Neighbors of troubled KC apartment complex sue, seek fixes: ‘Should be ashamed’
Neighbors of the troubled Olive Park Village apartments in Kansas City have filed a lawsuit against the complex’s owners, asking a judge to order fixes to dangerous conditions at the property.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Independence Plaza Neighborhood Council against Olive Park Village MO, LLC in Jackson County Circuit Court Tuesday, according to an attorney for the council. The property is owned by Millennia Housing Management, a large property management company based in Ohio.
Many units at the property are unrented, and poor security at the site has led to regular break-ins, the lawsuit said. Plywood has been used to cover over broken windows or doors, but those coverings are flimsy, easily removed and haven’t served as much of a deterrent to the break-ins, the lawsuit said. Unoccupied units have built up large quantities of trash, insects and rodents, and flooding in multiple units has left substantial water damage and mold, attorneys wrote.
In September, a fire severely damaged one of the buildings in the complex, and the burned-out structure hasn’t been dealt with yet. While fencing has been put up around the building, people have still broken into the structure and are living in it, the lawsuit said. The building has a demolition order that is working its way through the city’s process.
The lawsuit asks for an expedited review from a judge and for an order requiring the complex’s ownership to make improvements at the property. The lawsuit also asks the court to consider sanctions of $100 per day, per unit, and to appoint a receiver to take over the property or sell it if current ownership doesn’t make improvements.
Millennia didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
A “lawless mess”
In a news release, Gregg Lombardi, an attorney with Neighborhood Legal Support of Kansas City, which is representing the neighborhood, said the complex’s owners have allowed Olive Park Village to become a “lawless mess.”
“People regularly break into units and trash them and the owner just lets it happen,” Lombardi said. “It is extremely dangerous for the families that live there. Any one of the buildings could burn to the ground on any given night.”
Lombardi told The Star he knew of one tenant who sleeps with her lights on so that people will know that her apartment is occupied and won’t try to break in.
“The situation really is dangerous,” he said.
In the release, Chloe Willett, a neighbor of the property and a member of the neighborhood’s housing committee, described what the complex’s ownership had done at the site as “reprehensible.”
“They have sucked every penny of profit they could out of this property and left their tenants living in dangerous squalor,” she said. “They should be ashamed of themselves. We are not going to let them get away with this.”
Some residents of the complex have received housing assistance from the federal government. After complaints about the property, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the federal housing agency, said it had issued a default notice to Millennia for Section 8 housing contracts it had and said it was providing special vouchers and relocation assistance for eligible households.
Kansas City spokeswoman Sherae Honeycutt said the complex has approximately 15 units still occupied, and of that group, half have secured new housing and are awaiting move-in dates.
This story was originally published December 23, 2025 at 4:16 PM.
