Demolition begins in mold-infested Mitchell Landing Apartments units - 47abc

SALISBURY, Md. – Demolition is in full swing inside of the mold-infested units at Mitchell Landing Apartments.

Wednesday, crews from Green Street Housing could be seen on site tearing out infrastructure impacted by years worth of mold and decay from one of the complex buildings. The ultimate plan is to completely gut the complex and return it to affordable, livable conditions.

“Because of the moisture in there, particularly the mold, we got early approval to release construction crews to start [remediation],” said David Layfield, principal of Green Street Housing.

Currently, 18 of the 24 units at the complex are currently condemned. They are either inaccessible because of deteriorating external staircases, or plagued with dangerous levels of moisture. For now, crews are focusing their work on building 39.

“Everything has to be removed—the drywall, the floor joists,” Layfield said. “We’re doing moisture control, and starting to do some remediation in the back on the outside of the building to try and get that water that’s been sitting in there out.”

In September, WMDT got a look inside of one of the building’s units. It was almost completely covered, floor to ceiling wall to wall, in black mold. In other units, walls and floors had been destroyed by vandalism.

While the shell of the building is structurally sound, Layfield says about $3.3 million dollars is being invested in remediating the current issues, gutting the building, and rebuilding the units. He expects construction to be complete in the next six to eight months.

“Every time I attend or log onto a City Council meeting, I hear people complaining about affordable housing and how it’s no longer attainable in the area. We’re just happy to add 24 more units into that inventory,” Layfield said. “Things are looking good at Mitchell Landing.”