Harbour Point Gardens Updates

Why create a distinct updates page?

In conversations with many affected tenants, the Madden Administration has heard a common story: accurate and actionable information is hard to come by. In the interest of keeping you informed during this difficult time, we have created this page to provide basic background information about what happened, updates on what is currently happening and any information that could forecast what will happen and when. 

The Administration requested contact information for all impacted residents on Friday, June 23. Lexington Properties has refused to provide tenant contact information with the City during this emergency. You may subscribe to text updates by texting “HPG” to 38276.

We're here for you.

The Madden Administration believes everyone deserves safe housing—in fact, our laws demand the safety of rental units—which is why the City of Troy acted so quickly to evacuate neighbors when unsafe conditions were confirmed at the Harbour Point Gardens apartments. 

What happened? How did we get here?

Tenant complaints about sagging brick siding prompted the Troy Code Department to contact the property owners on May 9, 2023, and order the property owners provide the City of Troy with a "structural engineering report" to evaluate whether the bricks were safe or not. The law gives them 30 days to comply. 

When the deadline passed and the City still had no report, City officials let the property owners know they would be sending their own engineering firm to look at the bricks, which the property owners agreed to. 

On June 22, 2023, the brick veneers were observed by a structural engineer contracted by The City of Troy. Seven walls across six buildings were deemed unsafe, and as a result, 58 units at 16 addresses in the apartment complex were evacuated. 

Because the risk of collapse is both imminent and unpredictable,  the notices were effective "immediately" and not on a rolling basis or with any advanced notice. Like a fire or other imminent threat, the danger of falling bricks was deemed an imminent threat to residents and anyone near the bricks. The City has not claimed that the bricks are "structural," but falling bricks can be dangerous whether they are "structural" or not.

182 Delaware, LLC was instructed to immediately remediate the sagging brick siding per the structural engineers' recommendations (per Troy City Ordinances 176-17 and/or 141-18). 

On June 28, City officials received a copy of a structural engineering report prepared for the property owners, which confirms some of the key findings of the City's report. 

On the afternoon of June 29, Deputy Mayor Christopher Nolin, engineers contracted by the City of Troy, engineers contracted by Lexington Properties, along with other city officials and representatives of Lexington Properties met to discuss a path forward towards the remediation of deficiencies at the Harbour Point Gardens apartments.

The engineers from WestShore Design Engineers, P.C. and LaBella Associates’ agreed on key findings discovered by the city last week regarding instability of certain brick facades and the safety implications. The property owner is working on a plan to address those issues.

Three weeks later, the City’s demands are the same as they were on June 23: Lexington Properties must develop a plan to address safety issues so that residents may return home as soon as possible.