WILLOWICK, Ohio — Three months after a Willowick garage collapsed, demolition has started on the structure behind Shoregate Towers. Property owners believe the garage work will catalyze improvements throughout the complex, but some residents there tell News 5 they’re skeptical.
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Friday, the usual sounds of Lake Erie waves crashing into shore were drowned out by crashing concrete and rebar.
“There has been, in my opinion, zero effort to make the place safe and comfortable since this incident,” one Shoregate Towers resident said.
The man declined to share his name but told News 5 that conditions inside the apartment buildings were deteriorating when he moved in more than a year earlier, namely pests and mold.
The garage behind the buildings collapsed in late August when intense storms rolled through Northeast Ohio. In the days following the incident, some residents said they had concerns about the garage's condition before the collapse.
“I’ve been calling it. I’ve been calling management saying, ‘There’s concrete falling, there’s cracks in the ceiling,” one resident said the day after the collapse.
The property managers said they had never received such complaints. News 5 Investigators found the property had been previously accused of failing to correct damaged concrete and metal beams, columns and foundation walls throughout the garage.
The owners are on probation with Willoughby Municipal Court after pleading no contest and being convicted of 15 building code violations. The city has filed another case with similar violations that is currently pending.
Some have said issues were exacerbated by the garage collapse, like excess garbage attracting more pests and diminished water pressure.
“After the storm, it got worse. I have one wall that’s incredibly unstable, another wall with a large crack in it and a third wall with a large crack in it. Those cracks appeared afterward,” the anonymous neighbor said Friday.
As of mid-November, the Fair Housing Resource Center (FHRC) told News 5 it was working with nearly half of the Shoregate Towers 400 residents. About 200 individuals or families were seeking help to address concerns about living conditions.
When News 5 pressed property owner Lemma Getachew on the issues raised by residents, he said maintenance had fallen behind because of challenges created by the pandemic and resources strained by the garage collapse.
He assured us he was dedicating resources from other properties to address the backlog of maintenance requests.
The anonymous resident said property managers have not been responsive.
“Eventually, people get frustrated and just give up, which is where I’m at,” he said.
R.J. Wood was visiting her daughter at Shoregate Towers on Friday. She said malfunctioning elevators at the property had been a frequent source of stress for her daughter, who has health issues.
“Constantly walking up four flights of stairs at the time was pretty hectic,” she said.
Wood said the property management eventually accommodated her daughter by moving her to a unit on the first floor.
Getachew previously told News 5 that he believed the garage demolition and repairs would be one of the first hurdles to making more widespread improvements.
Some residents are skeptical about the claim.
“This building supports a whole community of people. And they deserve to have a safe, clean place to live,” the anonymous resident said.
The property owners expect garage demolition and garage repairs to take about 18 months. Meanwhile, the Lake Metropolitan Housing Authority (LMHA) plans to end its Section 8 vouchers with Shoregate Towers because of the repeated building code violations.
