Ben Schachtman: So Kelly, what is going on at this apartment complex, which is located in Wilmington’s Sunset Park neighborhood?
Kelly Kenoyer: Early last week, water got turned off for all the apartments, and the residents complained to the city about it. I went over there Thursday to find out more, and three residents confirmed to me that their water had been off for several days. But none of them would talk to me on the record: they were scared of retaliation.
On Thursday, the property manager, The CT Group, told me they’re working on getting the water back on, and on Friday, city inspectors confirmed that service had come back on.
BS: That’s good — but, days without water, how did this happen?
KK: Frankly, I don’t know, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to find out. The owner, Telesis, hasn’t responded to calls. And a spokesperson for CFPUA told me they can’t share any information because it’s against state statute to share customer information.
BS: And CT Group?
KK: They accidentally called me back, then said they’d called the wrong number. Honestly, though, this property is worth talking about beyond the code violation of operating without running water.
BS: Yeah, when I looked up the deed for the property I realized it’s actually tied in with Wilmington Housing Authority. It looks like it’s the same deed as Jervay Place, which I covered extensively when I worked for Port City Daily.
KK: What’s the background on that?
BS: So Telesis was, at one point, what’s known as a benefit corporation — or a b-corp. It’s kind of fuzzy and largely unenforceable legal term given to for-profit companies that include a social mission in their business goals. For Telesis, that was urban redevelopment. In Wilmington, that included purchasing the Adam Street property, Jervay Place, and a water tower from WHA in a restricted deed back in the early 2000s. They applied for a Low Income Housing Tax Credit —
KK: That’s LIHTC, the federal program that allows for-profit developers to build affordable housing with tax credits. The housing has to stay at a certain level of affordability compared to the local economy for a set number of years: generally 15, 20, or 30 years.
BS: Right, exactly. And according to public records, Jervay was placed in service in 2003 with a 15-year minimum compliance period. Since that’s now passed, it seems like Telesis might have some flexibility in what comes next.
KK: According to WHA board chair Jeff Hovis, the next step is going to be a RAD conversion: Telesis is applying for it with financial plans due at the end of January.
BS: And for folks who aren’t familiar, what’s a RAD conversion?
KK: Right: RAD stands for rental assistance demonstration, and it’s a federal housing program that aims to give public housing authorities a method of improving and maintaining public housing, which notoriously has an incredible maintenance backlog nationwide. That deferred maintenance problem is because traditional public housing operates on pretty slim margins. RAD also makes it easier to use private capital to fund rehabilitation work.
BS: Well Jervay Place is still a moldy mess after Florence, with dozens of units shuttered since then. I guess this could be a chance to get those units back in circulation?
KK: Exactly. But we’re relying on Telesis to do it, and they haven’t exactly moved quickly in the past.
BS: That’s true — after Florence, residents had a hard time getting answers. But I also want to ask: what’s Wilmington Housing Authority’s role in all of this?
KK: I asked them about this shut-off, and they deferred to Telesis. I also asked what they would do if Telesis pulled out, which has been a rumor for years. They responded, quote, “WHA is not able to discuss at this time.”
BS: Alright, well, more to come on this, for sure — but for now, thanks for digging into this, Kelly.
KK: No problem.
