The city has recently installed fresh boards and concrete over missing windows and doors to prevent anyone from entering the premises. Kimbrough said that the brick apartment buildings are still assigned to Human Services and that it is that agency's responsibility to maintain them and, if they are vacant, determine an alternative use. But Madelyn Andrews, a Human Services spokeswoman, said her agency turned over its homeless operations to a private-sector group several years ago and no longer has any need for the buildings. City memorandums dating to 1991 indicate that officials have realized since then that terminating the lease would require the District to pay the landlord the full amount of unpaid rent. In recent months, The Staubach Co., a real estate management firm hired by the city, has met several times with the landlord to discuss a settlement.
Nobody wants to see that property abandoned.
Graham said what most disturbs him is that it has taken the city so long to seek out a solution. It makes no sense. Dong said the city will now move swiftly to reach an agreement. While the city figures out what to do with the properties, the buildings continue to deteriorate. Rain leaks through broken windows on upper floors and putrid odors drift at times from the structures, which are filled with rotting mattresses, knocked-out walls and human waste left by squatters.