The city of Mesquite is suing the owner and manager of an apartment complex over a series of longstanding code violations that include air conditioning and water outages.
The 47-page lawsuit alleges city inspectors have issued more than 750 citations for violations at Tradewind Apartments, 2136 Tradewind Drive, since 2023. The case was filed in Dallas County earlier this month against the firm that manages the complex and the Texas Workforce Housing Foundation, a nonprofit affordable housing developer.
The housing foundation owns the property, and the lawsuit names Residences at Tradewind Apartments LLC as the entity that manages the apartments. Documents reviewed by The Dallas Morning News show Houston-based real estate investment firm Nitya Capital and sister company KPM Property Management oversee the complex.
Nitya purchased the property in 2021 before selling it to the Texas Workforce Housing Foundation — previously known as Texas Essential Housing — in 2023. The Texas Workforce Housing Foundation then leased the apartments to the Nitya group for 99 years, according to the lawsuit.
The Texas Workforce Housing Foundation previously used its status as a public agency to secure tens of millions of dollars of tax breaks for private developers in Texas, a Houston Chronicle investigation found. The nonprofit offered no comment regarding the Dallas County lawsuit.
The Dallas County lawsuit alleges the issues started not long after Nitya Capital purchased the 308-unit complex three years ago. The city was in talks with the prior owner about a repair agreement when the deal closed.
Despite meetings with city officials in 2021, 2022 and 2023 over needed repairs, problems continued.
In the summers of 2022 and 2023, there were multiple, extended stretches where the property had no air conditioning. There was no hot water and a partial outage of all water services in January 2024, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit alleged that inspections in June and July found other violations at the property, and there are concerns that severe erosion is jeopardizing the foundation of one building on the property.
The most recent issue occurred earlier this month. Emergency services were called to the property after a 70-year-old woman reported that she had difficulty breathing. First responders determined there was no medical emergency but found that lack of air conditioning caused the breathing issues, according to the lawsuit.
The estimated temperature at the time was above 100 degrees.
A Mesquite Fire Department employee tried to call the property’s emergency number, but the number belonged to a former apartment employee. The main office was supposed to be open. However, it was closed and locked.
A property representative called roughly an hour later to let emergency personnel know that maintenance was heading to the apartment.
“The City expects all landlords to provide safe and sanitary conditions for all tenants,” City Manager Cliff Keheley said in a statement. “The action taken by the City is a necessary next step to seek improved living conditions for the residents at the Tradewind Apartments.”
Daniel Rowland, a Dallas attorney representing Tradewind Apartments, disputed some of the allegations made by the city of Mesquite.
Rowland said the property was in poor condition before Nitya Capital took over, and current management has worked to improve the property. Rowland said Nitya spent more than $850,000 on maintenance between October 2021 and April 2023. The current managers feel targeted by the city, he said.
“It’s frustrating because that money that we put to the citations we’d rather put into the property to fix it up, and that’s what we’ve been trying to tell them for this entire time,” Rowland said.
The city of Mesquite wants a Dallas County judge to force the apartment complex to comply with city code. The city also seeks $1,000 per day per violation for each day the property remains in noncompliance.
A hearing has been set for Oct. 3. Tradewinds has not filed a response to the lawsuit.
