HUD secretary on Opa-locka apartments: ‘No one should have to live in unsafe conditions’
Days after a visit to a subsidized housing complex in Opa-locka revealed residents’ unsanitary living conditions, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia L. Fudge condemned the undesirable housing environment and called on property managers to improve them.
“I am appalled by the status of living conditions at Glorieta Gardens Apartments,” Fudge said in a statement. “No one should have to live in unsafe conditions that threaten health and wellbeing.”
On Monday, HUD Regional Administrator Jennifer Collins visited the site along with U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson and representatives from the city of Opa-locka, surveying the state of the apartments. Some residents were living with mold and mildew and others were dealing with sewage issues which resulted in fecal matter coming up through their tubs.
“People are defecating in garbage bags, tying it up and putting in the garbage,” Wilson said during Monday’s visit as she challenged others to spend one night in Glorieta Gardens. She thanked HUD for meeting with her to deal with the concerns at the apartment complex, where one building was condemned and led to residents being moved to hotels and extended-stay inns.
Glorieta Gardens, a 357-unit affordable-housing complex that is home to 533 occupants, including small children, is located along Alexandria Drive in Opa-locka. The property, which was the subject of a Miami Herald investigation in 2018, is now the subject of a lawsuit filed by Miami-Dade County against the owners. In 2018 residents had to deal with mold, poor sewage and roofing problems.
Owners Glorieta Partners LTD, Glorieta LLC, New Vision Glorieta LLC, and NB Holdings Management LLC are named in the lawsuit. Yash Pal Kakkar, manager of NB Holdings Management, and Kenneth G. Weiss, manager of New Vision Glorieta, are also named in the suit, which was filed on Dec. 26 and is seeking more than $50 million in penalties.
Weiss and Kakkar did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Weiss is listed as the manger of Glorieta Partners LTD, New Vision Glorieta, LLC, and Glorieta LLC.
“At this point, the property owner has not taken all steps recommended by HUD to reasonably ensure the property is livable,” Fudge wrote in her statement, adding HUD is working with Opa-locka and Miami-Dade County officials to ensure residents’ units will be brought in compliance with local and federal standards or provide an alternative solution.
“What I want to see now is what change will happen,” Glorieta Gardens resident Ibet Lopez told the Herald days after the visit. Lopez, 60, said subcontractors who were not authorized to do work at the property were still at the site even after Monday’s visit. “All they’re doing is covering all the mold and the mildew, and I have pictures of units that two weeks ago had mold and all of a sudden now they don’t.”
