DeKALB – A fire during Christmas week in 2024 at the Tri-Frat apartment buildings has exposed persistent fire code violations and administrative delays at the buildings, leading to questions regarding whether enough is being done to ensure public safety. 

On Dec. 22, a fire broke out at 1024 W. Hillcrest Drive. In the aftermath of the fire, the building had to be demolished because it was deemed uninhabitable. 

According to DeKalb Fire Chief Mike Thomas, the cause of the fire is unknown but the department identified the area of origin was a bathroom on the first floor of the building.

The building’s owner, Clear Investment Group (CIG), was cited as being in violation of 11 fire codes in September 2023. 

In the 15 months between the citations being issued and the December fire, the Northern Star was unable to find documentation showing the building owner remediated code violations they were found to be in violation of.

Clear Investment Group’s CEO Amy Rubenstein and Director of Investments Lindsay Rodriguez declined to comment prior to the publication of this story. 

The DeKalb Tri-Frat residence is not the only Clear Investment Group property facing code compliance issues. 

Last week, the city of Syracuse, New York, filed a motion with the State Supreme Court to put a building owned by Clear Investment Group into a receivership after they allegedly failed to invest and improve the 352-unit apartment building.

In a receivership a court appoints a neutral third party to control and manage the building. 

Also in its complaint, the city of Syracuse claims that Clear Investment Group failed to provide proof of proper fire alarm and fire suppression systems following a March 2024 fire. 

In emails between the executives and the Northern Star in February, Rubenstein denied there were any code violations.  

“We were up to code,” Rubenstein said in an email exchange. “We would not have been able to occupy the building if that were not the case.”

The Northern Star sent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to explore the circumstances surrounding the Tri-Frat fire. Included in the response to the FOIA requests were correspondences between the city and building owners regarding code violations.

City of DeKalb officials and Clear Investment Group maintain that progress was being made toward bringing the buildings into compliance. 

In the February emails with the Northern Star, Rodriguez said the company was working to remediate violations.

“Instead of closing each individual citation separately, the city opted to address all violations as a whole once every issue was fully remedied,” said Rodriguez via email. “In court proceedings in November 2024, the case was continued to January 13, 2025, as we had completed 95% of the required remediation and the remaining work was in 1024 (Hillcrest Drive) and was specifically in the unit turn itself.” 

Administrative hearings for the case were held on March 25, 2024, April 8, 2024, May 6, 2024, June 10, 2024, July 22, 2024, August 26, 2024, Oct. 28, 2024 and Nov. 25, 2024. CIG was only marked as being present at the hearing in November. 

Between November 2023 and December 2024 there were eight scheduled hearings with an anticipated resolution in January 2025. 

When property owners are found to be in violation of fire codes, they are ordered to appear at administrative hearings where an agreement can be reached between the city and owners for resolution to the violations. 

City Attorney Matthew Rose said cases are generally dismissed if the violations have been remediated prior to the hearings. 

In cases that the property owner needs more time to remediate the violations, the cases can be continued to give the owners more time. 

Assistant City Manager Bob Redel said extraneous factors such as insurance can slow the process of bringing a building into compliance. 

“When you have insurance involved it takes time because insurance wants to come out. They want to look at it,” Redel said. “They want to see what they’re going to reimburse the insurance holder for.” 

Before the final hearing, the fire at 1024 W. Hillcrest rendered the two adjacent buildings of the Tri-Frat property uninhabitable. The utilities for all three buildings, which were housed in the common basement, had to be shut off as the building was at risk of collapsing and approximately 60 residents, including NIU students, were displaced only days before Christmas. 

The case was dismissed at the January 2025 hearing. 

Requests to Clear Investment Group for documentation of the completed work have been unanswered. 

The lack of documentation confirming compliance leaves a gap in records that would show diligence on both sides in ensuring the safety of tenants. 

“There was a lot of work that needed to be done,” Redel said. “What they’re trying to do with code violations is they are trying to bring these buildings up to reasonable standards.”

The buildings are referred to as the Tri-Frat because they were formerly a fraternity house. The buildings at 930 and 934 W. Greenbrier Road and 1024 W. Hillcrest Drive were later turned into separate apartments with a connected basement. 

The fire at the Tri-Frat complex is the second time a fire broke out in the buildings since 2019. 

The first was a suspected arson in 2019 at 930 Greenbrier Drive. 

At that time, the building was owned by Hunter Star Properties. 

Hunter Star reached a settlement agreement with the city to sell some properties it owned after the city became dissatisfied with its management.

A group of buildings including the Tri-Frat complex was sold to Clear Investment Group for $22 million in 2022. 

Residents of the Tri-Frat apartment buildings spoke at a DeKalb City Council meeting in January. 

Martina Fleming, a resident of an adjacent building, said she thought the property owners were in violation of various building codes. 

“The persistent issues at our building indicate a failure by the landlord to maintain compliance with multiple codes,” Fleming said. “We all deserve to have a safe and dignified living space.” 

In November 2022, Fire Prevention Officer Thomas Conley sent a letter to Rodriguez informing her the city found fire code violations in 808 Ridge Drive, 832 Ridge Drive, 835 Edgebrook Drive, 902 and 914 Ridge Drive and at the Tri-Frat apartments. 

In November 2023, a settlement was reached between the city and property owner for the resolution of the code violations. 

The agreement gave Clear Investment Group until March 25, 2024, to come into compliance with all violations and required the company to pay a $5,000 fine. 

The settlement agreement includes stipulations that protect the agreement’s contents from being discussed and prevent the city and property owner from publicly disparaging each other. 

The Northern Star was able to obtain a copy of the agreement through a FOIA request. 

On March 26, 2024, Rose sent an email to Rubenstein and Rodriguez regarding lack of communication and proof of compliance from CIG.

“To date, there has not been any proof of compliance,” Rose said in the email. “The city’s building official further advised me that the permit application has not yet been issued due to deficiencies with the permit application.”  

Redel said the city has ongoing communications with CIG.

“I think they realize things need to be better so we’re going to push as a city and they’ve been receptive to meeting more regularly to talk about issues,” Redel said. “I’ll keep them directly involved in anything that we’re getting as far as community input or complaints.”

In the aftermath of the fire city officials say that Clear Investment Group has worked to complete steps such as installing a fire sprinkler system and adding minor requirements such as signs that indicate locations of exits to make the remaining buildings habitable again.