WILLOWICK, Ohio — Nearly three months after a garage collapsed at a Willowick apartment complex, the property owner says it will be demolished. He also tells News 5 that the property is working to resolve ongoing issues reported by residents at the building.
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“Give us a chance. We’re doing our best as humanly possibly,” property owner Lemma Getachew said.
Some residents have felt differently.
Leslie Zsigray had already made arrangements to move out of Shoregate Towers in Willowick when he spoke to News 5 on Monday. The three-year resident said he was living with cockroaches and mold after a persistent leak was not immediately fixed in his apartment. Additionally, he said his balcony was crumbling and being held up by a jack. One of the final straws at the property was when the elevators, which Zsigray said only work half the time, malfunctioned while his neighbor suffered a medical emergency.
“They couldn’t get up to her floor on the elevator. It wasn’t working. They had to take the gurney up three flights of stairs, get her in the wheelchair and bring her back down on the gurney. That’s crap,” he said.
Other residents have shared similar stories with News 5 in recent months. Some said the problems were exacerbated when the complex’s parking garage partially collapsed during severe weather in late August.
“It seems Shoregate put all their resources into that and didn’t put as many resources into the smaller resource requests for individual units,” said Michelle Brunson, a staff attorney at the Fair Housing Resource Center (FHRC).
The nonprofit said it’s been working to address living conditions for 194 individuals or families at Shoregate Towers. It started helping residents on a case-by-case basis in early 2023, but the caseload has ramped up since the garage collapse.
“We’ve had people call because they couldn’t get their car out after the collapse. A lot of these are low-income folks that don’t have the ability to afford full coverage insurance,” Brunson said. "So we have folks with car issues, we have people with mobility issues, we have people with infestation issues. And all of this is compounding. It is a very, very stressful time for a lot of folks."
She said after working directly with the property owners’ attorney, many of the individual maintenance requests have been fulfilled within several days.
“There’s a severe lack of affordable housing. We don’t want to lose these units. We just want to see it properly handled and taken care of,” she said.
News 5 previously reported several cases filed against the property by the City of Willowick. The city’s chief inspector said the owners faced building code violations in 2018 and were convicted of 15 violations in 2021. The owners are on probation with Willoughby Municipal Court for mandatory written reporting.
Court records also show the property was accused in 2020 of failing to correct damaged concrete and metal beams, columns and foundation walls throughout the garage.
“As of today, everything is in compliance...our case will probably be dismissed on Dec. 12,” Getachew said Monday.
He showed News 5 around part of the West Tower at Shoregate Towers and said maintenance had fallen behind at the aging complex during the COVID-19 pandemic and after the garage collapse. But he recently moved resources from other properties to address the backlog of requests.
“We have a company that comes every Friday and cleans,” he said.
Lake Metropolitan Housing Authority (LMHA) previously gave Shoregate Towers a notice to correct the buildings' conditions. FHRC said the property failed to meet the proper standards, so LMHA canceled its contract to provide Section 8 housing vouchers.
Lake County has set aside some money to assist low-income residents, and FHRC is offering a security deposit program, but Brunson said the changes will require some low-income residents to relocate.
“At the end of November, when that contract is canceled, then they would be responsible for full rent, which a lot of these folks cannot afford,” she said.
Getachew told News 5 that major violations have been addressed, and demolition on the parking garage will begin on Wednesday. The city’s building department said its inspection report of the property will likely be completed by the end of November.
The property owner said a private company’s investigation into the garage collapse showed it was not caused by prior maintenance issues. The city said the findings of that investigation will likely be available soon.
