Drug-plagued and condemned, Blossom Park condos may close

Article Courtesy of The Orlando Sentinel

By Stephen Hudack

Published September 27, 2015

  

Blossom Park Condominiums, the former Days Inn Motel that has been linked to more than half of the county's heroin deaths, may soon close as code violations have mounted and tenants have left the deteriorating condo complex.
  

"At this point, no definite decision has been made if or when Blossom Park will be closed," said Angela Stanley, attorney for the Blossom Park Condominium Association, speaking for the new court-appointed receiver, Shawn Singeltary.

But Stanley said closing is a possibility as the owners discuss options to rebuild and repair condemned areas.

 

Orange County code enforcement condemned the seven-building, three-story complex as unfit for human inhabitation, citing an engineering study that revealed a host of problems, including stairwells in danger of collapse.

The county also hosted community meetings to help tenants find new housing.

Most did.

A door-to-door check this week found just 33 tenants there, said Robert Spivey, the county's code enforcement manager who estimated that as many as 250 people were living in the condemned complex as recently as six months ago.

The former motel, which was converted into condos in 2003, has posed a challenge to code enforcement as well as Orange County deputy sheriffs, who have stepped up trafficking and prostitution investigations at Blossom Park, located on Landstreet Road, south of the Florida Mall near the intersection of Orange Blossom Trail and Florida's Turnpike.

Deputies have busted 194 people there for drugs, prostitution and other crimes since Aug. 2014.

Half of the 100 drug overdoses reported to the Sheriff's Office are traced to Blossom Park, including four heroin deaths, said Major Michael Dolby, who estimated the cost of a recent investigative detail at the complex at nearly $50,000.

Repairs will cost more than $4.5 million to fix the roof, stairs and elevated walkways, according to a county estimate. Spivey said Blossom Park remains in violation of county codes and still faces fines totaling more than $1 million.

The condo association's lawyer said the group is "evaluating all options" to bring the complex into compliance.

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