Josh Brown
The Virginian-Pilot
©
NORFOLK
The future of the Harbor Walk condominium project in Ocean View is in question after the local manager for the Florida-based developer suddenly departed days after the developer canceled a homeowner meeting about the use of defective Chinese-made drywall there.
Three Harbor Walk residents have sued the developer and others in Norfolk federal court alleging that the drywall used in part of the complex built in 2006 emits a corrosive gas that damages household electrical systems and causes respiratory problems.
Construction began in 2003 on what was supposed to be a 237-unit complex southwest of the Shore Drive Bridge. So far, just 81 units have been built, and most of them are occupied.
Several residents said Monday that David Daniels, the local sales manager for The Henin Group, the Florida developer, packed a trailer and drove away that morning.
In a May 8 e-mail shared by Harbor Walk resident Dr. Jeffrey Dunn with The Virginian-Pilot, Daniels wrote that he had been fired by Henin and ordered to vacate his company-provided condo there.
"The Henin Group has resigned its management position at Harbor Walk," Daniels said in the e-mail.
Daniels could not be reached because his cell phone had been disconnected.
Reached by phone Monday, Roger Van Auker, a Henin vice president, hung up after being asked about the company's plans for Harbor Walk. He did not return several subsequent calls.
Dennis Jackson, who purchased his Harbor Walk condo in October, has since learned it was built with Chinese drywall. Jackson said Monday his family has had to move out of the condo because the fumes made them so sick.
Officials at Henin, which sold him the condo, promised to fix the problems, he said.
"We feel abandoned," Jackson said. "I don't know who we should talk to, where we should turn for help. All we wanted was our down payment back."
The Henin Group took over the condo project from the original developer, Virginia Beach-based Wermers Development.
Before the Chinese drywall issue surfaced, the Henin Group had plans to erect two more condo buildings on the waterfront, Councilman W. Randy Wright said.
Wright said he planned to ask city officials at today's City Council meeting to provide as much help as they can to residents.
"That Chinese drywall has just been the pits," Wright said. "It's a terrible situation. To the extent that we can, we need to provide the residents with as much guidance as we can."
Josh Brown, (757) 446-2318, josh.brown@pilotonline.com
Harry Minium, (757) 446-2371, harry.minium@pilotonline.com
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If you believe you have
If you believe you have defective imported drywall, it is VERY important you go on line to report to the CPSC your complaint regarding this defective drywall. The more complaints they receive the more likely the prospects of a recall.
Go to: https://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspx
THANK YOU MTURNER
Thank you mturner - finally someone with some common sense has weighted in on this subject. Its just amazing to me that people automatically jump on the developers and blame everything on them. But even more amazing to me are the posters that blame EVERYTHING that happens on Obama. It makes absolutely no sense and just makes those posters look like they have no idea what they are talking about - because they don't.
A little clarification
RE: Purchase of Chinesse drywall.
The developers did not buy this crappy drywall becuase it was cheaper, they bought it because it was all they could get. After New Orleans and Florida got plastered by Hurricanes it was almost impossible to buy drywall or plywood at any price. Normally these items are made locally as the shipping costs are prohibitive on such large heavy items. All the manufacture got divereted to disaters areas to help people rebuild for several years.due to this, for a brief time, the prices went up to the point that importing these items became feasable and thats why they used this product. Not greed, but need.
The developers are as much of a victim in this as the residents are.
Not intentional?
That a new term to me, "an innocent developer". You will never find that one in Websters
You just sound silly
Okay so here is a problem that was discovered in October of last year. It had nothing to do with the previous or present administration, yet you are going to start with your stupid Obama rants? Why wouldn't you call Bush on the carpet? Really couldn't the argument be made that the shortage started because of the Katrina debacle? Now there was a great dispaly of the Bush administration......
RE: life
"The City must condemn the entire property and force all residents to move out immediately."
I'm not defending anyone but...of the 81 completed units only a small percentage contain this product. It's in the "townhomes" only (3 story), NOT the 4 story condo's which are the MAJORITY of the development.
I hope the gov't doesn't
I hope the gov't doesn't step in to correct this. If you buy a car and it's defective, you're stuck. Buyer beware. It stinks, hopefully funds can be recovered from the Chinese (heck, they enabled us to buy the houses in the first place by buying our debt), or perhaps the contractor and vendor. I didn't realize so many food items come from China, would be interesting to make stickers warning of this and apply it to products on store shelves that are imported from China.
Chinese drywall.
Dennis Jackson, who purchased his Harbor Walk condo in October, has since learned it was built with Chinese drywall. Jackson said Monday his family has had to move out of the condo because the fumes made them so sick.
This is worded poorly. Were the fumes bothering Dennis and his family before or after he learned that these units were built using Chinese manufactured drywall? I don't doubt that there are elements in the drywall that can make people ill; it just seems that now that one family has suffered illnesses from it's use that we will see an array of cases that I'm willing to bet are more psychosomatic.
Lovely display of professionalism by packing up and skipping town in the middle of the night. Poor Norfolk is covered in abandoned, half-finished projects. What a mess.
Great !
Another shady Norfolk developement. I wonder how much incentive money they got from the city to build that development. Falls right in line with Granby Towers and the failed Willoughby project. These guys are just using our city and their inept leaders to get rich.
None of this was intentional just unfortunate ~
Chinese dry all was not known to be the meance it is. so don't hang the developer they are innocent victims as well. If Mr. wright wants to help all these folks out weel, how deep are his pockets? without dipping in the taxpayers, (whom I may add were evicted from their land) who vacated this property? Go back the the TBA and ask them to retore the damage, that's one of the many reason they exisit, not government.