Northpinellas: Lack of permit halts apartment repairs

Then, three weeks ago, contractors started peeling away the yellow stucco skin all around the ground floor. Underneath, they found the culprit: water had seeped into the exterior walls, causing the framework to rot.

And so, just two years after it opened, the Lexington Club at Renaissance Square, an affordable housing complex for seniors at 1200 S Missouri Ave, needs extensive repairs.

On Monday, crews got more bad news: The city shut them down for failing to get a permit.

Scott Culp, executive vice president for Maitland-based CED Construction Partners, said crews originally thought the work would be strictly cosmetic, not needing a permit.

Turns out, the problem is more severe, related to flashing installed under the building's stucco, primarily near windows and vents, meant to deflect water outside.

"There were details that were either inadequate or incorrectly installed," said Culp.

Crews won't know the extent of the damage until they can open up the rest of the stucco, which stretches in some places to the building's full three-stories, according to Culp. He predicted repairs could take up to four more months, once a permit is issued.

"It is a nuisance," he said. "We'll try and take care of it as quickly as possible."

On Monday, Irving Butler said he and his wife plan to start looking for a new home. The couple rent a two-bedroom apartment on the first floor. Before the city issued the stop work order, crews accidentally broke their family room window, said Butler, 82.

"They were working out there and first thing I knew glass was breaking," he said. "It came in on my floor and got in my shoes."

Butler said he is fed up with construction noise and commotion, especially in a building so new.

"It's terrible," he said. "When I first moved in here, it was real nice. I had no complaints at all."

None of the residents have to move, however. Work is limited to the building's exterior.

Culp said it is not unusual for buildings to have latent deficiencies. The important thing, he said, is finding the problems and fixing them quickly. Building managers, he said, noticed the water stains during a regular, quarterly inspection.

"The construction company, of course, will take care of whatever the cost is," said Culp. "It's our responsibility . . . Our main concern is correcting it and making sure it's right and making sure we don't have to do it again.

CED owns 130 communities, with 30,000 apartment homes, nationwide, according to Culp. Locally, the company owns Riverside Apartments, a 304-unit complex in Tarpon Springs and Lakewood Shores, a roughly 200-unit apartment complex in Brandon.

Lexington, a $16.5-million project built on the site of the former Sunshine Mall, opened in March 2001. It is managed by Concord Management Co., which is owned by CED. Culp said all of the development's units are set aside for families who are at, or below, 60 percent of the median income for the area, as determined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Water damage is restricted to the exterior walls and crews will work to fix the problem as soon as possible, said Culp. It's too soon to know whether a flaw in design or equipment is to blame.

This is not the first time CED homes have suffered water damage. In Orlando, the company refurbished a 658-home subdivision, the Villages of Southport, that previously served as military housing. A few years later, homeowners started complaining about mold from leaks in the laundry rooms, where CED had put in new, flat roofs.

On Monday, Culp said the problems are not related.

"This is a totally different type of structure," he said. "Nothing anywhere can be the same."

-- Times researcher John Martin contributed to this report. Jennifer Farrell can be reached at 445-4160 or farrell@sptimes.com ">farrell@sptimes.com .

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