Community Within the Corridor can safely reopen two years after TCE detection

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) — Part of a large affordable housing complex on Milwaukee's near west side will reopen soon, after toxic chemicals levels forced tenants out of their apartments more than two years ago.

Community Within the Corridor's developers say it's now safe for residents to move into the east block of the building after remediation for trichloroethylene, abbreviated as TCE.

"The measures that were put in place ensures that nothing like that will happen again on this site," said Que El-Amin, president of Scott Crawford, Inc., the building's developers.

Less than one year after El-Amin opened Community Within the Corridor in 2022, the DNR found high levels of TCE in the soil beneath the building, which can turn into vapor.

The agency said they warned developers years beforehand not to open until it was tested, but tenants were allowed to move in anyway.

"The main thing we learned is communication, making sure everyone is on the same page all the time," El-Amin said Thursday.

More than 150 residents had to evacuate from 58 units in March of 2023.

People from 21 units joined a lawsuit that was settled in January 2024, with each unit receiving 25,000.

"I think people really felt like they were misled in terms of the entire situation," said attorney Michael Cerjak, who represented those tenants.

Under the settlement, they can take legal action in the future if health issues arise from TCE exposure.

"Hopefully that case shed light on this issue, and we did something to prevent it from happening again," Cerjak said.

Since then, El-Amin says they've excavated, added blower systems, and performed other mitigations, recently passing several tests.

"A few weeks back, we got the full approval from the Wisconsin DNR, the City of Milwaukee Neighborhood Services, and the Milwaukee Health Department," he said.

More than 130 units in the building's east block are now ready for move-in, and El-Amin said some past tenants have re-applied.

"Our sentiment goes out to all of those families because we know it was a hard time for them," he said.

The property managers expect all units in the building to be filled by this August.

The space includes units of all sizes, as well as a basketball court, playground, early child education center, and social services.