Built in the early 1970s, Solomon Towers is an 11-story public housing facility (despite the name, there’s just the one building). The building currently has about 96 units, serving seniors, including those with disabilities.
Solomon Towers has dealt with a host of issues, including devastating conditions after Hurricane Florence in 2018. At the time, residents told media outlets, including Politico, that years of deferred and overlooked maintenance issues had exacerbated the situation.
Over the last two years, residents have repeatedly contacted WHQR about a variety of conditions at Solomon Towers. In early 2025, at a community meeting, several Solomon tenants complained about lingering maintenance and safety issues. At the time, Wilmington Housing Authority CEO Tyrone Garrett noted he’d be at the helm for just a few years, while many buildings — including Solomon Towers — have had issues for 15 to 20 years, or longer.
Earlier this month, Garrett wrote to WHQR, saying he welcomed and appreciated the media's reporting on WHA. He acknowledged issues, but noted the massive challenges facing public housing in the face of limited resources (likely exacerbated by significant federal cuts this year). Especially with older buildings, he noted that funding often falls “well below what is needed to modernize infrastructure, address deferred maintenance, and create environments that truly support seniors aging in place.”
Past employees and contractors who spoke to WHQR, including landscapers, security, and maintenance workers, note that Solomon Towers has had a history of maintenance failures, leaks, and crime — including drugs and prostitution. And, like all of the Wilmington Housing Authority properties, it dealt with the back-to-back disruptions of Florence, Covid, and the abrupt departure of former CEO Katrina Redmon in 2021. WHA’s administration was in a tailspin until the hire of Tyrone Garrett, who has spent the last several years trying to stabilize the housing authority and get new projects on track – including a renovation of Solomon Towers.
But the overhaul of Solomon Towers, involving a RAD conversion — a federal capital investment project — and a state-administered tax-credit process (LIHTC), has taken time. After years of discussions, WHA says it’s moving forward, with several key hurdles set to be cleared this summer and fall.
But residents remain frustrated.
This spring, WHQR spoke with about a dozen tenants, on and off the record, about their experiences. One of those tenants, Leah Tate, also collected an additional dozen questionnaires, which she had made available. Tate shared the surveys with WHQR; while most were anonymous, a few included contact information, allowing WHQR to confirm they were filled out by Solomon tenants.
Tate, who has been a vocal critic of the conditions at Solomon Towers, has repeatedly contacted local, WHA, and federal authorities and officials about her concerns. And while that has led to some tense exchanges, Garrett and WHA say they’re doing their best to address her issues.
Tenant concerns
In the spring, WHQR spoke with Tate and three other tenants — Jerry Young, Linda Y. Fedler, and Michael Johnson — who discussed their concerns about Solomon Towers on the record. They said their top concerns were a lack of consistent management after the last full-time manager left in March, frequent disruptions and delays in janitorial and maintenance services, and persistent pest and mold issues.
“We've been abandoned. Management left, walked off the job approximately [in March]. We have no maintenance; we have nobody that cleans the buildings. We have nobody watching the desk most of the time. They're supposed to walk the floors. I have a camera and I catch them not walking the floors,” Tate said.
In response to WHQR and concerned officials, Garrett acknowledged that “Solomon Towers has been operating without a permanent full-time Property Manager while WHA conducts an ongoing search for a qualified candidate,” adding that, “During this period, WHA property management staff and other personnel have continued to rotate through the site to oversee operations, address resident concerns, and ensure continuity of services.”
Garrett noted that management required a specialized knowledge of regulations and assorted state and federal standards, and that making a rushed staffing decision was ill-advised. He noted that in late June, WHA “had a new hire last week that after only two days felt our ‘Management Expectations’ were beyond their capacity and never returned.” Tenants told WHQR that at least one other manager left in even less time.
Johnson said he’d lived in the building since 2007, and his apartment had suffered from a host of issues. He said he was frustrated that vacant units got at least some attention while his apartment languished.
“I’ve been here 20 years,” he said. “Why is everybody else’s apartment better than mine?”
Fedler said that the lack of permanent management, which has persisted until the present day, has led to services falling through the cracks.
“We have no one to take care of our home without making us look like this. We have nobody to pick up the trash. Now, that's why the trash is lying there,” Fedler said.
Tate and Fedler both said insects were a major problem, in particular bedbugs.
Tate said she’d lost thousands of dollars to infestation and described miscommunications with pest treatment companies that sprayed instead of a more expensive heat treatment. She described her one-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter being bitten, and shared what she said was a recent photo of a bed bug from inside her apartment.
Fedler also dealt with bedbugs and described throwing away bags of belongings after an infestation, an experience which she said left her with PTSD.
Tenants told WHQR that at least two pest control companies, Terminex and Bug-N-A-Rug, had walked away from work at Solomon Towers in the past because of payment issues. (Both companies declined to comment; a representative from Terminix told WHQR, “Sir, this is Terminix, we don’t get into that kind of stuff.”)
WHQR asked WHA about this, but the housing authority did not directly address it; WHA does have a new contractor, Patriot Pest Control. Garrett did confirm “that professional pest control services have remained active and ongoing at Solomon Towers throughout 2026."
He said service records showed 14 pest control visits between January and May, with five full-building treatments, and eight individual unit treatments, including one for Tate’s apartment at the beginning of January. He rejected claims that WHA had ignored or failed to respond to concerns, saying they continue to coordinate with licensed pest control professionals.
“While no housing provider can guarantee that pest activity will never occur in a multifamily setting, WHA has continued to respond to reported concerns, schedule inspections and treatments, and maintain a documented pest management program designed to provide residents with a safe, sanitary, and habitable living environment,” Garrett wrote.
Pest control and other complaints were echoed by the surveys collected by Tate.
Most of the respondents had lived at the facility for at least three to five years. After reviewing the surveys, and speaking with some of the tenants who filled them out, it seemed the top concerns were roaches and bed bugs, cited by half or more of respondents, followed by issues with mold, mildew, and water leaks, as well as elevator issues. About a third of the respondents said they didn’t feel safe, and many noted that the issues had negatively affected their sleep, well-being, and mental health.
Representation and communication
Several tenants told WHQR that Solomon Towers’ tenant board had been officially disbanded and not allowed to meet. While tenants acknowledged it made sense to pause the board’s operation during Covid, they said more recently the lack of consistent management has made it hard to get it running again.
Speaking with WHQR this week, tenants, including the vice-president and secretary of the board, said they were told by Rose Coston, WHA’s client services coordinator, that their board is functionally non-existent, and haven’t been able to hold elections that were slated for June, or get access to HUD funding that’s set aside for tenant councils.
Under HUD guidelines, provided Congress appropriates sufficient funding, housing authorities are supposed to annually receive $25 per occupied unit for approved tenant activities, of which $10 can go to administrative costs and the other $15 to tenant boards of councils. For Solomon Towers, that would mean up to $1,440, depending on vacancies.
Members of Solomon Towers’ tenants board said they typically use that money for paper and printer ink, largely to organize Bingo nights, and to print notices when a resident passes away. Tenants said these activities weren’t much, but they were meaningful.
Last Friday, WHQR asked WHA about the tenants board, but hasn’t received a response.
Communicating with WHA was another commonly cited issue, exacerbated by the recent lack of full-time management.
Many residents noted managers and housing authority employees were quick to ask questions and follow up about late or disputed rental payments, but not about maintenance or accessibility issues.
“Quick to worry about your rent instead of your health, or even working elevators,” one resident noted in their survey. Others confirmed the sentiment to WHQR.
Residents also said they often felt in the dark about what was going on in their building, when issues would be dealt with, or what the status of repairs would be. Many pointed to an incident last month, on June 22, when the building’s water was shut off.
Tate told WHQR there was no advanced notice or warning about the shutoff, and that staff couldn’t explain what happened for the four hours the water was off. Some tenants said they were in the middle of bathing or doing laundry.
WHA said the shutoff was necessary to complete critical repairs. Garrett noted that “residents were notified through the building's public address system before the shutdown; however, WHA later determined that written notices intended to supplement the announcement were not posted as anticipated.”
WHA said it is reviewing its internal communication procedures to ensure notice is appropriately provided in the future.
Tate shared emails she’d sent to local and federal officials, including Congressman David Rouzer, the Wilmington City Council, and New Hanover County’s Board of Commissioners, asking about this type of issue. Some of these emails apparently prompted HUD to ask for answers. The day after the water shutoff, a HUD employee in Greensboro wrote Garrett, giving him two days to address “Tate's continued allegations, the current status of the matters raised, and any steps WHA has taken or intends to take to resolve the issues identified above.”
Two city council members, J.C. Lyle and Chakeman Clinton-Quintana, also emailed Garrett asking about the situation.
WHA responses and next steps
Garrett shared his response to city council members and HUD, in which he laid out WHA’s ongoing efforts to handle maintenance, pest, and management issues. He offered many of the same explanations that he and WHA had also offered to WHQR. He noted, in some places, both the challenges WHA faced and its ongoing commitment to taking care of public housing residents.
Garrett and WHA have tried to reassure residents, local leaders, and other officials that the RAD and LIHTC overhaul is on track. That work will include “modernization of residential units, building system upgrades, accessibility improvements, and other investments necessary to preserve the property,” according to WHA.
Next steps include approval from the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency in early August, followed shortly thereafter by approval from the Local Government Commission, a division of the state Treasurer’s office, which provides oversight for major financial decisions.
Project closing and building permits are both expected in late September. In the meantime, Garrett also said WHA “remains committed to addressing operational challenges responsibly, maintaining quality housing for residents, and ensuring compliance with all applicable HUD, public housing, LIHTC, and regulatory requirements.”
A deeper issue
Garrett also sent a personal note to WHQR, writing in part, “I appreciate your newspaper’s commitment to covering issues that affect our community. Public housing, particularly housing for our seniors, deserves thoughtful attention and fair reporting. The scrutiny of public service is not only appropriate—it is essential.”
He acknowledged that WHA was “not perfect,” and welcomed constructive criticism. But he said he was concerned that WHQR’s reporting would “touch only the surface of a much larger and more complex issue.”
Garrett asked WHQR to consider, “Why do these conditions exist, and what will it take to improve them?”
He noted that “many public housing communities across the country are expected to serve an aging population while operating with limited federal resources. Buildings that are decades old require significant capital investment, yet funding often falls well below what is needed to modernize infrastructure, address deferred maintenance, and create environments that truly support seniors aging in place.”
And, in fact, the most recent federal budget cut HUD funding by 13%, nearly $11 billion less than last fiscal year, according to the Bipartisan Research Center.
He also cited the lack of adequate funding for supportive services.
“Housing authorities are frequently expected to respond to challenges that extend well beyond housing—including mental health needs, social isolation, transportation barriers, healthcare coordination, and other services that help older adults live safely and independently. These are responsibilities that no housing provider can fully meet without stronger partnerships and sustained public investment,” he wrote.
WHQR asked WHA whether Garret would offer “some potential ways that other organizations — either governmental, including the city and county — or philanthropic — like the Endowment — could help.” We have not yet received a response.
