A Cease Operations Order is seen on the door of the Mason on Chestnut on June 14.
Credit: Ethan YoungThe Mason on Chestnut, a popular off-campus residence that houses many Penn students, received a Cease Operations Order from the City of Philadelphia on June 11 due to multiple city code violations, resulting in an eight-day shutdown.
A sign posted by the Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections stated that the building was “ordered vacated immediately” because of several code violations, including a lack of electric power from the fourth to 14th floors, “no water service,” and issues with the fire pump.
The sign detailed several corrective actions required to lift the order, including repairing the electrical, water, and fire pump systems.
“Any person who permits this presence to be occupied … after the above date and time or removes, damages, or defaces this notice is subject to arrest by the Police Department,” the sign reads. The sign notes that occupancy after June 11 at 5 p.m. “is illegal.”
City records show eight consecutive failed inspections at the Mason in the past year. In addition, the building's fire alarm and sprinkler certifications have both been deficient since 2023.
“We should be back to normal by the end of the month,” Sal Smeke, co-founder of CSC — the development company that owns the building — and managing partner of the Mason, wrote in a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian. “CSC['s] only focus right now is the drug and alcohol tower, which we are breaking ground [on] at the end of the year and spending over $300 million building it.”
Earlier this month, CSC announced plans to construct the drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility on the lot directly behind the Mason. Current plans for the building — which were first reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer — include a total bed count between 150 and 250, though the number is not finalized.
The building was cleared to reopen as of June 19, Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management Public Information Program Manager Jeffrey Kolakowski wrote in a statement to the DP. An email from Redstone Residential — the property’s managers — obtained by the DP and sent on June 18 told residents that the building was “hoping to open” the next day, but that management was “currently waiting to hear back from the City.”
The DP was unable to immediately confirm the circumstances that led to the property being cleared to reopen.
A Google review of the property stated that “unaddressed leaks culminated in a massive flood on 6/11, which has led to the displacement of all residents and the city ordering a ‘cease operations’ on the property.”
“Residents were forced to walk up and down a dozen flight of stairs in order to grab their essentials within less than 1.5 hour notice of needing to evacuate the premises,” the review added.
Smeke told the DP that “[the] Mason is a pimple in the big tower's butt,” adding that “the new tower will transform the entire East Coast.”
The DP previously reported that residents of the Mason voiced frustration with a lack of heat and problems with flooding in December 2023.
According to residents and management, the heat for the building was supposed to be running by Oct. 15, but did not turn on until Nov. 6. During the three-week period, the rooms “fell below the legal temperature requirement of 68 degrees,” Mason resident and Perelman School of Medicine postdoctoral researcher of dermatology Geeta Ahuja told the DP in December.
CSC took over managing the Mason in June 2023. The building had previously been run by Outpost Club, a third-party management site.
The goal of the new management change was to “enhance the experience for the residents,” Smeke told the DP last August. He added that the new management had plans to address and hopefully mitigate the complaints the building has faced over the past few years.
However, student residents continued to complain about management's lack of action, with former Mason resident Absaar Malik calling their response rate “very slow.”
As residents pushed for more permanent solutions to the ongoing maintenance issues, Aaron Jacobs, a manager of the Mason, told the DP that in his time on the management team he had seen progress by focusing on upgrades that will help improve the resident experience.
“Our job is to be there and to be on top of it, and to provide solutions as quickly as we can. And that's what we're committed to,” Jacobs said.
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