ANDERSON — Two troubled apartment complexes — Madison Square and Bingham Square — are now up for sale for an asking price of $5 million each.
That's more than $56,000 per unit at Madison Square and more than $38,000 per unit at Bingham Square.
Anderson Housing Authority CEO Kimberly Townsend says it's important to send a message to landlords that deplorable living conditions will not be tolerated.
She's been fighting for tenants at Bingham Square and Madison Square apartment complexes for years.
"What Mayor Hogsett did it made me feel hopeful in that we are not alone in trying to battle problems like this," said Townsend. "And I think that's just unreasonable because the facilities are inhabitable in some respects — Bingham Square especially."
Residents of both properties have reached out to WRTV with numerous complaints about unsafe living conditions in the past.
PREVIOUS: Local groups team up to help tenants in Anderson
In November, the properties stopped accepting Section 8 housing vouchers and dozens of families were forced to move out.
"It looks like they are trying to sell these properties without making further repairs," said Townsend.
MORE: Five more families displaced over Section 8 voucher issues in Anderson
Townsend says the housing authority was approached about purchasing these properties.
"There's no way we can pay $5 million for that property especially with all the problems, but we felt like if we had the opportunity bring it up to standard," she said.
She says selling these apartment complexes will impact Anderson's struggling housing market.
"It's not favorable," said Townsend.
She says the city needs to hold the property owners accountable for the hundreds of thousands of dollars they received to make repairs, which Townsend says never happened.
"The city gave this firm prob almost a million dollars it was a little over 900k coupled with their receipt over 10k a month from HUD, so that along was a lot of money where a major dent could have been placed in the renovations of those apartments," said Townsend.
The realty company handling the sale of the properties tells WRTV the price is negotiable.
We also reached out to the current owners to learn more about the decision to sell and what's next for residents, but have yet not heard back.
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