HOUSTON, Texas — A once thriving apartment complex in the Westbury area of Houston is now a vast wasteland.
"It should have been torn down a long time ago,” said neighbor Beatrice Monis.
Her family’s home backs up to the long-abandoned Spring Village Apartments.
"We don’t like that," Monis said. "We prefer not to see that.”
The complex’s decaying buildings, including one that’s partially burned, are barely out of sight from her backyard.
"We had to leave the house because we have a baby and smoke was coming in,” Monis said.
The City of Houston bought the six acres of land where the apartments are located in the wake of Hurricane Harvey and helped relocate some tenants.
Plans are to replace apartments with a water detention basin and recreation area.
"We know that residents are very concerned and want to see it demolished as soon as possible,” said District K council member and current Mayor Pro-Tem Martha Castex-Tatum.
She told us vendors are obtaining proper permitting and approvals as we speak. But it's a bureaucratic process that can delay things like demolition, which was initially expected to have already begun.
The good news is that the city said it may begin as soon as the next few weeks.
“I’d love to see it happen sooner rather than later," Castex-Tatum said. "So, I really appreciate you amplifying this urgency.”
It's urgency neighbors like Monis said they've waited on for far too long.
“it’s time to clean up,” she said.
We're told the detention basin and recreation area are still in the design phase.
Once that project is finished, the property will be transferred to the Harris County Flood Control District for regular maintenance.