Westview Heights apartment residents return to grab essential items

Residents from the Westview Heights apartment complex on Eighth Avenue S.W. returned to their units Sunday to grab essential items, before they were ushered back out.

A memo to residents by property management said those on floors 36 to 40 could grab personal items until 1:30 p.m. Starting at 4 p.m., tenants from the 28th to 35th floor could do the same.

However – late Sunday morning a sign was posted telling all tenants to return after 4 p.m.

Resident Greggory Wall he says his unit was not severely damaged by flooding, but does not have any utility access.

“I’d like to get in there and be able to vacate as I probably will be exiting the building because of all this,” he said.

“I’ve seen a lot in my lifetime but I’ve never seen anything like this and it’s kind of a spooky feeling. I really feel sorry for the young people who are going through this.”

Wall says he has been displaced since multiple pipes burst last month in the 41-storey building, leaving all 297 units without heat or electricity.

Residents were sent to nearby hotels paid for by property management company, Mayflower Ventures, for a total of three days, but now tenants say they’re forced to pay for themselves or go to a homeless shelter.

The company says the earliest tentative date that tenants can return home is Jan. 10.

“It’s not liveable conditions,” said Wall.

“What was happening is the water was going up monthly, and it was happening more and more frequently. I don’t think ownership is dedicated to the health of the building or our safety. It’s kind of a secondary consideration vis-a-vis the money and the rent.”

Residents on the 14th to 27th floor will be allowed into their units starting Monday. They’ve been told they will have no more than 10 to 15 minutes to collect personal items.