LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — A large apartment complex near the University of Louisville is telling at least some tenants that they must move out by July 26 because the complex is “closing its doors” for a major renovation.
The Bellamy, which contains 192 two- and four-bedroom units at the corner of South 7th Street and West Shipp Avenue, sent an email addressed to “Bellamy Residents” on Sunday night.
“This serves as official notice that your lease renewal at the Bellamy Louisville has been canceled and your current lease ends on July 26, 2022. The Bellamy will be closing its doors while the community experiences a major construction and renovation under new ownership,” the message said.
A handful of residents who spoke with WDRB News outside the complex Monday said they understand all tenants are being ordered to vacate. Many were upset about having to secure new housing so quickly.
“It’s like they’re genuinely not giving a heck about anybody,” said Hailey Aldridge, who said she began living at the Bellamy in March.
Aldridge said she signed a renewal that would extend her lease until 2023, but now she has to find a new place to live that will accept her pets — a dog and a cat —while working two jobs, all without the benefit of a car. She was unable to immediately produce a copy of her lease.
Another Bellamy resident, who did not want to be named for fear of retaliation, showed WDRB News a lease renewal she signed for a term of Aug. 1, 2022 to July 26, 2023. The resident said the landlord, listed in the lease as Phenix Louisville LP, has told her the lease is canceled and to be out by July 26, 2022.
"I am in shambles; I don’t have a Plan B," the resident told WDRB News. "School starts back a week before I’m supposed to move out. I’m going to be homeless."
Caliber Living, the Georgia-based property management company that sent the notice to residents, did not respond to an email and phone call on Monday. Staff at the Bellamy’s onsite management office directed a reporter to an official at Caliber.
Built in 2009, The Bellamy was one of the first privately developed student housing complexes to grow up around U of L’s main Belknap campus in advance of the university’s campus-living requirement for freshmen, which took effect in 2012.
The Bellamy was legally affiliated with the university for many years, which helped it attract student tenants. The apartment complex still advertises its U of L affiliation in a banner on its Shipp Avenue façade.
But the affiliation ended in 2019, according to U of L spokesman John Karman. He said university officials were unaware of the recent developments at the Bellamy.
“Apparently, they house more (Jefferson Community and Technical College) students than U of L students these days,” Karman said.
While the message to tenants referenced a sale of the apartment complex, there is no evidence in public records of the complex changing hands recently. The original developer of the complex, Phenix Investment Associates, shares the same street address in Scottdale, Georgia as Caliber Living, according to corporate records in Georgia.
Phenix leases the property from Louisville Metro government as part of a $32 million financing arrangement that dates to 2008. A spokeswoman for the city’s economic development agency said Metro hasn't been notified of any change in the land lessee. Under the financing mechanism -- called industrial revenue bonds -- Metro is merely a conduit for borrowed money and does not control the property, Louisville Forward's Caitlin Bowling said.
Stewart Pope, an attorney at the Louisville Legal Aid Society, which represents low-income tenants in disputes with landlords, said renovations are not, in general, a reason for a landlord to legally cancel a lease. But leases can be written to allow for early termination rights, he said.
“I would argue that unless the lease has a provision allowing the landlord or tenant to terminate the lease before the end of the lease term, the landlord cannot just terminate leases before the end of the lease term just for renovations,” Pope told WDRB News.
Reach Reporter Dakota Sherek 502-585-0870 and dsherek@wdrb.com. Reach digital reporter Chris Otts at 502-585-0822 or cotts@wdrb.com.
