Most residents left their apartments over the weekend. Two of the fifteen apartments were long empty. Most of the apartments were privately owned, three owned by the municipality. The house is managed by the “Riga House Manager (RNP)”. The house had firewood heating and cold water.
Tenant Georgijs is one of the last. He moves out calmly, without stress. He knows the state of the house, but it doesn't bother him because he doesn't own the apartment, he rented it.
“The house is in a state of emergency, everything is closed. [..] It's crumbling of course, but it's still standing,” Georgijs said.
Una Grenevica, the spokeswoman for Rīga House Manager, said that the company's employees visited each apartment individually. Residents of the house have found other residences, and the building's conservation works are underway.
This house is a classic example of what happens when owners are unable to agree or are not bothered by the technical state of the building. The house has been in an emergency state for a long time, but no action has followed.
In determining the state of emergency and the hazards, representatives of the City Development Department of Riga City Council ordered residents to leave the building voluntarily until February 28, while the hazards of the building must be eliminated by June 30.
How this will work is not clear, because so far the owners have failed to gather.
“We didn't get the common decision. Five of the fifteen apartments came to the general meeting. No decisions were taken to preserve the building,” Grenevica said.
Owners may decide on demolition, conservation, or renovation of the building. Any decision means additional costs. One of the apartments in this house, which is forbidden to live in, is currently also sold on a popular advertisement page for €15,500.
Special attention has been paid to the situation of buildings after rescuers received a call to a building on Valdemāra Street on the evening of February 18 due to cracks in its wall, and the residents were promptly evacuated.
