Owners Of Rodent-Infested Bay Area Apartments To Pay $9M After Years Of Code Violations: Officials

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — The property owners of a dilapidated apartment complex in San Francisco must pay $9 million in a "first-of-its-kind" settlement that'll address health and safety issues that have severely impacted the building's tenants for years, city officials said.

McCormack Baron Salazar, a St. Louis-based developer, opened Alice Griffith Apartments in 2017 but neglected it for years, leading to health and safety issues and a pest infestation, city officials said.

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In doing so, they racked up dozens of code violations of the city's plumbing, electrical, building and fire codes, prosecutors said.

"For years, families at Alice Griffith were told by the owners to wait for conditions to improve," Supervisor Shamann Walton, who represents the district where the complex is located, said. "Residents deserve clean and safe living conditions, including working elevators, pest-free homes, and garbage-free areas, and this settlement forces the owners to finally deliver this to the residents."

"No San Franciscan should have to live in substandard housing, and there must be consequences when residents are deprived of a safe and healthy place to live," San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said in a statement on Wednesday. "We know it's not possible to solve every challenge overnight, but this agreement directs real dollars into Alice Griffith and holds the property owners accountable for the terrible conditions at the property."

As part of the $9 million settlement, McCormack Baron Salazar will need to invest $3 million directly into critical property improvements like pest control, security upgrades and repairs, according to city prosecutors.

The Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development will provide an extra $2 million to improve play areas in the complex's courtyards, officials said.

McCormack Baron Salazar will also pay the city $3 million in penalties and another $3 million in unpaid water and sewer service fees to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, officials said.

"For years, families at Alice Griffith were told by the owners to wait for conditions to improve," Supervisor Shamann Walton, who represents the district where the complex is located, said. "Residents deserve clean and safe living conditions, including working elevators, pest-free homes, and garbage-free areas, and this settlement forces the owners to finally deliver this to the residents."

McCormack Baron Salazar has resolved 31 out of its 41 notices of violations as of Wednesday, according to a press release from city officials.

"We have worked tirelessly to provide a place that is safe, secure and accommodating for the tenants who call Alice Griffith home," a spokesperson for McCormack Baron Salazar told KQED. "Today's mutually agreed-upon settlement between all of the Alice Griffith partners marks a moment for this community to move forward in a collaborative, positive manner."