment building. Even our fire department has had to step in to have repairs made to the front door because they were unable to get in right away to reach someone who was needing medical services," says Councilman Torrence.
But Torrence encourages people living in these apartment buildings to reach out to 311 if the living conditions become unbearable for them.
"We can come directly to your apartment and actually inspect. Case in point, we found a woman who had a case of black mold in her apartment and they had to remediate in a certain number of days," says Torrence.
Councilman Torrence also says although the apartments are some of the most affordable housing in the area it doesn't mean people should be dealing with unhealthy living conditions.
Roizman Development officials have yet to comment on the receivership or the firm's loan default.
Since the buildings are under receivership, it is up to the courts to choose the new owner of the properties, but as of now, there is no set time for when that will happen.
Allison Foster with the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, said the agency is working with the court under the receivership.
"The health and safety of all tenants in Maryland is a top priority of the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development. Upon identification of health and safety concerns at Renaissance Plaza, the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development engaged the Baltimore City Circuit Court to appoint a third-party receiver to take control of the projects from the owners. The receiver is responsible for the leasing and management of these properties. The Department directs further questions to the Receiver and owners."
