RICHMOND, Va. — Property management of Legacy at Imperial Village is responding for the first time amid ongoing scrutiny of the apartment complex and heightened enforcement activity from the city. Meanwhile, a city councilmember continues to call for legal action if problems remain unfixed.
Just this week, city officials said the air conditioning across the entire property went out on Monday, prompting city staff to respond to the property to assist residents who may have needed relief. As of Wednesday, air conditioning had been restored to three of the complex's four buildings.
Property Manager Judy Walton said the cause of the outage was storm damage. For the one building still without air conditioning, Walton said a replacement part was "expected shortly."
The air conditioning failure is the latest in a series of problems at the property. As CBS 6 previously reported, resident complaints have included bed bug and cockroach infestations, broken elevators, and dirty common areas.
Watch: Richmond seniors struggle with bedbugs, broken elevators at apartment complex
Richmond Councilmember Kenya Gibson, whose district includes the complex, described the living conditions as "alarming."
Since 2021, the city has opened at least 180 code enforcement cases at the property but has not imposed any fines. Gibson believes the city's past approach in holding the owners accountable has not been effective in mitigating the problems that persist today.
"Residents are still living in a hot building, so given the fact that these issues have been going back for years, it's clear that the way that the system has been set up has fallen short," Gibson said.
However, in a previous interview with CBS 6, Commissioner of Buildings David Alley said the city handled past code violations appropriately by responding to complaints and requiring compliance.
In a letter dated June 24, Gibson called on Mayor Danny Avula's administration to take legal action against the property's owners, citing a new state law she says gives localities greater authority to do so.
"We need to take action to make sure that now the responsibility isn't on us for allowing these things to persist," Gibson said.
By the time Gibson sent her letter, city code enforcement had already launched a sweeping inspection of the property and cited numerous life safety violations.
Richmond
Richmond mayor takes action to hold apartment owners accountable
Mayor Avula said he is giving the property time to make required corrections first.
"I think beyond that, if we find that a property owner is not complying or really egregiously exceeding the deadlines that we've set, then we do need to take another step," Avula said.
In the first statement received from the complex since CBS 6's reporting began, Walton said the property has "developed a comprehensive corrective action plan, and many of the cited items have already been resolved."
She said owners have invested "millions of dollars" in "apartment renovations, infrastructure improvements, and major mechanical system upgrades" since acquiring the community.
Walton added that "ownership recently met with city officials" and is "working collaboratively" with them.
But exactly who those owners are remains unclear. The city provided the name of an owner to CBS 6, but when we requested comment from that person, Walton said that person was not the owner. We asked Walton who is the owner, and she has not yet responded.
In public city records, an LLC based in Lakewood, New Jersey is listed as the ownership entity. State records do not list meaningful information as to who exactly is behind that LLC.
The city also confirmed that the property remains delinquent on taxes. As CBS 6 previously reported, the city said Imperial has been delinquent on business license and business personal property taxes 2022 through 2026. Finance Department records also show about $568K in real estate taxes still due for 2025.
In response, Walton said, "those are administrative matters being addressed by ownership."
"They do not impact our commitment to operating the community or completing the ongoing improvements," she added.
Gibson said she hopes the sustained attention on the complex leads to real change for residents.
"I'm really very thankful that folks had the courage to say, 'This isn't okay,' and I think now we are in a place, I hope, where we can just take those voices and do something about it," Gibson said.
Walton acknowledged that there are "areas that require continued investment and modernization," but said Imperial is focused on "continuing to improve the property and providing residents with a safe, comfortable, and high-quality living environment."
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
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