ORLANDO, Fla. – The owner of a historic building in Orlando’s Parramore neighborhood had filed a complaint for eviction against its tenant months before the building was condemned, according to court documents reviewed by News 6.
News 6’s Orlando Community Correspondent Mike Valente combed through a slew of court documents that date back to July 1, when the case of 319 S. Parramore Ave Land Trust vs. Vastara LLC began.
The city of Orlando last week condemned the building, which was built in 1947 and known as the Hankins Building. A plaque outside the front door informs people walking by that the building was one of the first Black-owned buildings for Black professionals in the city.
While the plaque may be the most prominent sign on the building, new signs are now plastered along the building’s windows. They read, “CONDEMNED,” citing “uninhabitable” living conditions inside.
“It’s undesirable,” Commissioner Shan Rose, of District 5, said in an interview with News 6 Wednesday. “No one should have to live like that.”
Rose first alerted the public to the fact that the building was condemned when she took to Facebook one week ago, writing that 19 people were displaced after Orlando Police and code enforcement officers discovered that the people were living in a building designed for commercial use.
“It’s against our policies to take commercial space and allow people to live in it without going through the proper process, making sure everything is healthy, making sure it’s up to code,” Rose reiterated Wednesday.
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A 21-page complaint that is attached to the case docket at the Orange County Clerk of Courts includes the commercial lease agreement between the two parties.
One of the clauses of the contract stipulates that the purpose for the premises is a “care facility specializing in group housing/care treatment and for no other purpose.”
The next sentence in the clause reads, “The premises shall not be used for residential occupancy.”
The last page of the complaint, following the lease agreement, outlines a “Notice of noncompliance for matters other than failure to pay rent.”
The notice, dated May 29, 2025, lists several issues written by someone representing the landlord.
The issues include: “Unsupervised individuals with health concerns” and “unsupervised disabled or mental health individuals.”
Despite the efforts to have Vastara evicted this summer, the final eviction notice was not signed until September 8, 2025.
The next day, Rose said, a 9-1-1 call about a domestic dispute prompted a response from Orlando Police. Rose said that police officers observed the unsafe living conditions and notified code enforcement, who then arrived on the scene.
The Christian Service Center told News 6 that eight people were displaced, but Rose said it appeared that as many as 19 people were staying on the second floor of the building.
“We had sewer issues, we had gas issues, people and stuff all over the place,” Rose described.
Rose suggested that the tenant of the property, Vastara, was operating the building as a “rooming house.”
“Typically [rooming houses are] illegal and they’re not allowed because our codes speak to how many should be in a room,” Rose said.
“There’s a fine line of just living somewhere versus living somewhere safe, and that’s important for us at the city of Orlando,” Rose said.
News 6 made several efforts to reach anyone associated with Vastara, but those efforts have so far been unsuccessful.