LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Tenants are speaking out, frustrated by renovations at The Stretch Apartment Complex on Red Mile Road.
Camryn Johnson, a recent University of Kentucky graduate, and Lily Towles, who has one year left at UK, said they had no other choice but to live in a hotel for four nights during repairs.
They emphasized that workers left their door open for hours leading to a bug problem. Towles and Johnson, two of four tenants in one unit, say there was poor communication from The Stretch adding that workers destroyed their unit during the process.
Living at The Stretch since August, they are delivering this message: "Don't live here. It was nice living here at first and then as we saw how management reacted, how we saw how our landlords reacted to certain situations, it just got worse and worse and worse," Johnson said.
Johnson and Towles described the situation this week beginning with an email Towles received from management on Sunday.
"They emailed me and told us that we had to move all our stuff out because they were gonna paint on Monday," Towles noted.
The Stretch, according to Towles and Johnson, noted that prep work would start Monday followed by painting Tuesday and touch up work and final checks Wednesday.
"We received emails, a day by day of what they were doing and it was not accurate to what they were doing and it was not accurate to what was actually happening in the apartment," Johnson said.
While renovating units, The Stretch told tenants they would not have to move out during renovations.
They were supposed to finish renovations Wednesday. Two days later?
"It's still not done, there's still like covers off the light switches, the plug-ins to the wall, our TV is still not up on the wall," Towles said.
This is a statement to LEX18 from Eddie Ravert from GMH Communities:
"As we are undergoing renovations at The Stretch, we have provided our residents consistent communication on progress and updates via email and text message. We have and will continue to keep an open and direct line of communication with our residents that have expressed their concerns with the renovations. As we aim to improve The Stretch through these renovations, our residents' safety and convenience is our top priority. We apologize to our residents for the inconvenience and have reached out to those directly impacted with detailed steps that we are taking to ensure the renovations are completed as smoothly as possible."
Johnson and Towles sent us several photos and videos voicing their frustration.
This is Camryn's conclusion: "This has been the worst place I've ever lived," Johnson said.
Johnson and Towles plan to move out July 31. Representatives from The Stretch and GMH Communities declined opportunities for an on-camera interview.
