For the past five years, Rivera has been a resident of Buenas on 32nd, located near Indian School Road and Grand Avenue. This summer, it’s been a tough place to live. The complex’s four squat buildings are connected by unsteady balconies, and the small courtyard pool is filled with greenish water. But mostly, it’s been hot.
For much of Arizona’s brutal summer, residents in the complex’s roughly 400 units have been without working air conditioning. The situation has been so unlivable that Arizona's attorney general has gotten involved. But Friday was a day of celebration for Rivera. The day before, her landlord had provided a temporary chiller. That meant for the first time in almost two months, her granddaughter could visit.
Before then, her apartment had been too inhospitable. Simple actions, such as cooking and bathing, had been unbearable. “When you come out of the shower, you’re sweating,” she said.
Raquel Límon moved into an apartment at Buenas on 32nd a couple months ago with her three cats. Every morning when she wakes up, she said, “It feels like I’m outside.”
Phoenix’s heat is expected to break records this year. According to the National Weather Service, the Valley’s average temperature will be nearly 100 degrees this summer, breaking last year’s record of 97 degrees.
“It was like you’re living in an oven,” said Rivera, who would sit in her car to escape the heat. “I would go everywhere just to be cool. I didn’t want to come home.”
Rivera eventually did go somewhere else. Three weeks ago, Rivera ended up in the hospital due to dehydration caused by her living situation. When she was discharged, she was spurred to take action.
With the help of hospital counselors, Rivera reached out to the TV station Arizona’s Family and the attorney general about the conditions at Buenas on 32nd. Arizona Family reported on the situation earlier this month.
On July 23, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office sent a letter to the complex's management company demanding that they address the lack of proper air conditioning. If management didn’t provide proper cooling to residents by 5 p.m. on July 26, the letter said, the company would face legal action for violations of the Arizona Landlord Tenant Act.
“The extreme heat poses a serious health risk, and it’s unacceptable for tenants to be without proper air conditioning,” Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a press statement. “Buenas Communities LLC must take immediate action to ensure residents have safe and habitable living conditions in accordance with the law.”
Buenas Communities did not respond to a request for comment from Phoenix New Times.
A window air conditioning unit hangs out of a boarded-up window at the Buenas on 32nd apartments, which has lacked working air conditioning all summer.
Morgan Fischer
A temporary solution
The threat worked, at least for now. Rivera said the complex installed a chiller — a water- and air-based cooling system — at approximately 3:30 p.m. on July 25, a day before Mayes’ deadline. Temperatures inside apartments began to cool down.Before the chillers were installed, the complex had provided residents with window air-conditioning units. But they offered only limited relief. “(They) don’t keep the house cool,” Límon said. Apartments stayed hot, bathrooms became heat chambers, and safety and security issues arose.
The air-conditioning units can be seen in almost every window of the apartment complex. While they provide some cool air, they also prevent windows from closing. So residents surrounded them with tarps, cardboard, wood paneling and other materials in an effort to ensure their privacy.
“What if someone tries to come into your window or something?” Límon asked. Even with a chiller installed, Límon is keeping the air conditioner in her apartment's window to combat the extreme heat. “It could be anything.”
The chillers have helped. But while residents are happy, they’re less than fully satisfied. In an effort to mitigate the heat, many spent money that they won’t get back. Before the complex provided window air conditioners to residents, Límon bought her own for $100. Rivera also has spent extra money on dining out because cooking has only made her apartment hotter.
The chiller solution is a temporary one, and a permanent fix will take four months, according to residents and the Attorney General Office. Residents may remain in limbo until December, though the heat will have abated by then. Rivera is skeptical the current fix will last. “For how long? We don’t know,” she said. “They don’t tell us anything.”
The lack of air conditioning is a frequent complaint of residents at Buenas on 32nd — River said it’s “been happening every year” — but it’s hardly the only one they have. Residents pay more than $900 monthly for a studio apartment and more than $1,200 for a one-bedroom, even though the complex has no laundry services. The property also has had problems with squatters, drug dealers and other security issues.
Since the current owners took over in 2016, the property has received 18 code violations related to the heating, cooling and ventilation of apartments, according to code enforcement case records from the city of Phoenix’s Neighborhood Services Department. Thirteen of those violations were closed after the owners fixed the issues. There was no resolution in two cases because the relevant units remain empty. The remaining three — one from 2023 and two from this year — are still open.
Beyond heating and cooling issues, the property has received 105 code violations stemming from 43 cases since 2017. The majority relate to vegetation, the building’s interior, trash and litter on the property, and plumbing issues. While most of those issues end up being fixed, the property also has received violations concerning infestations, stairs and railways, appliances, fencing and the pool.
At Buenas, according to both residents and city data, something is always wrong. Some residents, such as Rivera, have stuck it out for years. Others would rather live anywhere else.
That includes Límon and her three cats. Even though they just moved in this summer, in August, she said, they’ll move out.
