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Part One
Latta
Pavilion is sick.
A
colorless, odorless and potentially lethal gas has invaded the
high-profile Dilworth complex, which is populated by condo owners, office
workers, shoppers and two medical practices.
And
while Latta Pavilion developer Grubb
Properties Inc. promises to clean up the radon that is
coursing through the building at levels at least twice what is considered
safe, there's still a question about what exactly is causing the problem.
Getting
rid of the gas is not going to be easy. Neither will be deciding who is
ultimately responsible. And for owners of condos in the six-year-old
building, the question isn't just how their property values are going to
be affected. There's also concern about how long they've been exposed to
the gas, which the Environmental Protection Agency says is the
second-leading cause of lung cancer behind smoking.
The
level of radon found at Latta Pavilion is anything but typical for
Charlotte
, which was precisely why it had gone undetected. No one was looking.
Charlotte
developer Clay Grubb, president of
Grubb Properties, says he got the call regarding high radon readings at
Latta Pavilion, which includes the
1315 East Blvd.
condo building, just before the holidays.
"At
first, we didn't believe it," he says.
The
company had sold more than 250 condos in the complex since it opened in
2002. None of the buyers had tested for radon. Neither had any of the
office or retail tenants that occupy the first two floors of the building
at
East Boulevard
and
Scott Avenue
.
It
wasn't until a potential corporate client inquired about a condo that
radon was on anyone's checklist. The company is based in the Northeast,
where radon testing is part of the normal real estate purchase process.
The
company's testing found radon. Lots of it.
Coming
Up: Taking Measure.
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