������Ƶ

ST. LOUIS — City officials will give the company that controls a downtown loft building another chance to improve security in the 174-unit structure.

A nuisance hearing scheduled for Thursday to address issues at the Ely Walker Lofts at 1520 Washington Avenue was the second such hearing the city has canceled since September.

After months of back and forth over parties and other incidents tied to downtown mayhem, including the March shooting death of a 16-year-old in the building’s lobby, the city in September reached a settlement with the condo board mandating security personnel and new camera and locking systems.

But tenants have recently complained that the condo board — controlled by controversial landlords and developers Sid Chakraverty and Vic Alston of Asprient Properties, Lux Living and — has not met the terms of the September agreement. City building inspectors have also cited the building for a nonfunctioning fire alarm system, which residents say they aren’t sure has ever been fully restored.

The city in late November scheduled a nuisance hearing over issues first cited in May.

Georganna Ekpo, a problem properties attorney with the city, told Ely Walker resident Grace Malnar in an email that after officials met with a lawyer for the condo board, Chakraverty and building manager Gary Sextro, the city decided to give them more time to make fixes.

Ekpo said the condo board locked storage units after complaints about a homeless person squatting in the building, according to the email shared with the Post-Dispatch. She also said the city was concerned the two sets of front doors would open for too long, allowing people to “tailgate” into the building. In response, the condo board “is exploring ‘sequencing’ the doors” so one set closes before the other opens.

In addition, the city was told the security guard hired for the building “was not actively patrolling.”

“Security guards have been instructed by The City’s Finest to periodically patrol common areas like the garage, basement, and rooftop,” Ekpo wrote. “There will be an electronic record of their patrol. At this time the hearing is on hold and we will monitor the results of these reasonable abatement measures.”

A nuisance hearing could lead to an order placing the building into receivership.

A spokesman for the city’s public safety department declined to comment. Spokespeople for the city did not respond to a question about whether the building’s fire alarm is now functioning properly.

Chakraverty and an attorney for the condo board, Elia Ellis, did not respond to a request for comment.

Recently, Ely Walker’s rental management companies distributed a memo to tenants saying it had “been notified of excessive nonemergency calls from tenants to the police” and threatened to fine tenants who call the police for nonemergencies rather than their property manager.

“If we receive a fine from the city, the fine will be transferred to you along with an additional $100 fine for violating your lease agreement and the landlord reserves the right to terminate your lease,” the memo says.