Apartment Look

Palo Alto Housing Corporation has completed a $31.9 million renovation of the Colorado Park Apartments , the oldest affordable housing property in its portfolio. The nonprofit agency on Aug. 17 celebrated the grand reopening of the seven-building, 60-unit complex at 1142 Colorado Ave. The renovation made the complex, built in 1972, more modern and eco-friendly. Upgrades included adding energy -efficient appliances and water saving fixtures in the apartments as well as drought resistant plants and solar panels in common areas. “Through high-quality design and construction, we were able to significantly update the buildings and enhance the quality of life of our residents here,” said Candice Gonzalez, president and CEO of Palo Alto Housing. “This rehab and syndication also ensure that these homes remain affordable for the long-term.” The renovation also included replacement of the building façade and new patio fencing, roofing, paint and landscaping. Outdoor seating, a barbecue are...

OLD TIMER The Stewart apartments occupy the top two floors of this 1921 building at the corner of Southwest Broadway and Ankeny. Patrick Alexander IN JUNE , the rumors began wafting through the Stewart Apartments like the cigarette smoke that often clouds its halls. The 55-unit building’s long-time manager had passed away on May 28. If no one stepped in to replace him, 66 residents would soon be looking for a place to live—with little hope of finding a suitable spot. The first rumblings of a looming mass eviction came not long after apartment manager Mike Narver ’s death. But by August 11—20 days before Narver’s lease to run the building was set to expire—no one was any clearer on their future. “It’s so back and forth,” said Eddie Grant, a 62-year old resident who clerks the Stewart’s front desk, as he emptied a garbage bin in the building’s lobby last week. “Now I heard we might be out at by the end of the month, or next week.” Marge Appling , a 20-year resident and the building’s...

For more than two years, city inspectors have documented unsafe and squalid conditions at a weekly hotel near uptown that houses low-income families with children, the disabled and others with nowhere else to go. Inspectors found rooms with no heat or air conditioning , piles of garbage, bedbugs and broken windows among other problems at the Airport Parkway Inn and Suites. Former tenants and a neighboring business complain the building on Wilkinson Boulevard is a magnet for drugs and crime. Now, Charlotte officials are taking steps that could lead to the demolition of the hotel, a rare move the city has not taken in at least seven years against a lodging establishment. The building is part of a virtually unnoticed housing sector in Charlotte, where hundreds of people suffering from addiction and mental illness or simply with few other options depend on weekly hotel rooms for permanent shelter. While tenants avoid sleeping on the streets, they often stay in decrepit and vermin-in...