Fines, complaints haven’t spurred change at vacant KCK complex that keeps catching fire

A vacant apartment complex that’s plagued a Kansas City, Kansas, neighborhood for years after closing down nearly a decade ago due to mismanagement and disrepair caught fire — again —Thursday, adding to community frustrations.

The two-alarm fire was the second in a 24-hour period that damaged one of the buildings at the former Rosedale Ridge apartment complex, which once served as part of a national example of how to bridge racial and digital divides.

By the time firefighters responded to the fire about 6:40 a.m. Thursday, heavy smoke poured from the three-story building at 2025 S. Mill Street, said Assistant Chief Scott Schaunaman, a spokesman for the Kansas City, Kansas, Fire Department. Flames also could be seen coming from the structure.

Firefighters took up defensive positions and fought the blaze from outside the building, eventually bringing the fire under control about 7:40 a.m. Drivers on their morning commute along I-35 into downtown Kansas City could see the smoke rising from the burning complex on a hill near Mission Road.

The two-alarm blaze was the second one at the apartment complex in under 24 hours, and the latest in a string of fires there. A two-alarm fire on Wednesday damaged the south side of the building.

A firewall separates the north and south sides of the building. Fire investigators were trying to determine if the fire rekindled or if the second was its own event, Schaunaman said.

The two fires are among at least four fires that have been reported at the complex in the last year, Schaunaman said, damaging three different buildings. The cause is still under investigation.

The fires are the latest in a sad tale about the low-income housing development in Kansas City, Kansas, which at one time served as part of a national example of how to bridge the racial divide in Kansas City by closing the digital divide. Successes there led to a federal program to provide free or reduced cost internet to public housing.

The apartments buildings, however, have been vacant and decaying since the complex closed about seven years ago because of terrible living conditions, including black mold which some neighbors say still persists and causes problems.

‘It has to burn ... before they do anything.’

A neighbor, who declined to be identified, said Thursday that when the apartments closed they had black mold, rodents and mildew.

He said he and other neighbors have been asking the neighborhood center to tear it down since, saying everyone who lives nearby has sinus issues.

The man had asked the city and county to mow the grass because it was several feet high, but was told that city didn’t have money to do so.

“I think they just don’t care being Wyandotte County,” he said. “It has to burn to the ground before they do anything. They say they don’t have the funds.”

The county has had an active case against the property for about four years, said Patrick Holton, manager of property maintenance compliance with the Unified Government.

Vacant structures at the property have caught on fire several times in the last year, he said, and some buildings have been fully or partially demolished following fires. Still, he said property ownership has indicated they want to refurbish or rebuild the complex. Several architects have been in touch with Unified Government regarding future plans, but none have come to fruition.

The county considers the vacant complex a “problem property,” meaning an inspector assess it every 30 days, Holton said. Leaders have actively fined the property since 2019. Citation fees start at $100 and can climb to a maximum of $1500 per fine once a property owner has accrued enough citations. The vacant apartment complex has reached the $1500 fine threshold, Holton said.

Holton said the property has gone to tax sale multiple times, meaning property taxes were overdue, but the owner always redeemed the complex.

Leaders in Unified Government and the community will meet Monday to discuss other options.

“To get a more concrete game plan of what specifically this property might need,” he said. “Essentially, we want to say from the owners because essentially it is the owner’s responsibility to look after the property and protect it from situations like we’re seeing.”

Unified Government’s case against the property will remain open until a plan is submitted and seen to completion, Holton said. Residents can continue to make complaints to Unified Government, and leaders will add them to the property’s case file.

A history of problems

Rosedale Ridge’s troubles date back to at least the 1980s. In 1993, the complex’s landlord was among four Kansas City landlords who pleaded guilty in federal court to skimming hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal housing assistance money and depositing it into their own accounts.

The following year, the federal government won $1.6 million in damages from the former owner of the housing project. By then Department of Housing and Urban Development had taken over the project after the owner and limited partner had defaulted on the mortgage.

A HUD audit at the time found that the apartments were not adequately maintained and that there were serious tenant health and safety hazards, including roach infestation, falling ceilings and windows, and doors that did not provide security or protection from the weather.

In 2011, Google Fiber announced that the two Kansas Citys would be the first in the nation to have access to its ultrahigh-speed fiber. One of the programs that grew out of that period was Kansas City’s Connecting for Good, a nonprofit that started the same year.

In December 2012, the organization brought free internet access to approximately 400 residents, of which more than half were children under the age of 12. Connecting for Good also provided digital literacy lessons and access to refurbished computers.

A May 2015 story, KCUR reported that the complex was on the verge of being shut down because of the terrible conditions that continued to plague the apartments. The day after the story aired, residents found out that the buildings were closing and they had to move elsewhere.

Since then, the three-story buildings have sat vacant at the top of the hill with their windows boarded up.