The city of Portland is pursuing additional legal action against embattled landlord Geoffrey Rice, this time over violations of the city’s historic preservation rules.

City spokesperson Jessica Grondin said an initial appearance is set for Tuesday in District Court regarding the violations, which stem from ongoing façade work at the Trelawny Building at 655 Congress St. that has raised the ire of both residential and commercial tenants.

Over the past several weeks, tenants have told city officials that the scaffolding on the building, which has been there for more than a year, has created unsafe conditions and turned away customers from ground-floor businesses like the Green Hand Bookshop.

The store has created special signage that was installed on the scaffolding to better direct would-be customers into the storefront. Tenants say their concerns have gone unanswered for months.

Michelle Souliere, who has owned and operated the Green Hand for 16 years, said the work has been “extremely detrimental” to business for her shop as well as several nearby. She said the former salon next to her, Bang Cut and Color, recently closed and moved. 

“If this continues, this block as it stands may not survive,” she said, referring to neighboring businesses that have made the area a welcoming environment.

But, she said, she and her neighbors have been “limping along ever since” work began on the Trelawny Building.

In a statement Monday, the Trelawny Tenants Union, which represents building renters, said a number of tenants have since left and others living there still have windows covered with plastic to block dust.

Built in 1907, the building is located in the Congress Street Historic District and is subject to historic preservation code requirements.

Through its historic preservation program, the city issued a “minimum maintenance order” to Rice in late 2023 after sections of the building’s façade began crumbling into the street. The initial order gave Rice one year to complete permanent fixes to bring it up to code, which was then extended to October 2025.

At the time of the extension, in December 2024, Rice’s consultant, Shinberg Consulting, told staff that the project would be complete in six to eight months. Additional correspondence says some of the delay was caused by a labor shortage with a subcontractor. In a December 2025 update, Shinberg said the project was expected to be completed in mid-2026.

That same month, the city issued a notice of violation “based on the failure of the property owner to complete the work within the time frame set.”

The notice told Rice that the violations could carry monetary penalties in an amount not less than $100 per day, per violation, and that penalties would be assessed beginning Oct. 14, 2025, and would continue to accrue until all violations are remedied.

An attorney for Rice did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

Greg Shinberg, owner of Shinberg Consulting, said Monday that the project is “very complicated,” but declined to comment further.

Grondin said work is ongoing, and that Rice has the proper sidewalk occupancy permits in place. She also said the historic preservation office has not received a response regarding the Trelawny Building from Rice, Shinberg, or their legal representation since March. 

Rice, who owns dozens of properties in Portland, has faced a number of previous violations of the city’s rent control ordinance. In March, a Superior Court judge affirmed a 2025 ruling of the Portland rent board that required Rice to refund tenants he overcharged and pay $170,500 in fines.