Aspen Place knew for years Gardner complex was in ‘dismal state,’ lawsuit says
Tenants at a Johnson County apartment complex filed a lawsuit May 16 against the complex’s owners and management over the property’s poor upkeep, which ultimately led to the complex’s condemnation.
“This case is primarily about the long-running neglect of multiple ownership and property-management entities to substantially invest in, and thereby repair, the decaying, unstable plumbing system at a residential apartment complex,” the lawsuit said.
Former tenants Aric Cooperwood, Anthony Fellows and Rachel Fellows filed the suit in the Kansas City Division of the United States District Court on behalf of other tenants facing similar circumstances after living in Aspen Place Apartments — a Gardner apartment complex that was shut down by the city this month because of deteriorating water infrastructure.
Residents filed the class action suit to push property owners to fix the plumbing issues and ensure that former tenants get their prorated May rent and security deposits.
The complaint names the KDR Group — KDR Realty LLC and KDR AP LLC — as the current owner and manager of Aspen Place. Prior to KDR, Axiom Properties and several other LLCs were named as the previous managers and owners.
KDR bought the property in 2022. It owns several other properties across the KC Metro, including several in Johnson County. Axiom owns and operates more than 20 properties in the area.
The companies have 20 days to respond to the complaint.
“The exasperating thing about the lawsuit is it makes it harder for us to … fix the situation and (help) the tenants,” said Jeffrey Zimmerman, general counsel for KDR.
Representatives for Axiom could not be reached.
Aspen Place Apartments
The Aspen Place buildings were constructed in 1954 and served soldiers at a former military base. The water system infrastructure hasn’t been updated since its installment, which led to the frequent water issues tenants saw at the property.
“However, those who benefited from their rents — ownership and property management businesses — knew, or certainly should have known, for years that the plumbing and infrastructure running throughout Aspen Place was in a dismal state, unsuitable, in need of investment, and thereby an avoidable disaster due to the long-running neglect of the property’s water and plumbing systems,” the complaint said.
On May 7, Gardner city officials declared the near 200-unit complex at 101 Aspen St. unfit for habitation because the deteriorating water infrastructure left tenants with unreliable and inconsistent water service. Many residents reported that they couldn’t flush their toilets, use their showers, or do their laundry in their units.
The city gave the residents 48 hours to pack up and move out. While the short notice created a “stressful mass displacement” of residents, it was up to the property managers to amend the issues that plagued the complex’s aging infrastructure, the lawsuit claims.
“The water lines at Aspen Place had presented significant long-term maintenance problems affecting the delivery of essential services to tenants (such as water) well before the condemnation,” the complaint said. “The municipality finally issued that judgment after a series of minor citations inappropriate to the magnitude of the deficiency.”
What’s next?
Many former tenants are struggling to get back on their feet after the forced move and are still waiting for their May prorated rent and security deposits, said Bryce Bell, a founding partner at Bell Law LLC who is representing the tenants in the case.
“The purpose of (the class action lawsuit) is how can we get relief for the total number of people that have been affected by the situation in a way that’s as efficient and fair as possible.” Bell said.
Since the complex’s condemnation, Bell has been meeting with tenants to hear their stories and conducting outreach for folks who lived at Aspen Place within the last five years.
He estimated that his firm had spoken with about 50 people as of May 22. He said the firm plans to organize an in-person town hall sometime next week, but no dates, times or locations have been set.
His firm set up a dedicated website — aspenplacelawsuit.com — where attorneys will be making updates on the case and providing information for tenants.
“Seeing the pictures and videos and talking to people, they’re very upset and they have reason to be,” Bell said. “We’ve done some housing work and we’ve seen living conditions that are pretty horrific, but I don’t know if we’ve been in a situation like this where people have been given 48 hours to move out. It’s a new one.”
He added that he’d like to make contact with the people representing ownership and management to see if there’s a way to resolve this sooner rather than later.
“My goal is to make sure the tenants have some type of relief for what they’ve been through,” Bell said. “It’s really a sad and unfortunate situation that these tenants had to be placed in this situation.”
Property repairs
Zimmerman, KDR’s general counsel, said that KDR has been working with Kansas Legal Services to send refunds and security deposits back to tenants.
“All those checks have been written and we’re trying to get them in the hands of the tenants,” Zimmerman said. “But, because they have (been) disbursed, that is not an easy task. We are working with Kansas Legal Services to get the checks that have not been claimed … to everyone there.”
Zimmerman estimated that Kansas Legal Services is representing 36 of the tenants. They are working together to identify more tenants to ensure they get their money back.
KDR submitted plans to replace the water system to the Johnson County Airport Authority, which oversees the property because it was part of a former naval air station. It’s currently under review, he said.
“Because the property is vacated now, that has condensed the time it will take to replace the water system because we can do it all at once instead of increments,” Zimmerman said.
“We’ve already found a contractor who estimates it’ll take 60 days from the time plans are approved and we’re hoping that we can get displaced tenants back in their homes at that time if they haven’t found housing by then.”
