Raytown residents form first tenant union after years of ‘ridiculous’ conditions
Residents of a Raytown apartment building launched the first tenant union in the city’s history Monday.
Bowen Tower, located at 6140 Raytown Road, is a 92 unit building that houses mostly elderly and disabled people. Tenants began organizing in May after they lived without hot water and gas for over a week, according to a news release from KC Tenants, a local tenant union.
Tenants said in the release that they have also lived without heating, air conditioning and endured consistent flooding for at least a year. This year, their rent went up 15%. As of Monday, just over half of the building had joined the union.
“...I had to walk up and down six flights of stairs to go grocery shopping,” said Shelley Bell, a leader in the Bowen Tower Tenant Union in the release. Bell has bone cancer and said the broken elevators and general conditions in the building are hazardous to her health.
The union aims to meet with landlord Charles Hill of Alta/CGHS Real Estate Investments, a private company based out of Los Angeles, hoping to negotiate an agreement which includes permanent fixes on the plumbing, HVAC system, elevators, caps on rent increases and regular maintenance. They also hope to get protection against retaliation like evictions and lease non-renewals.
“This is my home. I have the right to (form a union) . I have the right to improve the living conditions,” said Elijah Brink, a member of the tenant union.
In a statement Tuesday, Alta/CGHS Real Estate Investments told The Star that the overall increase is actually about 4.6% over the last three years, and that there has been no retaliation against tenants. Ownership said the elevator was damaged recently after KC Tenants came into the building and overcrowded the elevator, allegedly damaging the motor.
One elevator is currently operational, according to Alta/CGHS Real Estate Investments, and the other will be up and running by July 21.
“Over the past 18 months, we have experienced a series of unforeseen issues, and while some repairs have taken longer than anticipated — due to part availability or specialized labor — we remain fully committed to addressing each matter promptly and thoroughly,” Alta/CGHS Real Estate Investments in an email to The Star.
Flooded apartments, mold, infestations
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Cynthia Barlow, a tenant in the building, said she awoke one morning last December to her apartment’s ceiling leaking. Water was running into her living room, kitchen and bathroom, she said.
“I had to remove everything out of my cabinets, and clean the walls down with bleach,” Barlow said, adding the leak was just the beginning of her problems, as mold began to speckle the walls, stinking up her unit.
“At one point I was coming home, shampooing my carpet every day or sucking up water,” she said.
Barlow was eventually moved to a different unit and was cleaning her kitchen when a pipe came loose. Water was everywhere on the floor. When she called emergency maintenance, she was told her situation was not an emergency.
“I’m scared to invite people here. The way it looks so bad, we haven’t had two working elevators since last year,” said Barlow, a leader of the Bowen Tower tenant union.
The walls in several units had been broken open, exposing the pipes in order to fix them. It was a task, Barlow said, which was not completed and made it easier for units to flood.
“It’s ridiculous. And like I said, all they do is band-aid work instead of coming in here and doing the work,” she said.
Elijah Brink and his father can’t use their bathroom sink. It’s been consistently leaking for months. He currently sleeps on a cot in the living room because there’s a bedbug infestation in his bedroom.
“They’ve tried to do exterminations numerous times, but the bedbugs just keep coming back,” he told The Star.
Brink and his father have been living at Bowen Tower since February 2024, and says they have seen lots of management turnover and the quality of management degrade. Their AC went out last summer, and didn’t turn on this year until June 1, two months later than promised.
Alta/CGHS Real Estate Investments said Tuesday they were notified weeks ago of a malfunction within the property’s chiller and that the few tenants affected were given portable AC units and fans. Repairs, they said, were delayed after the first contracted technician was injured.
Over $200,000 has been spent on plumbing repairs and replacements over the last 18 months, according to the ownership, and $320,000 has been spent on additional repairs in the building.
More improvements have been made over the last eight years, including the installation of a new chiller, two new boilers, a new hot water tank piping system, a new water cooler, and a full roof replacement which was completed in 2016, according to ownership.
“While we acknowledge the recent string of maintenance concerns, please be assured that we are actively managing each issue and remain committed to maintaining a safe, respectful, and lawful environment for all residents and staff members,” Alta/CGHS Real Estate Investments said in a statement.
The roof began leaking, according to ownership, after a severe thunderstorm. Since then, they’ve sealed off the affected area and are assessing the damage and getting bids for repairs, Alta/CGHS Real Estate Investments said.
Bowen Tower previously made headlines in 2023 after one person died and three more were hospitalized following a fire in the building.
This story was originally published July 7, 2025 at 2:18 PM.
