Lack of heat leads to do-not-occupy order for Troy Place Apartments

Reports of safety concerns and uninhabitable conditions have led to a do-not-occupy order being issued for residents of the Troy Place Apartments.

The city of Troy responded to resident complaints at the Troy Place Apartments, 2869 Troy Center Drive, Jan. 15 regarding a lack of heat in the apartment units. Due to safety concerns related to extremely low unit temperatures, the building was determined uninhabitable Jan. 18.

“One of the boilers went down, and the other one was limping along,” said Troy City Manager Mark Miller. “A problem when we came to investigate was that so many people in the building were running space heaters that it was difficult to get accurate readings on temperature (inside the building). … The property management company ordered the parts to fix them and are, hopefully, beginning work (Jan. 19).”

There were 147 units in the affected building, but Miller said they were still unsure if every unit was affected.

The property manager for the site is LR Management, based in Troy. A representative did not respond to requests for comment prior to press time.

Since Jan. 15, city officials have attempted to work with property owners to resolve the building’s heating issues; however, they said that the property owners continue to be unresponsive. The property was found in violation of the city’s property maintenance codes. 

At 1 p.m. Jan. 18, under the direction of the Troy Fire Department and Office of Building and Code Enforcement, a do-not-occupy order was posted at addresses 2873, 2869 and 2871 at the Troy Place Apartments. This order was issued based on the lack of a fully functional heating system, apparent fire suppression frozen pipes, and elevator failure. 

A portion of the fire suppression system went down, likely because of frozen pipes, said Miller. “That is particularly troubling with so many people using space heaters. They are notorious fire hazards. That was one of the major reasons why city officials declared the building unsafe,” he said.

City officials provided residents with relocation assistance and a list of resources.

“Our emergency management person contacted Oakland County’s emergency management personnel,” said Miller. “We set up a reception center at Kensington Church. I don’t think a lot of people took advantage of it, though. Oakland County has a 24-hour emergency line that we ensured everyone knew about, and we also provided some hotels with discounted rates and transportation to them for anyone who needed it, but I don’t think many took advantage of that, either.”

He added that Oakland County’s 24-hour emergency line could be reached at (248) 858-5300 and urged anyone who is living in unsafe or dangerously cold conditions to call.

Miller warned residents to be safe and not hesitate to call local government authorities or agencies to ask for help or report when a situation is becoming hazardous.

“Our basic purpose in local government is protecting residents’ health and welfare,” said Miller. “Our fire marshal, police building inspectors and others are all working to do that. We want to address these issues in the quickest, most thorough way possible.”