Russell Industrial Center owner Dennis Kefallinos is no stranger to building-code violations.
More than 50 current and former loft tenants claim in a long-running lawsuit that Kefallinos rented out unsafe apartments that had never passed city inspection.
This week, Kefallinos was ordered to close the sprawling Russell Industrial Center at 1600 Clay in Detroit after city building inspectors said he had failed to fix numerous safety violations. The abrupt notice from the city had tenants scrambling for new spaces and hoping Kefallinos could work something out with the city.
In the lofts lawsuit filed in Wayne County Circuit Court in 2014, current and former tenants claim Kefallinos and his companies, Boydell Development and Ivory Properties, rented out apartments in places like Greektown Lofts, Brooklyn Lofts in Corktown, Grand Lofts near Mexicantown and the River Park Lofts off the Detroit River without ever receiving certificates of occupancy from the city.
The tenants "have been unfairly deceived into leasing ... unsafe and uncertified properties and paying rent they had no legal obligation to pay," the lawsuit claims.
There was no response to a request for comment from Bodell Development. Kefallinos' lawyer on the case, Matthew Consolo, did not return a message seeking comment on the lawsuit.
More than 50 current and former loft tenants claim in a long-running lawsuit that Kefallinos rented out unsafe apartments that had never passed city inspection.
This week, Kefallinos was ordered to close the sprawling Russell Industrial Center at 1600 Clay in Detroit after city building inspectors said he had failed to fix numerous safety violations. The abrupt notice from the city had tenants scrambling for new spaces and hoping Kefallinos could work something out with the city.
In the lofts lawsuit filed in Wayne County Circuit Court in 2014, current and former tenants claim Kefallinos and his companies, Boydell Development and Ivory Properties, rented out apartments in places like Greektown Lofts, Brooklyn Lofts in Corktown, Grand Lofts near Mexicantown and the River Park Lofts off the Detroit River without ever receiving certificates of occupancy from the city.
The tenants "have been unfairly deceived into leasing ... unsafe and uncertified properties and paying rent they had no legal obligation to pay," the lawsuit claims.
There was no response to a request for comment from Bodell Development. Kefallinos' lawyer on the case, Matthew Consolo, did not return a message seeking comment on the lawsuit.
One former tenant, Chryssa Hunlock, rented a loft in the Hudson on Fort near the Ambassador Bridge. The building formerly served as a warehouse for the Hudson's department store chain. Its sweeping views of the Detroit skyline and the river hooked her, but she said the building quickly became a nightmare.
Hunlock said there was no working elevator, no hot water in the winter and that in the summer, temperatures rose so high that the apartment became uninhabitable. Strangers had access to the building and used its rooftop to launch fireworks, Hunlock said. The building's fire alarms sounded almost every night, sometimes for hours on end.
"It was completely unsafe," Hunlock said. "There was nothing safe or secure. It was the Wild West in there."
Hunlock began withholding rent in 2014, escrowing it in hopes that the owner would get some hot water flowing to her apartment, but she moved after taking a job in Portland, Ore. She said she's one of the plaintiffs in the suit because she wants the landlord to make things right.
"I'm less interested in the money," she said. "I'd love my security deposit back from those jerks, but it's more about justice."
Mike Byrd has lived in the John R Apartments, another Kefallinos building north of Comerica Park, for a little over three years and has similar complaints.
"There is no working elevator," said Byrd, who lives on the fourth floor. "This building is not ADA-compliant."
An elderly neighbor died of a heart attack recently, Byrd said, after climbing several flights of stairs to his apartment. Many neighbors have moved out, but Byrd said he'd have to carry his furniture down four flights of stairs, and besides, he wants to stay and fight.
"The answer to a problem isn't to run away," he said. He hopes to recover some of the $20,000 in rent he has paid.
Adam Miller, a lawyer with the Oliver Law Firm in Southfield, which is suing on behalf of the tenants, said one of Kefallinos' buildings, the Universal Lofts on Lincoln in Detroit, was condemned at one point because of so many violations.
"I don't see how they ever rationalized how they'd get away with ignoring the occupancy laws of Michigan on a wholesale basis," Miller said. "They are relying on the people they rent to not enforcing their rights."
The case has dragged on for two years, but progress is being made. Miller said about half of the violations have been addressed, but many others remain.
Bodell officials are trying to remedy the violations at the Russell Industrial Center, said Eric Novak, senior project manager there. Crews have added lighted exit signs, fire extinguishers and other safety items, and have worked on repairs to the sprinkler system and elevators, he said.
"If they don't keep our doors open, I'm really concerned about hundreds of people being put out of work," Novak said.
The Russell Industrial Center is more than 100 years old. Buildings of that era typically include lots of concrete and steel construction, which make them naturally fire-resistant, said Elizabeth Knibbe, principal with Quinn Evans Architects.
She couldn't speak directly to Russell because she hasn't been inside recently, but she said she has worked in similar buildings and there are a lot of ways to bring them up to code.
“There’s room for having inexpensive space and still have it safe,” she said. “The bones of the building are so good, it’s just a matter of follow the rules. And the rules are set up to keep people safe.”
Putting in the right building systems such as electrical, plumbing and fire suppression can be the same as installing them in a new building.
"You just have to work in the envelope of the old building,” Knibbe said.
Contact John Wisely: 313-222-6825 or jwisely@freepress.com. Staff writer Robert Allen contributed.
Hunlock said there was no working elevator, no hot water in the winter and that in the summer, temperatures rose so high that the apartment became uninhabitable. Strangers had access to the building and used its rooftop to launch fireworks, Hunlock said. The building's fire alarms sounded almost every night, sometimes for hours on end.
"It was completely unsafe," Hunlock said. "There was nothing safe or secure. It was the Wild West in there."
Hunlock began withholding rent in 2014, escrowing it in hopes that the owner would get some hot water flowing to her apartment, but she moved after taking a job in Portland, Ore. She said she's one of the plaintiffs in the suit because she wants the landlord to make things right.
"I'm less interested in the money," she said. "I'd love my security deposit back from those jerks, but it's more about justice."
Mike Byrd has lived in the John R Apartments, another Kefallinos building north of Comerica Park, for a little over three years and has similar complaints.
"There is no working elevator," said Byrd, who lives on the fourth floor. "This building is not ADA-compliant."
An elderly neighbor died of a heart attack recently, Byrd said, after climbing several flights of stairs to his apartment. Many neighbors have moved out, but Byrd said he'd have to carry his furniture down four flights of stairs, and besides, he wants to stay and fight.
"The answer to a problem isn't to run away," he said. He hopes to recover some of the $20,000 in rent he has paid.
Adam Miller, a lawyer with the Oliver Law Firm in Southfield, which is suing on behalf of the tenants, said one of Kefallinos' buildings, the Universal Lofts on Lincoln in Detroit, was condemned at one point because of so many violations.
"I don't see how they ever rationalized how they'd get away with ignoring the occupancy laws of Michigan on a wholesale basis," Miller said. "They are relying on the people they rent to not enforcing their rights."
The case has dragged on for two years, but progress is being made. Miller said about half of the violations have been addressed, but many others remain.
Bodell officials are trying to remedy the violations at the Russell Industrial Center, said Eric Novak, senior project manager there. Crews have added lighted exit signs, fire extinguishers and other safety items, and have worked on repairs to the sprinkler system and elevators, he said.
"If they don't keep our doors open, I'm really concerned about hundreds of people being put out of work," Novak said.
The Russell Industrial Center is more than 100 years old. Buildings of that era typically include lots of concrete and steel construction, which make them naturally fire-resistant, said Elizabeth Knibbe, principal with Quinn Evans Architects.
She couldn't speak directly to Russell because she hasn't been inside recently, but she said she has worked in similar buildings and there are a lot of ways to bring them up to code.
“There’s room for having inexpensive space and still have it safe,” she said. “The bones of the building are so good, it’s just a matter of follow the rules. And the rules are set up to keep people safe.”
Putting in the right building systems such as electrical, plumbing and fire suppression can be the same as installing them in a new building.
"You just have to work in the envelope of the old building,” Knibbe said.
Contact John Wisely: 313-222-6825 or jwisely@freepress.com. Staff writer Robert Allen contributed.
Resource : http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2017/02/23/russell-industrial-center-owner-faces-more-complaints/98292612/
