Trowbridge Apartments reopen after being condemned over lead
An apartment complex condemned last year has now re-opened after serious renovations by new owners to fix numerous code violations.
The Trowbridge Apartments in central El Paso were condemned after lead contamination was found, along with electrical, plumbing and mechanical violations.
The city said what happened next is unusual. The apartments were cleaned, cleared and fixed up instead of being demolished. New owners chose to put in the work to bring them back up to code.
“We recommended condemnation a year and a half ago for the building because it was pretty dilapidated,” said Victor Morrison-Vega, deputy director for city development. “And we thought it was hazardous for residents to be there.”
Demolition isn’t necessarily required after being condemned, but Morrison-Vega says that’s what usually happens with structures that need that much work.
“Taking a structure this size from a condemnation proceeding to rehabilitation,” Morrison-Vega, “I would imagine there was several hundred thousand dollars that were involved in the process.”
The new owners, a partnership between Acquin Properties and EP Loretto, said it was very costly to do the renovations, but they wanted to keep the housing open if possible.
They became interested after seeing the story about the condemnation and current residents said they feel safe in the recently re-opened apartments.
“Because everything was remodeled from the inside,” said Estela Romero. “And they took the walls and everything down.”
The current owners of the property said that their purpose was to have the cleanest apartments on Trowbridge, and that they would be interested in something similar should the opportunity come up in the future.
