Roosevelt Building residents scrambling after being told to move out
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Residents at Downtown Pittsburgh's Roosevelt Building say they're feeling stressed three weeks after a fire broke out on the 12th floor.
Residents told KDKA-TV's Meghan Schiller that they learned everyone needs to move out by Jan. 13.
"I will be homeless. I have no family, no nothing so I will be on the streets," one resident said.
KDKA's Meghan Schiller talked to the attorney representing the building and found out repairs will take up to five months. That means the 100-plus people moving out will likely never return.
The city condemned the Roosevelt Building in December, sending most residents to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center and then to local hotels. Now it appears that time is up.
"On Christmas Eve, I got a Scrooge notice saying gotta be out by the 13th," resident Victor Zepp said
"The thing is, you can't move 100 some people out by the 13th," said resident Mark Slaughter. "It's impossible."
The building's attorney, John Kamin, told KDKA-TV it needs to happen for safety purposes. He said the building's management is working with HUD to find many of the residents in Section 8 comparable housing, even forking over more than $8,000 a day since mid-December to put people up in hotels. That will end this week, according to Kamin.
Kamin said the extensive water damage in the building means four to five months of repairs that will require crews to work double shifts to get all 180 apartments safe for living again.
