Berkeley Building Was Under Scrutiny Before Collapse

In a two-part story, Berkeleyside examines the Berkeley building which caused six deaths and seven serious injuries on June 16, 2015. Part 1, here, looks at a history of complaints by residents. Part 2: coming soon, more on the property construction.

The property at 2020 Kittredge St. where a balcony collapsed early Tuesday morning killing six students — five from Ireland — and injured seven others, was the subject of complaints by many of its tenants.

The property, called Library Gardens, was built between 2005 to 2007 and underwent numerous inspections during construction (to see the property’s inspection history, click here). Since its completion, city building officials have mainly inspected its tenant improvements rather than its structural integrity. Due to the collapse, the city of Berkeley has ordered the owner to evaluate the building’s integrity and will performing its own independent inspection.

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The building has been the subject of numerous complaints, both through the city and online. The most recent official complaint, submitted in February to the Berkeley Rent Board, listed missing or broken stairwell lights, missing handrails on stairwells, holes in the walls of public spaces, expired fire extinguishers, and peeling floor material that posed a tripping hazard.

The property’s Yelp page averages two stars, with 22 reviews by current or former residents. Five one-star reviews are from today and reference the balcony collapse, but the negative reviews stretch back to 2009. Themes in the comments included unreliable and negligent management, dirty facilities and high rent for small, noisy apartments.

Councilman Jesse Arreguín posted a statement to Facebook on June 16 saying that “the property management had a history of not properly responding to tenant requests for repairs” and he looked forward to the results of the investigation in order to make housing safer for all Berkeley residents. He did not return a request from Berkeleyside to elaborate on that statement.

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http://www.berkeleyside.com/2015/06/17/berkeley-building-under-scrutiny-before-balcony-collapse/