Kansas City, MO - The Kansas City Health Department ordered the closure of a building at the Englewood Apartment complex in the KC Northland because of numerous code violations, include sewage backups, leaky ceilings and an infestation of cockroaches.
Inspectors say they found 115 violations of the health code during a recent visit of the complex at 5432 NW Waukomis Drive. The apartments are owned by Ohio-based The Millennia Companies.
"Everything's literally just falling apart at this point," said George Cunningham, a resident. "I guarantee there's more. That's just what they found. I could go on for days; the mold, the asbestos, just everything crumbling apart."
"Cockroaches is the biggest deal," said a female resident. "There's a bunch of bugs. We get bug bites in the mornings."
Raw human waste was reportedly leaking into living areas from broken plumbing.
Kansas City council member Dan Fowler toured the complex last week and described it as "beyond disgusting." He said the failure of the owner to address the slum conditions do not appear to be from a lack of funding. Complaints have been made at Englewood for years.
"According to news media online they paid $267.5 million for a downtown Cleveland office building," Fowler said. "I think they have more than sufficient cash to get these problems addressed."
The Kansas City Health Department says if progress is not being made within 15 days, other buildings could be shut down.
Fowler said he hoped the landlord would quickly fix all the problems at Englewood.
"I can't say, given the years experience we've had with them, that I'm optimistic that they will," Fowler said.