Iowa apartment complex to mandate background screening

A complex in Iowa City, Iowa, has been so rampant with crime and other unsavory activity that a developer wants to start from scratch. According to KCRG-TV, Southgate Development will take over the responsibilities of clearing out current tenants and reconstructing the property so that it will be more attractive to prospective tenants and the neighborhood. The development, Broadway Condominiums, is a 108-unit complex that Southgate aims to renovate both internally and externally. Upon its completion, new tenants will be subjected to background screening and must adhere to crime-free behavior. The condominiums currently house lower-income families that sign low-value leases rather than purchase the property, the station reports. "We think we can give that place a significant facelift and essentially eliminate the problems that have been in the press the last two, three years," Glenn Siders, Southgate’s vice president of property development, told KCRG. The station reports that 180 calls to the police were made from the complex during the first half of 2010. The landlord, John Versypt, was killed on the grounds in 2009. The incidents have sullied public perception of the area, motivating Southgate to refurbish the condominiums, KIMT-TV reports.