Oak Manor apartments owner Robert Merchant had another chance Tuesday to convince the city council not to proceed with tearing down his complex on 11th Street South.
Councilmen were unswayed after hearing what most of them considered an inadequate plan from Merchant.
The council on Oct. 19 declared the 13-building Southside complex a menace to health and safety and ordered it torn down. On Tuesday, the council stuck to its guns but kept the door open for Merchant to present an acceptable renovation plan for council consideration between now and demolition.
Code enforcement officials declared Oak Manor derelict in September, citing multiple exterior and interior issues. The city has also red-flagged the complex, meaning it must inspect any unit being considered for renting out before utility service can be supplied there.
Merchant, who lives in California and joined Tuesday’s meeting during Zoom, estimated it would take $625,000 to bring most units up to “clean, safe and livable standards.” That includes new roofs on nine buildings, as well as labor and materials for other needed fixes. He said he has already spent $70,000 since September.
He told the council he believes he can get enough work done by the end of January to where he can rent units in all buildings and keep the facility from “being an eyesore” in the city. Fully fixing the complex may take longer, he said.
“I know that some of them are bad,” Merchant said of the unit interiors. “But I know that some of them are not. … A lot of those don’t need anything but some paint. … I want to fix them as quick as I can because every time I fix one I get $500 rent (per month).”
Merchant said his tenants stopped paying rent for about a year and a half during the eviction moratorium granted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the moratorium was lifted, he’s begun fixing roofs and applying for permits to fix others, but he stopped work two weeks ago after the council’s initial demolition vote.
“No way in the world I’m going to spend $500,000, $600,000 on a building if I don’t know if I’m going to be able to rent it ever,” he said. “Now that it’s all over, I’m willing to do it. I just want to know if you’re going to let me do it.”
Ethel Stewart, councilwoman for Ward 1 where the complex is located, pushed back against Merchant on several fronts. She noted Merchant has owned the complex for three years, and it has been dilapidated that entire time.
“They’re molded, the total insides are falling out. Now, he’s talked extensively about putting a roof on … but the inside is destroyed” Stewart said.
“There’s no way in that time frame that you could have those apartments to where they can be rehabbed and livable,” she later added. “You’ve had those apartments for three years and it’s been in that shape … but in three months you’re going to make the repairs. I just do not agree with that.”
Merchant responded dismissively to Stewart’s observations.
“Ma’am, I don’t know who you are and what you’re talking about,” Merchant said. “But I don’t think you’re a contractor and I’ve been doing this for 30 damn years.”
Councilmen then pressed Merchant on when he most recently had visited the property personally — it had been several years, he said — and why he hadn’t come to the council with a more specific plan.
At one point, Merchant yelled, “I don’t know what you want from me!”
Ward 4 Councilman Pierre Beard obliged him with an answer.
“What we want from you is for you to fix your property so people can live in it,” he said. “What we want is for you to at least come and look at the condition of your property. What we want you to do is to take initiative. … What we are all trying to do, or I guess what we were trying to do, was see what your plans were today. But your plans are where? We don’t know.”
As Merchant continued to protest and talk over the council, Mayor Keith Gaskin ordered Merchant’s mic muted.
Then the council discussed the cost of demolition.
“We don’t have an exact number on that,” Gaskin said. “It will not be cheap.”
Upon request, Fire Chief Martin Andrews said he and his training officer would inspect the complex today and see if it can be demolished for fire training.
Ward 5 Councilman Stephen Jones, followed by other councilmen, suggested Merchant could still present formal plans before demolition to save his property.
Eighteen Oak Manor units are occupied. Officials, including Gaskin, have suggested the city would help them relocate.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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