Residents at Millie on Brush in Detroit alarmed over rat infestation and safety concerns
Residents at Detroit high-rise raise alarm about rodents, safety
The Millie on Brush is located in Downtown Detroit, a great location. But some residents say the conditions inside are far from fine, and they have serious concerns ranging from sanitation and odors to safety.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - They say they were promised luxury living but have a rat infestation instead at a Detroit apartment high-rise.
Big picture view:
The Millie on Brush is located in Downtown Detroit, a great location. But some residents say the conditions inside are far from fine, and they have serious concerns ranging from sanitation and odors to safety.
"Now we've been finding rats running in the lobby, running at people," said resident Allanah Morales. "I have a dog, so it's very concerning for me. Even just going through the lobby, you'll see feces from time to time from the rats, so it's a major health risk. I would say the trash is the main thing. Even if you were to walk into the lobby right now, it constantly has this, I don't know, purely horrid smell."
There has also been concerns of homeless people wandering the halls, peeing on walls and attempting to enter residences.
The property manager referred FOX 2 to an executive vice president, who said they are working on the issues and that an inspector from the city was on site today and gave a rave review.
But that's not what the city's chief enforcement officer told FOX 2.
"We received a complaint regarding the pests, the smell, the elevator and the air conditioning. The inspector verified they have issues with all of those conditions," said Arthur Rushin, chief enforcement officer for the City of Detroit. "They do have an infestation of rodents, so we are going to address that with an emergency correction order. They do have a pest control company that they've hired."
Dig deeper:
Rushin says management at The Millie on Brush will be issued a correction order and then ticketed if they don't comply. But they will be meeting with management to come up with a plan to move forward and into compliance.
What they're saying:
Ashely Sinclaid, the executive vice president of marketing and brand loyalty issued a lengthy statement about the story:
First and foremost, we take our residents' concerns very seriously and have been working as fast as we can upon us taking over management to address all the issues we inherited.
We are actively working through several improvements across the community. This is in addition to several upgrades, repairs, and replacements completed over the past twelve months to address concerns. In addition to physical repairs and capital projects, we maintain a standing contract with a licensed extermination company that services the property routinely and is also available upon resident request whenever needed. The Mille is unique in that it has a retail component, as well as shared space with the hotel, making it difficult to find the source of the issues, however, the issues were addressed. Currently, we aren’t aware of any infestation.
Both the residents and guest lobbies are currently undergoing updates as part of our broader improvement plan. Earlier this year, we also completed several upgrades in the loading dock area, including a new loading dock door, enhanced security features, and most recently a renovation of the trash compactor room. About a year ago, we also completed a significant rebuild of the trash chute itself, further improving sanitation and overall waste handling conditions for residents.
The City Inspector was on-site today and gave a rave review of the asset.