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Greensboro Inspectors Condemn Apartment Complex Where Refugee Children Died

The Summit Avenue Apartment unit where five children died in a fire, pictured May 23, 2018. The City of Greensboro announced Wednesday it was condemning the property, which still carries hundreds of housing code violations. DAVID FORD/WFDD

The City of Greensboro is condemning the apartment complex where five children died in a fire earlier this year after finding hundreds of code violations had still not been resolved.

Greensboro's Code Compliance inspectors took another look at the Summit Avenue Apartments on Monday.

The city found just one unit was in compliance with local housing standards, while 41 others were still not up to code.

In all, inspectors cleared 144 building violations, but found 696 others had still not been fixed.

The owners of the property, ARCO Realty, had already been granted one extension, which recently expired. The company requested another one on Monday, which the city denied.

The residents at Summit Avenue – many of whom are refugees – now have 30 days to vacate the property.

The city says it's working with those residents to help with relocation.

Sean Bueter joined WFDD in August 2015 as a reporter covering issues across the Piedmont Triad and beyond.Previously, Sean was a reporter, host and news director at WBOI in Fort Wayne, Ind., just a few hours from where he grew up. He also sorted Steve Inskeep's mail as an intern at NPR in Washington, D.C.Sean has experience on a variety of beats, including race, wealth and poverty, economic development, and more. His work has appeared on NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered, and APM's Marketplace.In his spare time, Sean plays tennis (reasonably well), golf (reasonably poorly), and scours local haunts for pinball machines to conquer.

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