Condemned Latrobe apartment building listed for almost $280K

The owner of a six-story Latrobe apartment building that was condemned by city officials is looking to sell the vacant property.

Irwin real estate agent Hunter Donnelly of Century 21 Fairways Real Estate listed the 24-unit building at 333 Main St. for $279,900.

The apartments in the building have been empty since March 22, when the city ordered them to be vacated after code violations prompted officials to condemn the property.

A spokesperson said Export-based building owner Jay Pan LLC has decided to sell the property and get out of the rental business, citing costs for required repairs and improvements that would exceed the owner’s budget.

Jay Pan initially sought to appeal the condemnation, but an April 4 hearing before city officials was postponed indefinitely at the owner’s request, according to City Manager Terry Carcella.

Carcella said one of the building’s problems, infestation with bedbugs and cockroaches, has been resolved since the city hired D-Bug Pest Control to treat the property in July at an initial cost of $7,500.

The property owner will be billed for that cost, according to Carcella. He said the building will remain condemned until other issues are addressed, including lack of a working elevator for handicapped accessibility, a leaking roof and a sprinkler system that has malfunctioned, causing false fire alarms.

“We know it’s for sale,” Carcella said of the building. “The condemnation is going to go with that property, whoever buys it. It can’t be occupied until the code violations are all corrected and the condemnation is lifted.

“This is a very deficient building. There’s absolutely no doubt about it.”

According to the Westmoreland County tax map, the apartment building most recently was assessed at a value of $42,930, with the land it sits on assessed at $11,380.

Donnelly said such assessed values often don’t reflect the actual worth of a property.

In listing a suggested price for the Latrobe apartment building, Donnelly said he took into account factors including the costs for improvements, maintenance and property taxes as well as expected rental revenue.

“We tried to price it at a point where more serious investors would look at it,” he said. “I’ve shown the building quite a few times to a few investors with good ideas for the building.

“I’m hoping we can sell it to someone who can fix it the right way, get it back to where it needs to be and make it a nice building again.”