ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) – Families at the embattled Morgan Apartments in St. Petersburg are pushing for the city to take over the property.
Renters feel that their future has been uncertain since last year. Zane Bowman previously said, “What the hell, guys, c’mon, this is how you treat your people? I’ve been here for 8 years.”
Many protesters gathered outside City Hall when they were told to vacate their homes because the property owner, Lurin Real Estate Holdings, had failed to pay nearly $500,000 in water bills. Thursday, they’ll return to City Hall with a request for the city council to purchase the complex.
Pinellas County court documents showed the owner defaulted on a loan of more than $46 million, creating the threat of foreclosure.
William Kilgore with the St. Pete Tenants Union said, “We’re demanding that it comes under public control, because we can actually hold it accountable and the tenants can have a safe, stable, and comfortable housing.”
According to Kilgore, the city already has enterprise facilities, including the Jamestown Apartments and Town Homes on Burlington Avenue N.
“We’re saying that the city needs to step in when this things goes up to auction and to purchase it, to make it permanently affordable, permanently habitable, and also just to have, you know, accountability and transparency that you don’t get with a private landlord and corporate landlord,” Kilgore said.
Families said it’s obvious the complex isn’t being taken care of, and they want the city to address uncertainties surrounding the property.
“These are people’s lives, you know, this isn’t changing the quality of a hamburger. This is people having roofs over their heads,” Bowman said.
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