Oak Ridge Today

Demolition starts at Applewood Apartments

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Demolition work by Brady Excavating and Demolition of Crab Orchard, Tenn., was under way on Thursday afternoon, Jan. 25, 2018, at an Applewood Apartments building on Hunter Circle in the Highland View neighborhood in Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Demolition work by Brady Excavating and Demolition of Crab Orchard, Tenn., was under way on Thursday afternoon, Jan. 25, 2018, at an Applewood Apartments building on Hunter Circle in the Highland View neighborhood in Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 9:30 a.m.

After years of court cases and codes enforcement battles, demolition work has started at the Applewood Apartments in Oak Ridge.

Demolition work started Tuesday at the 13-building apartment complex on Hillside Road and Hunter Circle in the Highland View neighborhood, just north of Oak Ridge Turnpike in central Oak Ridge. Two of the buildings had been knocked down as of Thursday afternoon.

Brady Excavating and Demolition of Crab Orchard, Tennessee, plans to demolish two buildings per week, weather permitting. It could take 2.5 months or so to complete the job. The demolition company is working for First Place Finish of Oak Ridge.

Asbestos abatement work started earlier this month at the vacant buildings. [Read more…]

Applewood Apartments: Case that once called for $400,000 fine has been dismissed

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The rear of the Applewood Apartments building at 186 Hillside Road is picture above on Saturday, July 1, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The rear of the Applewood Apartments building at 186 Hillside Road is picture above on Saturday, July 1, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 12:25 p.m.

CLINTON—A court has dismissed a case that once called for a $400,000 fine against the owner of three now-vacant Applewood Apartments buildings on Hillside Road in Oak Ridge.

Charges against the original defendant, former Applewood Apartments manager Tammy Sandlin, have been dismissed, and she is the only properly named defendant in the complaint, Anderson County Circuit Court Judge Don R. Elledge said in a dismissal order filed Wednesday, June 21.

The Tennessee Court of Appeals had issued an opinion on October 15, 2015, that vacated, or voided, the $406,520 judgement against Applewood Apartments owner Joseph J. Levitt Jr. because he had not been effectively added as a defendant in the city’s lawsuit, Elledge said.

At that time, the Court of Appeals remanded the case, or sent it back to, Anderson County Circuit Court in Clinton for further proceedings, “including the filing and serving of an amended complaint or city warrant against Mr. Levitt,” Elledge said in his order to dismiss.

The Court of Appeals decision essentially said that Levitt has to be given a chance to defend himself, Elledge said during a motion hearing in Circuit Court on Friday, June 9. A jury trial had been scheduled for March 9, 2018. The City of Oak Ridge is the plaintiff.

But no amended complaint has been filed by the city since the Court of Appeals decision almost two years ago, and Levitt has never been served with an amended complaint, Elledge said during the June 9 motion hearing. [Read more…]

Applewood Apartments will close Sept. 30, tenants told

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Applewood Apartments Hunter Circle Aug 8 2016 1

Tenants at Applewood Apartments have been told the buildings will be closed Sept. 30, 2016, according to a letter they received this weekend. Pictured above is an Applewood Apartments building on Hunter Circle on Monday, Aug. 8, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 1 a.m. Aug. 9.

Tenants at Applewood Apartments have been told the buildings will be closed September 30, according to a letter they received this weekend.

The letter was from Applewood Apartments owner Joseph J. Levitt Jr., a Knoxville attorney.

Levitt was not available to talk to a reporter on Monday.

The letter told tenants that Levitt, who cited health-related reasons for the closing, was providing them a 60-day notice. [Read more…]

Board will consider ‘unfit’ designations for four Applewood buildings

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A Tennessee appellate court has sent an order to demolish four Applewood Apartment buildings back to a municipal board, and that board is scheduled to consider “unfit for human occupation and use” designations—but not demolitions—during a Thursday afternoon meeting.

The Oak Ridge Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals had ordered the four buildings on Hunter Circle demolished on Nov. 11, 2010. The order was upheld by the Anderson County Chancery Court, but Applewood Apartments owner Joseph J. Levitt Jr., a Knoxville attorney, appealed. [Read more…]

City doesn’t plan to appeal Applewood demolition decision

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Note: This story was updated on Nov. 7 to include links to the opinion.

The city’s top legal official on Monday said he doesn’t plan to appeal an appellate court decision that sent the order to demolish four Applewood Apartment buildings back to a municipal board.

“I don’t want to hold this up by appealing this any further,” Oak Ridge City Attorney Ken Krushenski said. “We’re going to do what the Court of Appeals said.”

The Oak Ridge Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals ordered the buildings demolished on Nov. 11, 2010. The order was upheld by the Anderson County Chancery Court, but Applewood Apartments owner Joseph J. Levitt Jr., a Knoxville attorney, appealed.

In a three-judge opinion filed Oct. 30, the Tennessee Court of Appeals in Knoxville said the Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals “acted without material evidence to support its decision to demolish the buildings.”

The appellate court said the board may only order demolitions when repair costs exceed 50 percent of property values. However, no evidence was presented at the 2010 Applewood hearing about the original condition or value of the buildings, or the repair costs, the court said.

The city won on all other issues, Krushenski said.

“As far as we’re concerned, everything else is over with,” he said.

Krushenski said the Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals will now have an evidentiary hearing that will be limited to the building and repair costs. He said the board will be able to consider demolition orders if repair costs exceed more than 50 percent of building values. A hearing date hasn’t been set yet.

In its opinion, the Court of Appeals said board member Joe Lee “moved to order the demolition of the subject buildings because he believed that (Levitt) had already been given an adequate amount of time in which to repair the buildings.

“While (the) owner’s continued noncompliance may have been infuriating to the board, the board did not have the power to order the demolition of property simply because owner failed to follow directions,” the court said.

The other issues reviewed by the court ranged from the constitutionality of administrative warrants used to inspect Applewood buildings to Lee’s alleged bias against Levitt.

Levitt could appeal the court’s decision to the Tennessee Supreme Court. He wasn’t available for comment late Monday afternoon

There are total of 10 Applewood Apartment buildings that have been ordered demolished. Krushenski said the other six demolition cases are pending in Anderson County Chancery Court.

The Oak Ridge City Court has ordered that three more buildings be repaired. That order has been appealed to Anderson County Circuit Court, Krushenski said.

The city has fought a code enforcement battle against the 13-building apartment complex on Hillside Road and Hunter Circle for several years. City officials say they want the buildings repaired, while Levitt says he has made repairs.

You can read the opinion here.