A class action settlement between the displaced residents of the
Community Within the Corridor affordable housing development on Milwaukee’s north side and the developers behind that project has been reached, according to court records.
In March, more than 150 residents of the East Block of the Community Within the Corridor complex, located at 32nd and Center streets, were ordered to evacuate after elevated levels of trichloroethylene (TCE), a known carcinogen,
were detected in the air of some occupied and unoccupied portions of the building. A class action lawsuit was filed against the developers in June.
As part of the settlement, each affected tenant is set to receive $25,000 for displacement damages. Occupants of 21 units are part of the settlement, bringing the amount of displacement damages to $525,000. Any tenant who suffers health problems because of exposure to TCE will also have a right to file future litigation against Community Within the Corridor’s developers.
Found in the chlorinated cleaning agents often used to clean metal, TCE can be carcinogenic over long-term exposures, but it poses the highest threat to pregnant women, since acute exposures can lead to fetal heart defects.
"Overall, we hope the settlement will provide displaced residents with a sense of closure and facilitate the possibility of a new beginning for the development," attorney
Michael Cerjak of Milwaukee-based Barton Cerjak S.C. said in a statement. He represents Community Within the Corridor residents as part of the class action lawsuit.
Spearheaded by Minneapolis-based
Roers Cos. and Milwaukee-based
Scott Crawford Inc., led by
Que El-Amin, the $68.5 million Community Within the Corridor redevelopment project
transformed a former Briggs & Stratton manufacturing complex into a mixed-use campus with 197 apartments.
BizTimes Milwaukee media partner WISN 12
reported in June that affected residents of Community Within the Corridor were issued lease termination agreements, offering them $5,000 in exchange for their promise to never sue the apartment management company. Thirty-seven residents accepted that offer and, as a result, were not part of the recent class action lawsuit.
"The parties and their legal counsel are pleased they were able to amicably and expeditiously resolve the lawsuit and believe that this settlement, which is subject to court approval, is fair, reasonable and serves the best interests of all parties," according to a statement on behalf of Community Within the Corridor. "The parties share optimism for the future of the Community Within the Corridor project and a desire for the continued development of quality affordable housing in neighborhoods throughout Milwaukee."
