Statement: Mayor Danny Avula on Legacy at Imperial Village Conditions and Well-Being of Residents
The City of Richmond has identified serious health and safety hazards at Legacy at Imperial Village, a privately-owned, market-rate apartment complex on Richmond’s Northside, and is requiring immediate corrective action by the property owner.
Last week, City building inspectors, fire officials, and code enforcement staff were on site conducting inspections, documenting violations, and enforcing compliance with City health and safety requirements to protect residents.
The City has been frequently engaged with this property and its owner since 2024, with multiple engagements dating back to 2017. We have previously issued notices of violations which the owner addressed within the required timeframe. However, new complaints continued throughout this spring and prompted last week’s additional inspections. Those inspections found widespread insect infestations, unsanitary food preparation areas, non-functional elevators, non-functional backup power systems, non-functional fire systems, and more.
As a result, I am now singularly focused on ensuring the property owner immediately and adequately addresses the current life-safety hazards on the property and in each of the four occupied buildings.
To that end, today we met with the property owners and managers and have issued a compliance plan that will require them to make corrective action on the most urgent issues and will establish clear deadlines for additional corrections over the next 30 days and beyond.
Ultimately, the property owner is responsible for providing residents with safe, code-compliant housing, but the City’s responsibility is to protect the health and safety of residents through enforcement. We will continue to use the tools available to ensure the required repairs are completed as quickly and safely as possible.
