Living conditions at Gadsden Arms Apartments catches the attention of local and federal officials

Sunday evenings appear to be peaceful in Gadsden Arms Apartments.

Palm trees - many with dead branches hanging from them - adorn the property.

The management office with its clean beige plank siding, and freshly landscaped magnolia tree and shrubbery is a stark contrast from the red brick two-story apartment buildings on either side of it.

Residents sat in front of their apartments fellowshipping with one another; two children, a boy and a girl, dart across the road on scooters as their grandmother watches carefully.

“Get out that road,” she yells as a car approaches.

The children race to the sidewalk where they resume playing, as their 52-year-old grandmother chastises their little brother who stands next to her, crying.

Many residents, including that grandmother, didn’t want to speak on the living conditions of the apartment complex, also known as “the old projects” and affectionately called the “OP” by many who live there.

However, a few who said they are fed up opened up, revealing problems that have been plaguing them for months, and for some…years.

One woman, Samantha said she has lived in the Old Projects her entire life - 41 years.

“I was born and raised right here,” Samantha shared.

She said these days, the management office is closed most of the time.

“They can’t keep nobody in the office,” Samantha said with frustration visible on her face. “They can’t keep no grounds people.”

Samantha said a tree fell on her old apartment during Hurricane Michael, and she had to live in that apartment for a month and a half with water pouring into the bedroom every time it rained, because she didn’t have anywhere else to go.

“I just kept the door closed,” Samantha said. “I lost a bedroom set and a flat screen TV; FEMA said they couldn’t help me because it’s private property.

She said it took management nearly two months to move her to another apartment.

Another resident, Shelia, said she has complained to management for months about her apartment woes, to no avail.

Behind her dishwasher, the entire bottom cabinet is covered with what appears to be mildew or mold; it also covered her silverware, pots and pans, dish towels and rags, much of which she has had to throw away.

“I had to spend $60 on mold blocker so we won’t get sick,” Shelia said.

While sniffling, she said she and her children have allergies, and her youngest son has asthma; Shelia has four children between the ages of 9 and 3.

“I’ve been putting in orders with management,” Shelia said. “They said they were going to send someone to look at it; they brought a brand-new dishwasher and put it in there so HUD wouldn’t see it.

Shelia said when The United States Housing and Urban Development (HUD) visited the site earlier this year, she pulled the dishwasher out to show the inspectors the mold growth.

“The inspector told them, ‘I don’t want to leave here today and y’all don’t fix this,’” Shelia said.

Shelia said management assured they would remedy the problem.

That was in March.

Shelia said she isn’t the only tenant with a mold or mildew infestation.

LEFT: A 5-year-old resident of Gadsden Arms Apartments points to scars and bruises on her leg that she says comes from tripping and falling on the stairs outside her family’s home. RIGHT: Pictured is what a Gadsden Arms resident says she believes is an infestation of mold or mildew behind her dishwasher. She says Housing and Urban Development inspectors told apartment management to take care of the growth - but no repairs have been done.

Her friend, Teresa, also has mold or mildew growing up her wall.

Not only does Teresa’s apartment have mildew or mold, the central heating and air doesn’t work - management gave her a portable air conditioner to use instead.

Also, her bathroom vanity has detached from the wall due to the wood rotting.

“Some maintenance men come out here and they feel so sorry for us, and they’ll go ahead and fix it, and management will fire them on the spot for going in people’s apartments,” Teresa said.

Maintenance on the inside of the apartments aren’t the only issues plaguing the citizens.

Shelia said she was coming down the stairs on Mother’s Day when her shoe got caught on a piece of metal lifting from the stairs, causing her to trip and collide into a metal guardrail.

The guardrail broke, and has since been repaired with wood planks.

“I thought it was something minor because there were no scrapes,” Shelia said, but she later went to the hospital, and was told her knee was fractured in three places.

She said she still has to go to Tallahassee Orthopedic Clinic for therapy.

Shelia said she asked if she could move to a downstairs apartment.

“Even my doctor said I can’t keep walking up and down these stairs like this,” Shelia said.

Shelia has five children between the ages of 8 and 3.

Her 5-year-old daughter also chimed, pointing to scars on her legs that she said she got from tripping on the stairs.

Shelia said her daughter’s shoe strings have gotten snagged on pieces of metal lifting from the stairs, causing the little girl to fall, resulting in scrapes, bruises and cuts.

The conditions of Gadsden Arms have caught the attention of government officials at the local, state and federal level.

Quincy Commissioner Angela Grant Sapp, whose district the complex is in, says she’s working to ensure that the residents know that the City of Quincy is concerned about their safety and well-being.

Sapp is often seen in the old projects on weekends talking to the tenants, listening to their concerns.

She and City Manager Jack McLean both said they are aware of many of the problems in Gadsden Arms and they have been staying on top of the property’s management team, and working with regional management to try to create better living conditions for the residents.

After seeing photos of the inside of some of the apartments, McLean said the living conditions are ‘deplorable and unacceptable.’

Although Gadsden Arms is a privately owned property, Sapp said she deployed city resources in an effort to help the complex pass its HUD evaluation in March.

“Public works went in and trimmed palm trees to make it look better,” Sapp said.

She also said when it appeared WastePro wouldn’t be there in time to pick up trash, which was overflowing from the dumpsters, they called her for help.

Sapp said she called Public Works Director Reggie Bell at 3 or 4 a.m. and asked if he and his team could remove the trash, and they did.

United States Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) has also stepped in.

Rubio’s office found that Cambridge Management, Inc. is responsible for the management of seven properties - including Gadsden Arms - that have failing Real Estate Assessment Center inspection scores throughout the State of Florida in the Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance program.

Rubio visited all of those properties in May, and issued a press release that says he “saw conditions that are unsafe and unsanitary, including chronic garbage overflow and general disrepair at Gadsden Arms Apartments.”

Rubio’s deputy press secretary Ansley Bradwell said Rubio requested new Real Estate Assessment Center inspections and Management and Occupancy Reviews.

HUD’s website states the Real Estate Assessment Center inspections are supposed to ensure families are living in safe homes, and prioritize residents over property, among a list of other things.

Management and Occupancy Reviews are a comprehensive review of owner/agent compliance with HUD requirements, according to the National Center for Housing Managements website.

These evaluations are carried out to determine whether Sector 8 properties (multifamily housing units) are actually managed in accordance with HUD guidelines.

Gadsden Arms is owned by J. David Page, who also owns Hilltop Village Apartments in Jacksonville.

Hilltop, also managed by Cambridge, has received nation-wide media coverage for its notably severe rodent infestation and gang wars.

Erin Hill - Gadsden County News Service

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