Condos in disrepair await court-ordered fix

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Condos in disrepair await court-ordered fix

Savannah Morning News*

Curl | Friday, September 26, 2008

http://savannahnow.com/node/581291

The smell of mildew permeates condo 702 of the Wilmington Plantation

condominiums.

Sheets of plastic cover the furniture. Water leaks from the ceiling

into scattered containers. Along the rotted window frames, clumps of

mold fester.

Kay 's $750,000 home is one of many condos suffering from what

residents say is the result of shoddy construction work performed

when the former Sheraton hotel was renovated early this decade.

Worsening conditions and health concerns led and her husband

to move onto their boat about five months ago.

" Nobody should have to live like this, " said. " It's going to

become uninhabitable - if it isn't already. "

A historic hotel reborn

Developer bought the former hotel on the Wilmington

River about 10 years ago and spent millions converting it into

residential condominiums.

The General Oglethorpe Hotel was built in the first half of the 20th

century as an eight-story structure. Renovations included additions

to the fifth, seventh and eighth floors and the erection of four new

floors over the central portion of the building.

Jeff Sheffer was among the first residents to arrive in 2003. Three

months after moving in, substantial construction defects began

showing up throughout the building, Sheffer said.

Residents reported water penetration through windows, terraces,

stucco and the roof in both their condos and shared space.

A court-ordered engineering report later found all the building's

windows but one suffer water intrusion due to improper installation,

two areas of the roof require replacement because the protective

layer under the tiles was not properly laid, the stucco work does

not meet building code standards and does not provide adequate

protection from the weather, and the improper waterproofing and

construction of the terraces causes water to seep inside.

Additionally, the engineering firm, Applied Building Sciences, found

that the building's steel frame may be structurally deficient.

Like a paper clip

Lawsuits followed and a settlement was reached.

As part of the settlement, Superior Court Judge Karpf

ordered in July 2006 to pay an engineering firm to determine

what repairs were needed. also eventually had to deposit

about $1 million into an account held by the court to fund those

repairs.

Fifteen months after Karpf's consent order was issued, objections to

the engineering report as well as other motions led to little

progress being made.

Karpf issued a second order in October 2007 authorizing the

engineering firm to select a contractor and begin the repairs.

In addition to the improperly installed windows and roof, further

inspection found that portions of the building's steel framing were

inadequate. Larry Elkin, of ABS, recommended retrofitting the

framing and correcting the structural deficiencies, but Karpf did

not initially include the recommendations in the second order.

Elkin sent Karpf a letter asking him to reconsider, stating that the

approved weatherproofing renovations would be " severely curtailed "

if the structural improvements were not made.

" Accelerated deterioration will occur, particularly during high wind

events, " Elkin said. " Like a paper clip that is bent back and forth,

these sensitive areas will be prone to fatigue and rupture. "

Karpf revised the order in December and included the recommendations.

appealed the decision and later petitioned for the consent

agreement to be thrown out altogether.

In late July, the Georgia Court of Appeals denied his appeal. In

turn, he appealed the denial to the Georgia Supreme Court. As of

Thursday, no decision had been reached.

did not return four calls seeking comment.

His attorney, Kight, said in an e-mailed statement that the

delay in repairs was caused by certain owners' " fruitless "

litigation against .

Waiting in vain

More than two years after the consent order, residents' patience has

run out.

The hurricane season has amplified residents' concerns regarding the

building's structural integrity.

" We are feeling just sick about our situation here, " Sheffer

said. " This now goes from being a horrible leaking situation to one

that could be life-threatening. "

The condos are worth little, said resident Mike Cannon.

No one would buy a unit even if it had no problems, Cannon said. As

a member of the owners association, they would be required to pay

their portion of the cost of any repairs if never lives up to

his end of the bargain - a cost that could be millions.

Cannon said his windows and ceiling leak but not to the extent of

some of the others.

" It doesn't matter if I have a leak or not, everyone else's leaks

are my problem, " he said.

Wilmington Plantation LLC had purchased the rights from to

develop additional parcels surrounding the former hotel. Those

parcels sit untouched.

Attorney McCloud, who represents Wilmington Plantation LLC,

did not return two calls seeking comment.

In a letter to Karpf dated May 16, McCloud wrote that 's

obstruction of the repairs puts the owners association in

an " extremely awkward " position.

" Mr. 's tactics in preventing the work mandated in the consent

order have severely and adversely affected the community and

adversely affected Wilmington Plantation LLC from marketing and

developing the project, " McCloud said.

" At what point must the association stop waiting for Mr. to

comply with the consent order and proceed with the necessary repairs

using its own funds so as to not violate its duty to the homeowners. "

A systematic 'failure'

Residents are not directing all of their frustration at .

Many say the building should never have passed inspection.

But Gregori , director of the county's building department,

said it is a misconception to think the inspections department

guarantees a building won't have any problems.

State law places the responsibility of complying with the code on

the contractor.

" The issuance of the certificate of occupancy does not represent a

guarantee of the contractor's performance or code compliance, "

said. " It represents the observed work and its code

compliance. "

said inspectors were on the Wilmington Plantation

site " quite a bit " and the components that were inspected met the

requirements of the code.

" Any window or roof leaks or any other building performance problems

become an issue for the contractor to address, " said.

In addition to the leaks and structural integrity, Elkin said in a

letter to that he was surprised to find plywood used for

structural support even though the building code prohibited

combustible materials from being used for such purposes in high-rise

structures.

said the materials were permitted because combustible

construction elements were present in the building prior to the

conversion and because of the installation of a sprinkler system.

In addition to the inspection department, the legal process has also

drawn criticism. Residents say they are disappointed in the court's

inability to enforce its own orders.

Karpf said it would be inappropriate to comment on the ongoing case.

" It's really a tragic situation, " Sheffer said. " Our governmental

system and county court system has entirely failed us. "