After initially blaming hoarder residents for putting them behind schedule and over budget on their massive renovation effort, the management at the co-op homes at Penn South is now blaming mechanical costs, staffing increases and asbestos abatement.
Last week, Penn South general manager Brendan Keany said that the reason they were more than a year behind schedule and $40 million over budget was because hoarders plagued the co-ops: “We had a much bigger problem than we could ever have imagined, specifically because of the hoarders,” Keany told DNAinfo.
But this week Keany was keen to distance himself from that remark: “At no time did we indicate that hoarders were the primary cause or even a significant cause for the $40 million increase in costs,” Keany wrote in a memo obtained by DNAinfo.
However, critics believe that the housing complex overran its budget because it accepted shoddy contractors with the lowest bid, which Penn South was eventually forced to replace at great cost. [DNAinfo] –Christopher Cameron