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Apartments evacuated, owners unaware of issues
Tenants at Milwaukee's SoHi apartments were evacuated after issues like broken stairs, a faulty elevator and rust led city officials to declare it unlivable. City officials said the building at 27th and Wells was built improperly.
MILWAUKEE - Tenants at Milwaukee's SoHi apartments were evacuated after issues like broken stairs, a faulty elevator and rust led city officials to declare it unlivable.
City officials said the building at 27th and Wells was built improperly.
On Tuesday, Sept. 12, a week after tenants were evacuated from 16 units, a Common Council committee met to demand answers. Principal of Brinshore Developments, LLC, Richard Sciortino, also showed up to the meeting Tuesday. He said they're working with the city to demolish and replace the stairs.
"We were just not aware these stairs were in this condition," said Richard Sciortino, Brinshore Development.
Tenants said taking the back steps meant possible injury.
"Some of the stairs, when you stepped on it, was kind of weak, and it really was dangerous," said Mattie Harris.
City inspectors deemed the building temporarily uninhabitable with only one working entrance. Fire code requires at least two. The 16 units were evacuated Wednesday, Sept. 6.
"It was improperly built from the get-go," said an official with the Department of Neighborhood Services. "It was the wrong structural elements to put outside, and what happens is, it further and further deteriorates."
Richard Sciortino
City leaders met with the DNS and Brinshore Development to talk about what went wrong.
"So we never thought it was in such a hazardous condition," said Sciortino. "If we had, we would have taken steps much earlier."
Building code violations dating back to March 2022 show a long history of overdue repairs, including a faulty elevator.
Brinshore Development said they are taking full responsibility.
Sohi Lofts
"We’re hoping to ask the city to allow us to demolish and replace the back stairs," said Sciortino.
"We put the resources in, and they fail, and we end up picking up the pieces 20 years later with these poor tenants out on the street, a developer with a financial problem in terms of this elevator issue," said Alderman Bob Bauman.
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Sohi Lofts
Tenants said all they want is to be back in their homes.
Brinshore Development said they planned to submit permit plans to the city Wednesday, Sept. 13 to repair the stairs, which must be approved. The project could take months.
In the meantime, the owners are paying for tenants to stay in a hotel. If they want to remain in a hotel until repairs are complete, Sciortino said the company will foot the bill or pay for relocation expenses to another property.