North Olmsted's Westbury Apartments addressing falling brick and balcony violations

NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio - After numerous 2014 property violations regarding the brick facade and balconies on the Westbury Apartments, located at the corner of North Olmsted Boulevard and Brookpark Road, repair work has begun on the 19-story building.

"There's a long history of the Westbury not being responsive to the building officials' citations and not abating the violations," North Olmsted Assistant Law Director Bryan P. O'Malley said.

"So charges were brought against Niederst Management and the Westbury Holdings Company. As a consequence of the judicial intervention, the property owner has embarked upon a plan to repair the building." 

"We've done everything we've been asked to do," said Shawn Whiteman, vice president of Fairview Park-based NM Residential, which manages Westbury Apartments. "We've agreed to do repairs based on engineering reports, and those repairs could be between $2 million and $3 million."

A 2014 violation reported 100-square-feet of brick veneer on the 12^th story became dislodged and fell to the ground. The building had the same issue in 2000 and 2008. After the latter incident, which included "thousands of pounds of masonry" falling into an area that could have been occupied by people, the North Olmsted Building Department recommended both an investigation into the issue, as well as annual inspections.

North Olmsted Building Commissioner Jeffrey Grusenmeyer said there were repeated failures of the building skin, mainly the brick veneer, and spalling of concrete from the balconies. The Westbury Apartments was built in 1966.

"The apartment building violations were prosecuted through the Rocky River Courts and subject to a Plea in Diversion," Grusenmeyer said. "The building department does not have the authority to fine property owners in this matter. Fines are issued by the courts when such matters are prosecuted."

O'Malley said those fines are in the $460,000 to $927,000 range. As part of the Plea in Diversion Program, if timelines are met the charges and fines will be dismissed.  

"There's a bit of a carrot and a bit of a stick," O'Malley said. "This is not unusual. It's fairly commonplace, the judicial intervention especially when it involves building matters."

Not part of the Plea in Diversion are 2016 violations of the Westbury Apartments parking garage.

"There are violations that come up every year," Whiteman said. "We asked the city for clarification, which they provided in additional work they might want to see done. We're addressing those as we speak."

Whiteman said NM Residential started managing Westbury Apartments in 2010.

"I can tell you we spent significant amount of money on that building over the years in trying to provide a safe environment for everybody to be in, and at the direction of our engineer and the city," Whiteman said.