Owners of Town Apartments North can salvage the skeleton of their building, but they hope the price isn't another pound of flesh.
By ANNE LINDBERG
Published September 21, 2003
LEALMAN - A condominium ravaged by fire in June likely will be rebuilt using the walls that survived the blaze, but it remains unclear how much of the reconstruction will be covered by insurance.
The new structure will be brought up to current code, including a sprinkler system and a monitored alarm system, said Richard Zacur, the attorney who represents the Town Apartments North condominium association.
"We want to try to rebuild this place as nicely as we can," Zacur said Friday during a homeowners association meeting.
The three-story, 54-unit Nautilus building burned June 23 when unlicensed contractors somehow created "some kind of spontaneous combustion" in Unit 311.
"The gentlemen were uninsured and have now left the state," Zacur said.
More than 100 firefighters were unable to save the building because the blaze spread quickly and there were no nearby fire hydrants.
The fire destroyed the interior and roof of the building, leaving the mostly elderly owners homeless and on the hook for replacing all items in their apartments.
It is unclear when reconstruction will begin. Engineers are evaluating the soundness of the concrete block walls and figuring the layout of each apartment. The original plans of the 1960s building are not available, and many owners had altered their units.
But the real problem comes in determining who will pay for what. Allstate Insurance, which held the umbrella policy of about $39.7-million on the entire complex, has said it will pay only to put the structure back as it was in 1966.
The company said it would not pay for required code upgrades, such as sprinklers and fire alarms. Allstate also declined to pay for such things as flooring and wallpaper, although it indicated it would pay for sinks and similar items.
"We weren't satisfied with Allstate's first response," Zacur said. "We sent them back to the drawing board. We asked them to re-evaluate ...
"We are going to try as best we can to get Allstate to pay for as much as they can without litigation," he said.
The amount that Allstate will pay is critical because many of the mostly elderly residents were uninsured. Others did not have enough insurance.
They are paying a portion of the monthly maintenance fee even though they are living elsewhere.
Construction likely will begin as the unanswered questions are resolved, Zacur said.
Architects and engineers met with county officials last week to work out code requirements and other details before submitting plans. The goal is to get folks back in their homes as soon as possible, said Jack Tipton, assistant director of the county Building Department.
