JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The sound of dripping water, and the crash of a collapsing roof, brought Har Shaing's American dream to an unexpected halt.
"So far, we don't have any income. All the bills we have to pay...plus we lost all of our life savings in the store. So, at this point, we don't even know what we're going to do next," Har Shaing said.
Shaing, who came to Jacksonville as a refugee from Southeast Asia in 2007, opened the Taungzalat Asian Market in a shopping center off of University Boulevard South in 2016. He was featured in the Florida Times-Union.
Almost five months ago, the city of Jacksonville condemned the building after the roof collapsed. Shaing was forced to shut his doors for good. He contacted the Ask Anthony team for help.
"The reality is they've lost a lot of inventory. They've lost a lot of other things. It's going to be very difficult for them to start the business again at this point," Gregory Lesak explained.
Gregory Lesak is Shaing's attorney. Together, they filed a lawsuit against the building's landlord who they say has been unresponsive to the situation.
"They haven't said anything. They haven't responded to anything," Lesak added.
BBK Investment LLC bought the University Center South Shopping Center, where Shaing's market is located, for $5 million in 2019.
Anthony Austin immediately started making phone calls and got the property manager on the phone. He would only tell Anthony they were working on repairing the roof. But, would not give an expected completion date.
After that phone call, Anthony contacted Shin Seo, who is listed in state documents as a manager for BBK investment. Seo said he had been out of the country and was dealing with health issues. He apologized for the situation.
Seo said he was working with his insurance company to reimburse Shaing for damages and get the roof repaired.
"They've lost a significant business and lifelong revenue stream they had. Completely evaporated at this point," Lesak said.
RIght now, Shaing can't find another building to reopen his store. He would like to stay in the same neighborhood, which is home to a lot of Asian immigrants.
"I just told them wait and we'll be back. But, we don't know when," Shaing said.
Anthony reached out to the City of Jacksonville. A representative said they do have the building condemned and it is headed towards the code enforcement board. It appears a permit application was submitted Monday by a contractor to repair the roof.