Update: Some Bloomington supportive apartments stay closed to new tenants after failed inspections

Thirty-two of the 61 apartments at Bloomington’s Crawford I and Crawford II permanent supportive housing complex are unoccupied, but still unavailable for new tenants. That’s because both buildings have failed their most recent round of city inspections, which came in July. [Crawford I inspection] [Crawford II inspection]  

The 61-unit two-building complex on South Henderson Street near Winslow Road provides permanent supportive housing for people who have experienced chronic homelessness or have disabilities. 

The failed inspections mean the city of Bloomington has not renewed rental occupancy permits for either of the buildings. That makes about half of the apartments that will continue to be unoccupied. 

The failed July inspections are the latest development in a situation that had persisted even before last summer, when conditions at Crawford reached the point that they prompted the city to take enforcement action. 

Rental-code problems at the property date back at least to 2023. A year ago, the city of Bloomington started pursuing the owners and other parties through both code-enforcement cases and a breach-of-contract lawsuit. The breach of contract lawsuit which is still pending with a status conference set for Nov. 4. [Crawford I enforcement] [Crawford II enforcement]

The city’s Housing and Neighborhood Development (HAND) department responded to B Square questions this week saying the rental permits for both Crawford buildings have expired and remain pending renewal. They have not been revoked. 

But until each building meets the city’s requirements, management cannot execute a new lease for any vacant unit in that building. That’s even if inspectors found nothing wrong inside that particular apartment.

“Each building is permitted as a whole and management may not execute new leases in vacant units until the applicable building rental permit is renewed, even where an individual unit has no cited violations,” HAND director Anna Killion-Hanson wrote in response to B Square questions. “The exterior, common areas and units within the building must comply.”

Killion-Hanson wrote that getting the apartments back into service has become increasingly urgent.

“There is urgency in getting these properties back into compliance,” she wrote. “The goal is to get those [29] units safely back online as quickly as possible—a need made even more pressing by SEA 285 and the limited housing options available to people experiencing homelessness.”

Indiana’s SEA 285, which took effect July 1, prohibits unauthorized camping or sleeping on state or local government property, subject to warning and other requirements before a person can be charged. At least one person has been charged locally under SEA 285.  

The shortage of immediately available housing was underscored a few weeks ago, on Aug. 25, when Monroe County government cleared the Powerline Camp from county-owned property off South Rogers Street. An estimated 40 to 50 people had been living there, and it was not clear that morning where many would stay for the longer term. 

An initiative from Heading Home of South Central Indiana called Streets to Stability was announced early this summer with the goal of moving people directly from unsheltered situations into leased housing, rather than first placing them in shelter beds. Its initial phase was planned to house around 10 to 12 people.

Heading Home has not yet publicly released information about that initial phase.  But the regular newsletter from the nonprofit in early August reported that a $350,000 grant had been received from Community Solutions to support Streets to Stability.

Crawford problems stretch back years

Crawford consists of two buildings: a 25-unit building at 2440 S. Henderson St.; and a 36-unit building at 2446 S. Henderson St. The development combines long-term housing with supportive services intended to help residents remain stably housed. Beacon Inc. provides the supportive services, and Continental Management manages the property.

Bloomington filed separate ordinance-violation cases against the two Crawford properties in June 2025 over continuing rental-code violations. [2440 S. Henderson ordinance case]  [2446 S. Henderson ordinance case]

In August 2025, Bloomington filed a separate breach-of-contract lawsuit against the Crawford ownership entities and Beacon. The city is seeking recovery of $685,000 in federal HOME funds that had gone into the development of the apartments.  

The inability to lease vacant Crawford apartments is not new. City inspectors conducted quarterly inspections of both buildings on Jan. 15. [2440 S. Henderson Jan. 15, 2026 report] [2446 S. Henderson Jan . 15, 2026 report]

A Feb. 9 reinspection did not clear the buildings for renewed occupancy permits.   Seven months later, the buildings have not passed the most recent inspections that would have allowed occupancy permits to be renewed 

July 2026 inspections: Many vacant units had no violations

The latest quarterly HAND inspections were conducted July 14 and 15. [Crawford I inspection] [Crawford II inspection]

Those inspection reports identified a total of 32 vacant apartments. Nine of them were at 2440 S. Henderson and 23 at 2446 S. Henderson. Of those 32 vacant units, 18 had no violations noted inside the unit, while 14 had at least one cited violation.

The reports indicate 29 occupied apartments. Eight had no violations noted, 20 had violations cited. One apartment at 2440 S. Henderson was not inspected because inspectors could not access it.

The violations found during the July inspections ranged from maintenance problems to pest, electrical and building-safety issues.

At 2440 S. Henderson, inspectors cited roaches in several occupied units, plumbing and appliance problems, damaged walls and flooring and other deficiencies. Vacant units had issues including missing window stops, ants, malfunctioning exhaust fans and damaged fixtures. Inspectors also cited emergency lighting in a common hallway and problems with exterior wall panels, an exterior light, drain lines and electrical-conduit supports on the roof.

At 2446 S. Henderson, inspectors cited roaches in several occupied units and bed bugs in two vacant units, as well as electrical, plumbing, HVAC and maintenance problems. The report also cited a leak and damaged ceiling near the first-floor elevator and deficiencies in the common kitchen.

Permit process continues

Under HAND’s ordinary rental-inspection process, an owner receives a report identifying needed repairs after an inspection and generally has 60 days to complete them. If violations remain at re-inspection, additional re-inspections are required before compliance is achieved.

But Killion-Hanson stressed in her response to The B Square that HAND is not treating expiration of the permits as grounds to remove people already living at Crawford.

“The City’s goal is not to displace residents who are already living at the properties solely because a permit has expired or is pending renewal,” she wrote.

Crawford is also subject to annual certification inspections for compliance with federally regulated property-condition standards. HUD has requested quarterly inspections as well, Killion-Hanson said, with the next one scheduled for October.

Killion-Hanson said conditions at the buildings have improved since enforcement intensified. She cited a significant reduction in Bloomington police department calls to the complex as evidence. She also said discussions with ownership and management have been productive.

She also said the current owner and its attorney have evicted tenants whose behavior resulted in noncompliance, which she described as evidence of the owner’s desire to meet city code.

But the threshold for new leasing has not yet been reached. “Full compliance, however, has not yet been achieved,” Killion-Hanson wrote. “If compliance is not achieved, the City will continue to withhold permits per [city code].”

[Note: The reporter is the spouse of Mary Morgan, director of Heading Home of South Central Indiana, the nonprofit mentioned in this report in connection with its Streets to Stability initiative.]