Serenity Towers tenants set to move due to elevator issues
Nov 14, 2024
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Plans are officially in the works to move Serenity Towers’ tenants, after days of elevators not working.
Serenity Towers was back in environmental court Thursday because things are not getting better for those who call this place home.
“Several of them have been trapped or should I say falsely imprisoned in their units for over ten days now,” said, Carlissa Shaw, City of Memphis counsel.
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For more than a week, the elevators in the East and West Towers have not been working and to make matters worse, according to Special Master Marcus Ward, there aren’t any plans to fix it.
"We have ambulances that are coming to Serenity daily to assist residents with issues that are non-emergency,” Ward said. “Repairing the elevators is not the problem. We can’t get anyone out because we can’t get our business relationship together.”
Geoffery Gaia, an attorney for Millennia — the company that currently owns the building, says the company doesn't have money to fix the elevators.
Millenia has been trying to sell Serenity. Now, they are looking into other options.
“The owner is also looking into legal means perhaps a foreclosure or something along those lines,” Gaia said.
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While everyone agrees the tenants should be rehoused Ward says it’s easier said than done.
“We would like to move everyone today because everyone is in need of working elevators but partially and financially and for other reasons, we're dealing with government agencies and private parties and getting them together on funding, none of which we expected to do today,” Ward said.
In the meantime, they are requiring Millennia to hire four more employees to work around the clock.
"To assist the tenants with not just their medical needs but their everyday needs," Ward said.
The City of Memphis, Department of Housing and Urban Department, Millenna, Special Master, and several others are holding a meeting at 2 p.m. to discuss a plan to rehouse the tenants. All parties are expected to bring that plan to environmental court on Tuesday.