As the issue with the Carriage House Apartments in Petersburg enters its second week, state and federal lawmakers are vowing to hold the building’s owner accountable for not just the issue that got the building red-tagged but also answer to a history of not addressing ongoing maintenance issues that threaten tenants’ health and safety.
“We are gonna use everything at our disposal to see what we can do to force the management to finally take care of these issues,” Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-Virginia, said at a news conference May 26 in Petersburg.
One avenue they have, McClellan said, is getting the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development to investigate Envolve Communities LLC’s compliance with standards for participating in HUD’s housing voucher program.
LOCAL
Lawmakers vow to hold Carriage House owner accountable
Petersburg Progress-Index
May 27, 2026, 12:10 p.m. ET
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As the issue with the Carriage House Apartments in Petersburg enters its second week, state and federal lawmakers are vowing to hold the building’s owner accountable for not just the issue that got the building red-tagged but also answer to a history of not addressing ongoing maintenance issues that threaten tenants’ health and safety.
“We are gonna use everything at our disposal to see what we can do to force the management to finally take care of these issues,” Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-Virginia, said at a news conference May 26 in Petersburg.
One avenue they have, McClellan said, is getting the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development to investigate Envolve Communities LLC’s compliance with standards for participating in HUD’s housing voucher program.
Envolve is a Tennessee-based property ownership and management firm that owns both Carriage House and Hopewell Heights Apartments in Hopewell. Both complexes cater to senior citizens and handicapped people on fixed incomes.
On May 12, Petersburg officials condemned Carriage House after discovering feces and maggots seeping from sewer pipes inside the building – the latest in an ongoing saga of problems residents say they have had for years. The building’s tenants have been relocated to shelter in other parts of the area while the issues are resolved.
LOCAL
Lawmakers vow to hold Carriage House owner accountable
Petersburg Progress-Index
May 27, 2026, 12:10 p.m. ET
As the issue with the Carriage House Apartments in Petersburg enters its second week, state and federal lawmakers are vowing to hold the building’s owner accountable for not just the issue that got the building red-tagged but also answer to a history of not addressing ongoing maintenance issues that threaten tenants’ health and safety.
“We are gonna use everything at our disposal to see what we can do to force the management to finally take care of these issues,” Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-Virginia, said at a news conference May 26 in Petersburg.
One avenue they have, McClellan said, is getting the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development to investigate Envolve Communities LLC’s compliance with standards for participating in HUD’s housing voucher program.
Envolve is a Tennessee-based property ownership and management firm that owns both Carriage House and Hopewell Heights Apartments in Hopewell. Both complexes cater to senior citizens and handicapped people on fixed incomes.
On May 12, Petersburg officials condemned Carriage House after discovering feces and maggots seeping from sewer pipes inside the building – the latest in an ongoing saga of problems residents say they have had for years. The building’s tenants have been relocated to shelter in other parts of the area while the issues are resolved.
McClellan and Petersburg’s representatives in the General Assembly – Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Henrico County, and Del. Kimberly Pope Adams, D-Dinwiddie County – met with city officials at the South Side Depot in Old Towne Petersburg for an update on the status of what has become a legal standoff between lawyers for Petersburg and the building’s owner.
McClellan, Aird and Adams sent a letter to Envolve on May 15 asking the company to take responsibility for the building. At the news conference, McClellan said they heard “a little bit” from Envolve prior to sending the letter but nothing since then.
Envolve has not made any public statements about the Carriage House issues, despite repeated requests by The Progress-Index.
Resident safety is top priority
At the news conference, McClellan and Pope Adams repeated that the main focus of their fight is the well-being of Carriage House residents.
“That’s what most important, that they have a safe place to call home,” Pope Adams said.
McClellan said her office has been in contact with HUD about getting residents “portable vouchers” they could use to find a place to live while waiting on the repairs. She said she thought the vouchers the residents have now are tied to Carriage House, and if that is the case, then Envolve’s vouchers are violating HUD standards for providing safe living conditions for the Carriage House tenants.
McClellan said the next step in the process is to file a formal request with HUD to physically inspect the building, along with looking into voucher compliance.
“The last thing we want to do is continue to displace these residents while we are exploring whether the vouchers that the residents have can be turned into portable vouchers so that they can find another place to live,” she said. “And if this ultimately means that the Carriage House loses its contract with HUD, these residents get vouchers to allow them to live somewhere that meets the standards.”
Asked if she thought HUD might be sparked by the extensive news coverage of the issues, McClellan said, “I hope so. I believe so.”
The lawmakers said their offices have been contacted by doctors and lawyers willing to assist the tenants, and they encouraged more responses. They added they hope to have a community-wide meeting by mid-June to share more details about that relief network.
“They deserve a lot better,” McClellan said of the tenants.
‘Not backing down’
Pope Adams said Tuesday’s meeting with Petersburg officials gave her “a lot of insight” into the history of Carriage House issues, which range from inoperative elevators to lack of hot water. It was the latter issue that took city inspectors into the building where they found the seeping sewage. She said her office is looking at current state laws that could provide additional relief to the tenants.
McClellan said she has not personally visited Carriage House to see firsthand the issues. Pope Adams said she went to the building the day it was red-tagged, confirming that her visit was tightly controlled by the building management.
“I was allowed inside the building, but I was only allowed to see one thing, and that was the temperature gauge on the water heater,” she said, referring to the issue that ultimately led to the building’s condemnation. “Perhaps, you know, to show me that it was a higher temperature than what we had thought. But that was in no way indicative of what the experience is like for the tenants.”
McClellan told The Progress-Index it was “possible” that the matter will eventually wind up in court. At last week’s City Council meeting, City Manager March Altman confirmed that Envolve’s attorneys had sent a letter to Petersburg, which in turn meant that the city was limited in what it could say publicly about the matter.
But that does not mean the lawmakers are going to adhere to that restriction.
“We’re not backing down until those residents are living in conditions that every human being deserves,” McClellan said. “We’re gonna use every tool at our disposal to make that happen.”