'I don't know where to go': residents and business owners scramble after Sioux City condemns 100-year-old Argonaut Apartments

"So bad. So bad," he quietly said while holding his mail under one arm. 

A worker at Kemps in Le Mars, Iowa, Asir moved into the century-old apartment building about nine months ago after previously living in Nebraska. His time at 519-25 11th Street is coming to an end Friday -- Sioux City officials on Wednesday declared the Argonaut unfit for occupancy. 

"The heater is not working," Asir said. "It's too cold."

Broken boiler

Sioux City Code Enforcement Manager Darrel Bullock said the heating problems at the Argonaut were due to an inoperable boiler.

"It's been an issue off and on for several months," Bullock said in a phone call on Thursday.

Bullock said the city was told 22 people live in 30 apartments in the four-story brick building, plus two business occupants on the first floor, Little Nikki's Tattoo parlor and a woodworking shop. 

"There's numerous issues for housing deficiencies, but (heat) is the main reason," he added. 

George Owings, the owner of the tattoo shop, said issues with the boiler date back even further.

"It's been an ongoing struggle," he said. "(But) we were able to compensate with radiators or space heaters and stuff."

When Owings moved in 13 years ago, he said the space was a "dump" and that he had to put a good deal of work in to get it business ready.

Once he was more established, Owings said things were fine until about a year ago, in April 2022, when the Lucas Magdalene Trust sold the building to an entity called ITM LLC for $475,000. Less than a month later, ITM sold the property to Wave Investment Team INC of Provo, Utah, for $800,000, according to Woodbury County property records. 

"They jacked the rent up. As soon as they took over, they jacked the rent up 50 bucks. And they were really slow about getting any repairs going," Owings said.

He said he's still being charged rent even though he told management he was moving out.

"I just didn't reply to any of those emails," Owings said.

Wave Investment partner Zach Magalei said Thursday his company spent thousands of dollars to get the building back to a livable condition. An electrician even went through to see if the Argonaut's breaker had enough amperage for space heaters in every unit. Magalei said he was told the setup would work.

The city has been in contact with the property management company in charge of the Argonaut, Bullock said, "and gave them numerous opportunities to make the repairs." 

Magalei disputed the cooperation from the city and said, despite focusing on the issue for the entire day, he hadn't gotten anywhere in trying to resolve matters.

"Today's been an absolute dead-end," he said. "No cooperation with the city whatsoever...We're just trying to get a simple answer."

The Argonaut only had one code violation, Magalei said he was told.

In addition to the rent hike, Owings said the Argonaut had developed a noticeable leakage problem. 

"Radiators were leaking. Pipes were leaking. My small startup business over there was leaking and it was destroying wood," Owings said. "The radiator was leaking so bad that they ended up capping it off and taking it out of there which left me with no heat."

Ultimately, Owings had to close the woodworking shop on the first floor of the Argonaut and sell $10,000 worth of tools for about $1,500. 

It wasn't always this way. The Argonaut opened in the summer of 1922, according to property records and contemporary news coverage. In the 1920s, advertisements boasted "neatly appointed" and "daintily furnished" apartments for rent, with the "best accommodations" and an "excellent café" in the building. 

Saying goodbye

"Today I called and shut the telephone off. The phone has been on for over 13 years," Owings said. 

His tentative plan is to head west, to Tacoma, Washington and start afresh there in June. But the 59-year-old said it's hard to imagine opening up another shop, alone. Owings did have an apprentice, 21-year-old Jade Owings, who was going to take over at some point but he said she realized there is no future in the tattoo shop. 

"I went through a lot of s*** the last couple of months," Owings said while while fighting back tears. "My pops died on the 16th and, just, a bunch of stuff. So there’s just one more thing on top."

While he worries about what's next and what he'll do for work, Owings is just as concerned for the people who lived above him in the building. 

"It’s about the property management company being unwilling to do what it takes to keep these people in housing. They weren’t going to spend the money," Owings said.

A longtime patron and friend of his, Latessa Zinn, said she didn't understand why the city couldn't have given residents more of a heads up.

"I don’t know if the city is honestly looking out for the community if that’s how things are being handled," Zinn said. "Supposedly Red Cross was helping and the city was supposed to bring outreach workers. Where are they at?"

Bullock said the city has "reached out (to the tenants) and gave them all information about the programs the city has for rapid rehousing." 

"It's just a very unfortunate situation," he said. 

The biggest uncertainty for Amir is where he'll live next.

"I don't know where I can go," he said before raising the prospect of temporarily staying in his car. 

Owings gets angry when considering what could be in store for the Argonaut's residents. 

"There are people who are on fixed incomes or super-low incomes. And people who are mentally challenged or have physical challenges, they just can't sleep on the f****** street," Owings said. "It's gonna be eight degrees tonight. You know? Like, it's just not okay.  It's supposed to be a village or a community. There's no community, you know?"