REVERE, MASS. (WHDH) - Residents of a large apartment building in Revere that has been condemned by the Board of Health are scrambling as they try to figure out where they’ll be living after the building they call home is cleared out.
And though the state usually requires condemned buildings to be cleared immediately, an attorney for the city says Revere won’t be making the tenants move out — for now.
“Water’s Edge has no one but itself to blame for the uninhabitable conditions at the property,” the attorney said.
Dozens of units in the apartment complex on Ocean Drive, described as a death trap, have been condemned. Another Water’s Edge tower was already condemned after a fire tore through it in July 2022. Two years later, city officials fear it could happen again.
“The fire alarm panel is in such bad condition that the fire department ordered 24-7 fire watch,” he said.
Paul Tellier, an attorney for the city, says the property owner has ignored health and safety violations for years.
“Tenants are living in a moldy, rat-infested, high-rise building with no fire alarm and fire sprinklers that do not work!””
But David Fry, an attorney for the apartment owner, urged the board to reconsider.
“You can’t just do it in the middle of the night and expect people to be placed somewhere else and that’s what the city is asking for — to me that’s insane,” he said.
Tenants received a notice from the city earlier this month that the building may be condemned and urged them to look elsewhere for a place to live.
Now, a lawyer representing some tenants is asking for more time.
The city is promising to connect the soon-to-be-displaced tenants with housing.
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