The Daily Times

It’s a lot more homey off Home Avenue in Maryville nowadays. The old Westside Apartments on Alvin York Street are no more.

The structures still stand, although in an altered state. But the name of the complex that includes 32 apartment units and two homes has been changed to Park Vista Apartments.

A lot more than the name has changed, and there’s more to come.

Emiliano Herran, who goes by Emil, recently bought the property for $955,000. A distressed price and a “heck of a deal,” according to the new owner. The complex was a bargain for a reason. Herran changed the name because he thought the name Westside has gang connotations. Again, for a reason.

“When I bought this, a lot of people said, ‘Emil, you’re crazy.’ I said, ‘I lived in Miami. This is nothing.’’

What he bought, basically, was a mess. Herran knew what he was in for. He had been a residential developer in Miami until two years ago when his wife, Mirian (a native of Argentina), and their six sons, now aged 6 to 20, moved to Friendsville. Emil and his business partners had built new homes in Florida, more than 1,000 of them. He had also bought distressed residences, fixed them up, sold them for a profit.

Not this time, according to Herran.

“This really is a long-term investment. I have bought distressed property and flipped it. But not this type. This is a keeper. I live here. This is it. I’m not going anywhere. If I was 30, flipping sounds attractive, but at my age (44) it’s time to set roots.”

There will be changes, though.

“You can see some already. We’ll turn this around. Heck, if you’re familiar with the property at all, you can see it. I’ll give you a perfect example. Last Saturday (Jan. 1) this parking lot had six cars of the tenants that we have. Three Saturdays before that, when I took this over, there were cars just everywhere. I think I counted 20-something cars,” Herran said.

“They were out here drinking beer outside, kicking the soccer ball. And there were two (prostitutes) here. I went in there, I walked in between all of them and I said, ‘Look, this cannot go on.’ They ignored me.”

But not for long.

“Little by little, once I got out a couple of bad apples, that’s it. Look, this is it.”

The property is cleaned up. A section of parking lot that had deteriorated into rock and dust is repaved. One of the homes, built in 1920, is in the process of a complete restoration. The manager and his wife will live there. The interiors of the apartments are, one-by-one being made over.

“The property’s in decent shape. The apartments were built in ’77, so they’re not that old. There’s been probably, counting me, four owners in the last five years. And that’s never good for a property. You need somebody to set roots,” Herran said.

“So what we’ve been doing, when we turn over a unit, we cut ’em out. We pull the carpet. We pull the vinyl. A lot of them have paneling. We pull the paneling. We pull the cabinets, if need be, the appliances. We go backward before we can go forward. It’s the only way. If you go out there and slap a coat of paint, you’re only kidding yourself.”

Restoring each unit costs $4,000 to $5,000. That’s just for materials. Herran and Park Vista’s new manager, Don Parker, are doing the work along with part-time help from a few laborers.

Two words: Thank you

Neighbors have noticed the difference. So have police.

“Believe it or not, I’ve had neighborhood people just drop by to thank me. ‘Are you the owner?’ I’d say, ‘Yeah.’ They’d say, ‘We want to thank you.’ I bumped into a police officer at McDonald’s the other day. He goes, ‘Do you work at Westside?’ And I go, ‘It’s Park Vista now.’ He goes, ‘Thank you! Thank you!’”

Herran had figured it would take about 18 months to stabilize the property by fixing it up. Now he thinks it will happen sooner. That’s good news for the core group of good tenants who remain. So was news about the rent.

“I had everybody right away: ‘You gonna raise the rent?’ I’m not touching it, I think it’s reasonably priced �" $450 a month.”

As stabilization continues, rents eventually will rise, on the bigger units first. But not now.

“It’s not the right time �" both because of the economy and because the property’s not ready for it,” Herran said.

Cash for keys

So how did things get turned around? What happened to the former tenants?

“There was a crime problem. There was a prostitution problem and a drug problem. Phase one of what I did �" which is basically the first 10 days spilled over into 30 days �" was just get rid of tenants. I hate to say it, but I had to,” said Herran, who was born in Puerto Rico.

“Speaking Spanish was a huge bonus, because they’re not going to pull one over on me. They knew that I knew what was going on, so we had a frank talk. What I did, I give them a chance to leave. Frankly, what I’ve done �" I’ve been doing this for years �" is cash for keys: ‘So that we don’t need to get into a legal battle, I’ll give you cash. You need to leave by tomorrow.’ I got rid of 10 tenants.”

When the unwanted tenants left with the cash, so did their customers.

Builder at law

Herran’s promise of legal action was no idle threat. He is a developer now, but his previous career was as a real estate attorney.

“I hated it, man. I made a lot of money in the Miami real estate boom, and my law firm is still open down there with my name on it. But I hated being trapped inside four walls. I’m not a four-wall guy. I’m boots and hard hat. That’s what I like.

“My grandfather was a carpenter, an old Spaniard. From the time I could walk, I watched. I just learned by doing.”

The Herran family used to vacation in East Tennessee. Now it’s their home. Emil wanted to get away from big-city life, away from the oppressive crime.

“I like small-town living. Here, we’ve got the best of both worlds.”

Herran is a graduate of Florida International University, where he attended college on a full track-and-field scholarship. He ran cross country. Now he lives country with his wife and the boys.

“She loves it here, and the kids love it. We were in Miami to see my parents over the holidays, and after two days they wanted to come home �" here. Even though they lived there all their life, this is home. It’s amazing how quick they adapted.”

And adopted new friends.

“My house is like party central. I’ve got four teenagers, so there’s kids at my house all the time,” Herran said.

With the arrival of Park Vista Apartments, the party’s over for Westside Apartments. For that, a neighborhood is grateful.