During a dramatic public meeting last week, the Holly Ridge town council announced that a building inspector had condemned Holly Plaza Apartments.
The announcement concluded months of discussion about the public housing complex's future. In October, Holly Ridge voted to conduct extensive mold testing, ordering residents to vacate the premises in the meantime. The hope was that at least some of the units would be free of mold contamination. But during Tuesday's meeting, the council revealed that all apartments were considered a public health hazard.
Now, the nearly 100 residents of Holly Plaza have until Jan. 1 to find new housing.
A look at the results
Town manager Heather Reynolds did not give a full overview of the full mold results during Tuesday's meeting. She informed tenants that they would each receive their results via email.
Reynolds has not shared the full results with WHQR. But she did go over a few key findings on Tuesday.
"In some instances, when the walls were open during the testing, there was mold on the studs," Reynolds said.
Testing showed 42 of the 44 apartment units had mold growth in their HVAC handlers, meaning those apartments' HVAC systems would have to be replaced. Reynolds also made note of other key construction flaws with the buildings, like issues with the vapor barriers and lack of ventilation in the roofs, which contributed to moisture buildup.
"Essentially no air can get through the attic spaces," she said. "It's basically like taking a lid and putting it on top of a greenhouse."
Reynolds also pointed out that the inspectors found asbestos in the tiles of the apartment units.
"This is just physical attributes of the property that would need to be repaired," she said. "We haven't even touched on the mold."
Reynolds said replacing the HVAC systems and repairing the roofs alone would exceed the tax value of Holly Ridge Apartments, which she put at $965,508.
Reynolds concluded her presentation by notifying the council that their building inspectors had condemned the apartments. The degree of mold contamination, she said, presented a "clear and imminent danger" to residents.
Condemned
The announcement that their apartments had been condemned shocked residents. Several broke out into tears. Some stormed out of the meeting in anger.
Holly Plaza Apartments was the only public housing complex in Holly Ridge. The nearest HUD-subsidized housing complexes are in Jacksonville, approximately thirty miles north. According to residents, most of them have waiting lists, some with over a year's wait time.
Kelly McGeorge, who moved into Holly Plaza earlier this year, said many residents are unable to afford living elsewhere.
"Some of these people live on only a couple hundred a month," she said. "Some of them only have disability [checks]. Where are they going to go?"
On Wednesday morning, Holly Ridge town officials went door to door posting signs notifying residents of their apartments' condemnations. Residents will be allowed to enter between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. to remove their belongings. The Holly Ridge Police Department will be on patrol after hours to make sure no one's trespassing.
South Carolina-based attorney David Miller is representing about 44 of the residents. He was present for Tuesday's meeting, but declined to comment on behalf of residents.
What happens now?
The Holly Ridge Town Council did vote to abandon repairs at Holly Plaza. But they also made a couple other decisions. The council officially ended their contract with Pendergraph Management, the property management company which had been running Holly Plaza Apartments since 2019. Previously, the contract termination date was set for Dec. 12. Pendergraph Management gave sixty days' notice on Oct. 11. Representatives from Pendergraph Management did not respond to requests for comment.
The town council is also offering lease buyouts to residents. Multiple residents shared a FAQ page from Reynolds outlining the terms of the buyouts. According to this document, residents will receive the market price of a month's rent multiplied by however many months are left in their lease. Residents with less than six months left on their lease will still get six months' worth of rent. Each resident will also get a lump sum of $2,000 for incidental expenses.
In order to get this money from the town, residents would have to agree to not pursue legal action against Holly Ridge. Tenants have until Dec. 11 to meet with Holly Ridge attorney Sam Potter and sign the agreement.
Finally, Holly Ridge decided to provide for the residents' hotel stays in Jacksonville up until Jan. 1, regardless of whether they accept lease buyouts or not.
