DeKalb tenants were without hot water since Friday, city says

DeKALB – Residents in one of DeKalb’s largest rental buildings were without hot water for about three days, though it was restored Monday afternoon, city officials said.

A tenant at the Terraces of DeKalb, 1100 W. Lincoln Highway, notified the City of DeKalb Friday morning that their building was without hot water, DeKalb’s newly-hired Business Services Director, former Police Chief John Petragallo, said.

The issue was resolved by Monday afternoon, he said.

“It was a water heater that was in need of repair,” Petragallo said. “I do feel that they [property management] did make an effort to contact the residents. Obviously if you don’t have hot water for a couple of days that’s not good. But they made the necessary repairs.”

Parts required to fix the water heater had to be shipped over the weekend, Petragallo said.

DeKalb municipal code requires landlords to provide hot water to residents.

More tenants called the city Monday morning to inform officials they still were without hot water.

Petragallo said he visited the building in person Friday and Monday to review the repair progress.

It wasn’t immediately clear how many tenants were impacted since city staff did not have residency numbers readily available Monday. But City Manager Bill Nicklas said the whole six-story building was without hot water. He said a contractor arrived Monday to repair a failed valve.

In a news release, city officials said they “shared the frustration” with tenants who were without hot water, and would “use all legal means necessary” to fix the problem.

The Terraces tenants were initially told by building management that hot water would be unavailable “until further notice,” according to the city.

DeKalb city officials said they “found this lack of time estimate for restoration unacceptable,” according to the release.

City officials did not say when tenants were informed of their water situation.

When The Terraces leasing office was reached Monday, an employee referred Shaw Local News Network reporters’ request for comment to property management. The property management office did not return multiple requests for comment by press time Monday.

It’s common for city building officials to enforce municipal code, including fire and safety regulations in rental properties, Petragallo said. But inspectors don’t do regular building walk-throughs.

Tenants should first try to reach their landlord if they have concerns, Petragallo said. If that doesn’t work, they should call the city’s Building and Code Compliance Division at 815-748-2070.

“A lot of times an owner will contact us or a tenant will call us and say ‘There’s no heat in my apartment,’ which would be a trigger for us to go in,” Petragallo said. “So a lot of times, if nobody calls we won’t know.”

‘Distressing pattern,’ says city manager

Nicklas said the water repairs were not the only issue at 1100 W. Lincoln Highway that tenants alerted the City to in recent months.

Between 10 to 15 units at 1100 W. Lincoln Highway were without heat for multiple days over the winter, Petragallo said. City officials were made aware by tenant complaints.

Two boilers weren’t working in the building, which led to burst pipes, Nicklas said. The City of DeKalb relocated affected tenants to The Red Roof Inn nearby, 1212 W. Lincoln Highway, Nicklas said.

Nicklas said one of two elevators inside 1100 W. Lincoln Highway also malfunctioned recently, making it difficult for tenants with accessibility needs to safely navigate getting to their apartments.

“Under normal circumstances you would think they [tenants] would call the private management,” Nicklas said. “The management has not shown itself to be responsive.”

The West Lincoln Highway property, formerly Lincoln Tower, has been the target of public scrutiny more than once over the years as city leaders looked to address tenant housing and safety concerns.

City leaders clashed often with the building’s former property management, Hunter Properties LLC and its subsidiaries. As recently as 2019, Hunter Properties was the city’s largest landlord, owning almost 1,000 rental units in town. Rental properties owned by Hunter were the subject of nearly 500 unresolved code violations between 2017 and 2019 that city lawyers litigated in DeKalb County court.

DeKalb County court records show among the cited violations included electrical and mechanical issues, broken smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, bedbug infestations, security failures, lighting and plumbing problems.

Landlords usually have a window of time to address an alleged code violation, which can include a city administrative hearing and a chance to remedy the problem before fines incur, Nicklas said.

In an attempt to address tenant concerns, the City of DeKalb took steps in 2021 to bring in new management for the rental complexes.

The DeKalb City Council in April 2021 approved a settlement with Hunter Properties to address those unpaid code violation fines. The settlement required Hunter Properties to sell many of its major rental buildings, including Lincoln Tower, Hunter Ridgebrook and what used to be known as Hunter Tri-Frat, 1024 W. Hillcrest Drive.

The building at 1024 W. Hillcrest Drive, along with 930 and 934 Greenbriar Road, sustained heavy damage from a fire in December days before Christmas. The city condemned the West Hillcrest building due to structural safety concerns from fire damage. It was demolished in January. Tenants haven’t yet returned to the Greenbriar Road units as remedial utility work remains ongoing.

While DeKalb fire investigators did not find any landlord negligence in relation to the apartment fire at West Hillcrest Drive in December, Nicklas said the city was again frustrated with what he called a “slow” response to aid tenants in the days that followed.

“It was the aftermath and their slowness to take into account the dilemmas faced by many of the apartment dwellers who had to leave the Tri-Frat,” Nicklas said.

In December 2021, Chicago-based developer Clear Investment Group LLC offered to purchase multiple buildings from Hunter Properties and more than 100 individual units through the city, a $22.5 million investment. The City Council gave the management company $1 million to incentivize the ownership transfer.

The new owners promised to improve quality of life for DeKalb tenants in the buildings. Their contract included a commitment to own the buildings for at least three years.

When asked Monday if The Terraces of DeKalb owners have made good on that promise, Nicklas expressed doubt.

“So there is a pattern here, and the pattern is very distressing,” Nicklas said.

This story was updated at 9:13 p.m. on April 14, 2025.

Shaw Local News Network reporter Megann Horstead contributed.