ADRIAN — Riverview Terrace tenants are being told to look for new housing because there is no timeline for when — or if — they’ll be able to move back. 

Adrian city officials and local housing agencies continue to help residents of the condemned apartment building try to find temporary and longer-term housing solutions, but there is a concern that some may be expecting they’ll be able to move back sooner rather than later. 

“You really, in our estimation, should not be waiting for Riverview Terrace to reopen,” Adrian City Administrator Greg Elliott said Friday. 

He said the specialized structural engineering firm that was asked to inspect the building has not yet given a report on what can be done to repair the building, let alone how long that might take. A news release issued by the city Thursday said it could “take many months and possibly more than a year” before the situation is resolved. 

“Of course, there’s a question about whether the owners will choose to repair it once they come up with an estimate for that,” Elliott said. 

“There’s been, I think, a perception among some of the residents that they’re just waiting to go back in,” Elliott said. “We wanted to emphasize that, no, you shouldn’t use your time in the temporary shelter to wait to go back to Riverview Terrace. You should be actively looking for new housing options.” 

“While there are caseworkers trying to work with all of (the tenants), if they do what they can to help themselves at the same time, that would be helpful,” Elliott said. 

Riverview Terrace is an independent-living community for people who are 62 and older or who are permanently disabled. It was condemned and its approximately 175 tenants evacuated July 25 after a 6- to 9-inch gap between the floor and a wall was found in a third-floor apartment while carpet was being removed. Inspections found several more cracks throughout the building. Officials have said it appears the exterior walls are separating from the interior structure of the building.

Because of a housing shortage in Lenawee County and neighboring regions that has left few alternate housing options for the Riverview Terrace residents, the city of Adrian has agreed to buy the Adrian Inn motel on West Maumee Street to temporarily address some of those housing needs. However, there will not be enough rooms in the inn to accommodate the 100 or so Riverview Terrace residents who are living in area hotels and motels now, Elliott said. 

When Riverview Terrace was condemned July 25, there were 65 people who were moved to hotels and motels, Elliott said. Since then, about 35 residents who originally found someplace else to stay have switched to the motels, meaning the city and housing agencies are working with about 100 people. 

The city expects to close on the purchase of the inn on Friday, Aug. 19, Elliott said.  

Riverview Terrace tenants who stayed at the hotel at Splash Universe in Dundee through Aug. 12 have been moved to hotels and motels in Adrian and Tecumseh, including the Adrian Inn, Elliott said. 

Being back in Adrian and Tecumseh means those people have better access to services they were using in Lenawee County, he said. 

“That improves the situation, but next week is going to be a new challenge because there’s still a deadline as to how long those folks can stay in certain of those accommodations,” he said. 

To pay for the current local motel stays, the Michigan State Housing Development Authority has issued $40,000 in vouchers through Housing Help of Lenawee, Elliott said, but it is unknown how long MSHDA will provide funding. The $40,000 will only cover about five days at hotels. 

There are 70 rooms that can be used at the Adrian Inn once the city buys it and the current motel guests’ reservations end, but that is not enough to house the 100 or so people who have been staying at motels, Elliott said. The Adrian Inn has been the first choice for temporary housing because people will be able to stay there after the city buys it. 

“The others are less certain. We’re waiting to see whether MSHDA extends more funds for these stays,” he said. 

The apartment building’s management company paid for hotel stays initially. 

“They were unwilling to participate in paying for anything else after the two weeks in Dundee,” Elliott said. 

At some point, the displaced tenants will have to start paying rent again, Elliott said. Almost everybody at Riverview Terrace paid rent, which averaged about $600 per month, from their own resources. 

“Up to this point, they've not had to pay anything for their housing, but we are going to have to reach a point where people who are asking to be housed contribute toward the cost of that housing, even to the Adrian Inn,” Elliott said. 

The city will have costs to operate and maintain the Adrian Inn, though those costs might not be as much as a motel with a staffed front desk and housekeeping, he said. 

In order to ensure that every resident has some type of shelter, the city is making plans for temporary emergency shelter options, along with a temporary shelter for pets, if needed, Thursday’s news release said. 

This type of shelter would be like what would be done in other emergencies, Elliott said. The city is looking for a place where that kind of shelter could be set up. 

Along those lines, Elliott said the American Red Cross and Federal Emergency Management Agency only will respond with temporary housing to a “manmade or natural disaster.” 

“This does not fall within their criteria,” Elliott said, adding that Lenawee County Emergency Management Coordinator Craig Tanis contacted the Red Cross and FEMA and Riverview Terrace’s property owner asked its insurance company about temporary housing and each was told this situation was a building maintenance issue and they could not help. 

“We did hope that by both the city and the county issuing emergency declarations … that the state would follow suit to free up some funding that way, but to date that has not happened,” Elliott said. 

A group of agencies, including Housing Help of Lenawee, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the Lenawee County Department on Aging, and the Lenawee Community Mental Health Authority, are assessing the tenants’ needs when trying to find housing for them, Elliott said. The most vulnerable are being placed at the Adrian Inn because it will be the most stable situation and most convenient to services the tenants may need.