For years, residents of Sandy Studios, a publicly funded northeast Portland apartment complex for ex-homeless veterans, said their constant complaints about the condition of the building went unnoticed – until they could no longer be ignored.
NE Sandy Studios, NE Portland, March 29, 2021. All residents of this supportive shelter for former homeless veterans are now moving due to the facility’s conditions.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
At around 9 a.m. on January 24, a huge piece of drywall on Unit # 216 crashed on 51-year-old Army veteran David White and his girlfriend.
“We went to the door, got out, wiped each other and looked at us. There was just black mold everywhere, ”said White. “It looked like there was a fire up there on the rafters.”
After the partial collapse of the ceiling and the discovery of large black mold stains on the rafters of the complex, city inspectors determined this month that the Sandy Studios Apartments are unsuitable for human habitation.
It’s the newest chapter in what residents say, a year-long history of neglect that unfolds within the two-story brick building. The city began renting the property in 2016 to provide permanent supportive housing to 50 of the city’s most vulnerable residents.
Just five years later, the building is due to be shut down prematurely due to “significant structural problems and problems with air quality”, according to a message that residents received on Friday. The abrupt closure implies a litany of local authorities all of which, residents claim, should have realized long ago that the complex was uninhabitable.
The City and County Joint Homeless Services Bureau, which inherited the 2016 lease from the city, estimates the property and support services at $ 640,000 per year. Do Good Multnomah, a nonprofit that serves homeless veterans, is paid to provide these services with on-site staff every day of the week. Home Forward, the local housing authority, is providing housing vouchers to the vast majority of residents and has said they inspect units before these tenants move in.
However, the fault for the faulty building increasingly lies with the owner: the local hotelier Ganesh Sonpatki, who owns budget motels across the region – including four others that are currently being rented by the Joint Office as emergency shelters.
Lawyers with Legal Aid Services in Oregon, a nonprofit that provides low-cost legal aid, are expected to file a lawsuit against Sonpatki in the coming days for making the property uninhabitable. Sonpatki was also the subject of a class. Lawsuit filed in 2019 by local tenancy lawyers for overloading guests in his motels.
Instead of responding to an interview request for the story, Sonpatki said in a statement that “the health and well-being of our community’s veterans are of the utmost concern”.
“Our first concern will continue to be the safety of all tenants and all future tenants,” he wrote.
White, who estimates three quarters of his ceiling collapsed that day, is skeptical. He said the ceiling collapse was just the most obvious symbol of the problem that residents have long complained about: Critical maintenance needs are not being considered by the owner of the building.
“It falls on their hands – they are the owners of the property,” he said. “They should have kept security and maintenance up – and they didn’t.”
Drywall rushed into the unit of David White, a 51 year old Army veteran, and his girlfriend. Black mold followed, covering his apartment – including his sink.
David White
The property problems carry out the gambit. Resident Christina Kehoe said she had bed bugs on and off for three years. She turns on the lights and wears a coat and hat in bed to keep them away from her while she sleeps. Mike Hamilton said he killed 15 rats in one day in his first floor unit – a number he bills as his “personal best.” Christy Capps, who has lived on the property for three years, said that despite the electricity flickering and an insect infestation, she is no longer bothering to request repairs.
The joint office also seemed to be unsettled with the status quo. Last summer, stakeholders began working on a “transition plan” when the five-year deal ends in June. The Joint Bureau wrote that the current arrangement posed “a number of challenges” including maintenance issues, a difficult relationship with Sonpatki and a potentially unsustainable budget.
The motel was old but never cheap. Rent for each unit is $ 1,045 per month – a steep price for a small studio apartment with no kitchen. A fraction is paid by tenants, who can also apply for federal vouchers and rental subsidies. The joint office will take care of the rest.
The collapse of the ceiling hastened the departure. Soon after, city inspectors discovered that more than 10 square meters of mold was growing throughout the complex. The city is expected to release a formal notice condemning the building by the end of next week.
The 30 or so residents who still live on the property are about to pack their things and move to a Best Value Inn about eight kilometers away. Do Good Multnomah said residents can live there for free until they find permanent shelter – a tedious task for formerly homeless veterans, even with case managers. Many face significant housing barriers due to criminal records, previous evictions, and battles with substance abuse and mental illness.
Nathan Barton, an organizer at Portland Tenants United, the local tenants’ union that has been meeting with residents since last summer, said tenants were demoralized about the move and lost their homes with no knowledge of where they were going to end up.
Chris Aiosa, the head of Do Good Multnomah, said they had no choice: the building is deteriorating – a fact he said was evident from day one.
Shortly after taking on the Cascadia Behavioral HealthCare lease in 2018, Aiosa said he sat down with staff from the Joint Office, his daily Home First Development property manager, and the owner to see what needs to be done to improve himself Room.
“We went through a huge list of areas that needed fixing – all problem areas,” he said. “To be honest, I don’t think a single one was addressed.”
Aiosa claims it was never the nonprofit’s job to maintain the facility. He said Do Good Multnomah is on hand to assist residents – their website offers services like addiction counseling, mental health support, and yoga. He said it’s the responsibility of the owner to make major repairs to a building – and by and large those who hold the wallet to keep it going.
A tenant’s door at NE Sandy Studios in northeast Portland on March 29, 2021. All residents of this supportive veteran homeless shelter are now moving due to the conditions of the facility.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
“There is a responsibility for companies that enter into contracts with people like him,” said Aiosa.
In this case this position is the common office.
The records received from OPB show that in 2017 there were concerns within the Joint Office about continuing to enter into contracts with Sonpatki. Following an investigation by Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare’s vice president of housing Jim Hlava into whether the county is looking to lease more property from the budget hotelier, a program manager from Multnomah County expressed concern and said there had been a number of problems Sonpatki was having carried out the promised repairs at Sandy Studios.
Hlava replied that he had come to the conclusion that Sonpatki was in the “cheap motel” business model.
“He strives to“ fix ”things as cheaply as possible and to do just enough to get things moving. He was okay with this approach all along, ”wrote Hlava. “We did a lot with him and he continues to do things his own way of doing business. I don’t think much will change about that. “
Since then, the Joint Office has signed four additional emergency shelter contracts with Sonpatki: three motels to house people during the pandemic and a long-term lease in Lilac Meadows, a family home in northeast Portland.
Eric Hanson sits outside his apartment in NE Sandy Studios in northeast Portland, where he has lived for the past five years on March 29, 2021. Hanson’s apartment is full and in two days he will have to leave the apartment complex, a supportive shelter for formerly homeless veterans, although he has not secured an apartment.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Denis Theriault, a spokesman for the office, pointed out that the type of leases in these four properties are different from the agreements for Sandy Studios. In contrast to this contract, the common office is the tenant, which gives the district employees more leeway for daily repairs. And since these are protection programs and not private units, according to Theriault, the county employees have more freedom to access rooms and resolve maintenance issues immediately.
Regarding Sandy Studios, Sonpatki wrote in his statement that the company is installing a new roof and making necessary repairs to the building, although he did not mention the shape. He said he plans to convert the space into 50 affordable housing units.
Eric Hanson, 63, said he was the second to move into Sandy Studios. After almost five years in the complex, he is now looking for new permanent apartments – although he has no interest in returning to the building.
“You can paint all the lipstick on this pig that you want,” said Hanson as he packed his glassware Tuesday. “It’ll still be a pig.”
