KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The seemingly endless issues continue to mount for the Park Reserve Condominiums at East 31st Street and Baltimore Avenue.
“We are just not getting any of the things fixed in the building we want, and the developer seems to have walked away from the project,” Shanan Carson, who owns a condo, told 41 Action News.
This isn't the first time the long list of code violations and fire hazards at the condos have made headlines.
This time it's the parking garage, which residents pay a hefty price to use. Carson said the garage is one of the only amenities residents have left.
“My spot was $7,500 dollars,” Carson said.
Kansas City, Missouri, Fire Department inspectors came out this week to look at the garage after residents repeatedly complained and decided to shut down the garage.
The standpipe does not work, which is what fire crews would hook their hoses to if there was a fire.
“We found exposed wiring," KCFD Deputy Chief and Chief Fire Marshal Jimmy Walker said. "We found water leaking everywhere. We found means of egress blocked, so people couldn’t escape in the event of a emergency."
Residents also complained about trash and homeless people staying in the garage.
While residents are angry and the city is concerned, the owner of the condos has a much different outlook.
“It’s a minor issue, in my opinion,” Wayne Reeder, the owner and developer of the Park Reserve Condominiums, said.
Reeder has less than two weeks to pull the permits to get the garage back up to code, while Walker said other ongoing issues at the condos have been remedied, except for a broken generator.
“We think it’s an inside job,” Reeder said.
He blamed the issues at the condos and the garage on homeowners, though he didn’t provide any evidence to back up his claims.
Reeder said he is cooperating with KCFD and will fix the violations. He also owns an empty building next to the condos, the old Trinity Lutheran Hospital, which also sits in a state of disrepair.
The city issued an emergency order about that property late last month.
“We've been here half a dozen times in the last six months and, quite frankly, we’re getting a little tired of coming out here to board these entry points,” John Baccala, spokesperson for the Department of Housing and Neighborhood Services, said.
Walker said the city may try to take over the vacant property soon and Kansas City, Missouri, police will clear it out in the next couple weeks.
