08-05-2025
700 residents impacted by Aspen Place Condemnation in Gardner, Kansas
GARDNER, Kan. — Hundreds of people have until 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 8, to leave the Aspen Place Apartment in Gardner, Kansas.
The city condemned the 180 units due to what they called, on Tuesday, 'significant safety concerns.'
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Cars lined Aspen Street late Wednesday morning as 700 people are supposed to be out of their homes by 6 p.m. Thursday. One resident named Danielle says issues have been going on at the apartments for years, but it got really bad around the holidays.
'Over Christmas Break, there were people without water,' she said on Wednesday.
'I mean, people were trying to have Christmas dinner, and there was no running water, no way to flush toilets, no way to take care of the babies that are here, the kids.'
She says the little kids in the neighborhood can't comprehend what's happening.
'Even my kids, being older, she's a sophomore in high school, and all day when the news came through about it, it's finals week,' Danielle continued.
'There's no way that she was properly studying yesterday, and we were up until two o'clock in the morning, and then she had to go to school again today.'
The KDR Group out of Lenexa owns the property, and while they wouldn't comment on camera, their attorney, Jeff Zimmerman, released a statement.
'We are working to figure out a system to refund the May rent that had already been paid by some of the Tenants and to inspect the units to release security deposits,' he said.
'The condemnation makes that process more difficult as the tenants are dispersing to comply with the city's order to vacate, which may affect the lines of communication. Ownership intends to go forward with the plan that was being put into place to overhaul the water system. That process will take about 90 days from the time the city approves the permits.'
The mother of one of the Aspen Place residents called the KDR Group a slum on Wednesday.
'You really are,' Rhodes continued.
'The city, they've known this has been going on for years, and all they've done is give them citation after citation, and to me it's like a smack on the hand.'
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Our emails to the city weren't returned by Wednesday afternoon in time for our deadline.
Golden Rule Relocation Owner and city resident Matt Thrasher was helping people move out on Wednesday. He was thankful for companies like New Haven Moving Equipment, which donated $1,250 in moving materials for people needing to pack.
'The city's known that there was a good chance that anytime that this place was going to go through this,' he said.
A fire truck got stuck on a private access road in the complex Saturday night, and the condemnation notice from the city came out three days later. The road has a large hole in it. Since KDR took over the property three years ago, they've had to fix water line breaks.
'My clients are responsible property owners and bought this property to provide affordable housing,' Zimmerman continued.
'Keeping up with the aging water system became too much, so they decided to completely overhaul the system. The timing of the City's condemnation was unfortunate when the City's firetruck collapsed the water line. This has become a monumental problem and we are working to figure out solutions and will work with the City and Community Groups who are also working on this.'
Grace Baptist Church hosted a meeting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday for Aspen Place residents.
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