Residents of Reserve Square Apartments, a beleaguered downtown complex that’s been run by a receiver since last August, say they’re not happy with the lack of repairs in general and specifically those still not made in the past few weeks despite promises by ownership.
The building, located east of Perk Plaza, has been in foreclosure since last July, when a complaint was filed in federal court alleging K&D had about $78 million in unpaid loans, interest and tax advances.
The city of Cleveland mailed a letter on February 9 to the judge overseeing the case, urging the court to nudge the receiver, Andrew Hayman, to ameliorate a wide range of complaints—a flooded parking garage, messy hallways, constant fire alarms, malfunctioning water heaters and bed bug infestations.
“Time is of the essence, and we feel compelled to try to ‘fast-track’ this in any way possible,” Building & Housing Director Sally Martin O’Toole wrote to Judge Bridget Brennan.
Although Hayman had promised the city orders were made for the malfunctioning furnace, “we have not seen substantive repairs being made in the building,” Martin O’Toole wrote, “and the conditions continue to be hazardous.”
Reserve Square’s foreclosure came at a tough time for lower-income apartment complexes, those hit hard by inflation and visa policy changes by the Trump administration. (A large swath of Reserve’s tenancy had been international students.) Only a half of the buildings 976 total units were occupied as of mid-February.
Yet, the city didn’t spare Reserve Square and its court-appointed receiver when Mayor Bibb toured the property with 19 News in March, seeing its damaged ceilings, parking garage and apartments still being heated by space heaters. By then, the city prosecutor had filed 20 first-degree misdemeanor charges in a separate criminal case for neglecting work orders in November and December of last year.
“Nobody should be living in these conditions,” Bibb said on the 19 News broadcast. “Anywhere in our city.”
Since February 12, when Hayman was required to report Reserve’s repairs weekly to the court, the building has come through on some of its promises, court documents show. Four out of its seven boilers are functional. Its fire alarms aren’t going off at random. Tenants have hot water. And a flooded parking garage is, one report says, “not expected to be a recurring issue.”
But five tenants interviewed by Scene last week said they’re only partially appeased by the repair jobs thus far. All five confirmed they have working water, that they halls seem cleaner, and new security staff is doing their jobs.
But all were still more than ready to air their grievances and complaints they all said were regularly ignored by the leasing office. About lingering bed bugs that weren’t fully taken care of. About the trash chutes not being used. About the elevator unable to be called on the first floor.
Or, for two Cleveland State seniors living in a two-bedroom, the lack of consistent heat. (Despite being provided a space heater.)
“All the whole winter, we are using the manual heaters,” one told Scene, standing outside the building’s west entrance. “We can’t even sleep some days.”
“We covered ourselves with comforters,” his roommate added. “We were wearing jackets [inside] and everything.”
Naresh, 23, said he subleased his room a month early last year to relocate to a nearby building. He was tired of the unwanted guests in the lobby and hallways and issues of often-failing heat and running water.
“One day I was out of water,” Naresh said, standing in front of the building’s east entrance. “There is no water in there.”
A fourth Reserve Square tenant, a junior at Cleveland State, said that although his bed bug problem had been solved, and his heat working, he was still unsure about the decision to restaff Reserve’s security with overbearing guards.
“They act like they’re the First Order,” he told Scene, making a reference to Star Wars. “Like, they don’t allow friends. My friends want to come to my room, want to hang out, want to chill, and they say no.”
In an interview with Scene, a city spokesperson acknowledged that the recent complaints from residents—those heat and elevator woes—were “fairly accurate,” and leaned on the city’s criminal case and the federal foreclosure case as tools to continue to pressure Hayman into getting Reserve into shape in a more timely manner.
“If you’re a landlord in the city, whether of a two-bedroom house or a multi-unit condo,” they said, “you have a duty and responsibility to upkeep and maintain your buildings.”
A lawyer representing K&D Group in the federal case did not respond to a phone call for comment. An email to the Hayman Group was not returned.
In a letter to Brennan, the federal judge, a lawyer for Hayman assured the court in detail that all documented issues—the plumbing, the security, the roach infestation—were be taken care of as quickly as possible.
“These actions have been undertaken methodically and efficiently,” that lawyer, Jeanna Weaver, wrote in February, “all while prioritizing the health, safety and well-being of the residents.”
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