Owner of Harbour Point Gardens defends actions in apartment woes – Times Union

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Exterior of the Travelodge Inn & Suites by Wyndham on Wolf Road on Tuesday, June 27, 2023, in Albany, N.Y. Residents displaced from Harbour Point Gardens apartments in Troy are being housed at the Travelodge. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)
Residents displaced from Harbour Point Gardens apartments in Troy are seen at their car outside of the Travelodge Inn & Suites by Wyndham on Wolf Road on Tuesday, June 27, 2023, in Albany, N.Y. Travelodge is housing the displaced residents. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)
People are seen walking from their car to the office of the Travelodge Inn & Suites by Wyndham on Wolf Road on Tuesday, June 27, 2023, in Albany, N.Y. Residents displaced from Harbour Point Gardens apartments in Troy are being housed at the Travelodge. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)
People are seen walking into the Travelodge Inn & Suites by Wyndham on Wolf Rd. on Tuesday, June 27, 2023, in Albany, N.Y. Residents displaced from Harbour Point Gardens apartments in Troy are being housed at the Travelodge. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)
Buildings at the Harbour Point Garden Apartments on Delaware Avenue in Troy were evacuated after Troy officials discovered structural problems in at least some of the buildings in the complex. The owners of the apartments have been putting the displaced tenants and their family members up at motels on Wolf Road in Colonie until needed repairs are completed.
Buildings at the Harbour Point Garden Apartments on Delaware Avenue in Troy were evacuated after Troy officials discovered structural problems in at least some of the buildings in the complex. The owners of the apartments have been putting the displaced tenants and their family members up at motels on Wolf Road in Colonie until needed repairs are completed.
Buildings at the Harbour Point Garden Apartments on Delaware Avenue in Troy were evacuated after Troy officials discovered structural problems in at least some of the buildings in the complex. The owners of the apartments have been putting the displaced tenants and their family members up at motels on Wolf Road in Colonie until needed repairs are completed.
COLONIE — Scores of residents displaced from the Harbour Point Gardens in Troy were moved Tuesday from the Red Roof Inn on Wolf Road about two miles down the road to the Travelodge Inn & Suites across from Colonie Center as repairs are made to the buildings where they live.
How long they will be housed at the motel while the New Jersey company that owns the apartment complex works to make their homes safe again is uncertain, although their stay is expected to last at least through the July 4th holiday.
Rob Howard, regional general manager for Lexington Property Group of East Orange, N.J., which owns Harbour Point and other residential complexes in the Capital Region, said Tuesday that the city will be checking the status of the repair work July 5.
Tenants from 58 units at the South Troy apartment complex were forced to evacuate last week by the city of Troy after its engineering firm deemed several buildings on the site to be unsafe following inspections that began in May following complaints by the head of the tenants association.
The city determined that the brick wall veneer on the outside of several buildings was in danger of collapsing and injuring residents.
In a video message posted online last week, Troy Mayor Patrick Madden complained that the relocation of the evacuated residents was not well organized and some people were forced to sleep in their cars.
Howard, who lives in Clifton Park, said he had not heard of any tenants being forced to sleep in cars and that everyone impacted was offered fully paid rooms at the Red Roof Inn last Thursday when the evacuation was ordered before they were moved Tuesday to the Travelodge.
A total of 108 tenants were impacted. Howard said six decided to move in with family for the time being, while others with critical medical issues or special needs were placed permanently into vacant units at the complex so they did not have to be sent to a motel. All the costs, as well as fees for pets and breakfast each day, have been borne by the apartments’ owners. Those who do not own cars were provided with transportation to the motels.
“We have done every possible thing we can do to make the move comfortable,” Howard said. “We’re going to do everything we can do to expedite (the repairs and return of residents back home).”
Howard said relocated residents were told to pack as if they were going on vacation for two weeks.
A spokesman for Madden did not immediately return a call seeking comment. 
On Tuesday afternoon, several tenants and families from Harbour Point were moving into the Travelodge on Wolf Road but they all declined to speak about their experiences so far. The desk manager of the motel also declined comment but confirmed that the tenants had been sent there.
Through a subsidiary, Lexington Property bought the complex, then called Riverview Garden, in 2022 for $11.3 million, according to city property records. The complex was renamed Harbour Point Gardens by the new owners.
Later Tuesday, Lexington Property Group issued a statement through Howard that said the company had spent $2 million to replace all the roofs at the complex and improve security and refurbish units. There are also plans this summer to add a playground, a dog park and a barbecue area for tenants.
The statement added that the group was aware of some “external, non-structural brick issues and had a plan in place to address them” when the city, “without warning” sent an engineer to inspect the buildings.
“Within an hour, before reaching out to us, condemnation orders were posted and the tenants in 58 units were told to vacate their homes immediately,” the statement reads.
After the units were condemned, Lexington had its own engineer and a contractor visit the site to examine and work on the brick.
“The engineer examined the buildings and confirmed that the problems identified were external ones, that there were no structural issues requiring the apartments to be vacated on such short notice, and that our tenants and neighbors were not in harm’s way,” the statement reads. “Since then we have fenced off any areas where the city’s engineer suggested we have repairs made.”
Larry Rulison has been a reporter for the Albany Times Union since 2005. Larry’s reporting for the Times Union has won several awards for business and investigative journalism from the New York State Associated Press Association and the New York News Publishers Association. Contact him at 518-454-5504 or lrulison@timesunion.com.

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