ORLANDO, Fla. -- A developer says he has big plans to renovate several rundown apartment complexes in an Orlando neighborhood that has been riddled with crime. But he says the city is standing in the way.

Developer Jimmy Yuken wants to renovate the Peppertree apartments on Mercy Drive, one by one. The problem is they all have code violations and the city says the most dangerous violations, including the unsafe stairs leading to the second floor units, have to be fixed in less than 60 days whether someone is living in the buildings or not.

"We put in all the central air conditioning ducts," Yuken said during a walk-through of one of the units.

Jimmy Yuken is in a hurry to gut the Peppertree apartment complex, but says he can't do it on the city's deadline.

"No doubt about it. They want me to bring the property up to minimum standards. I want to do more," Yuken added.

Yuken bought the complex last year, along with two others on Mercy Drive. He says it will take a year alone to renovate the Peppertree complex costing $30,000 a unit.

But the city says the complex has more than 160 code violations that have to be fixed, including the stairs and landings, because they're unsafe.

"They're making me spend twice as much and I think that's ridiculous, especially as someone coming into this community trying to rehab all the properties to make a better life for the people who live here," Yuken said.

If Yuken doesn't clean up the violations on time he will have to pay $100 a day for each violation which could amount to more than $16,000 dollars. Yuken says cleaning up his complexes will help reduce the crime in this area because he is going to re-screen every tenant.

Channel 9 checked and in the last year the Orlando Police Department has responded to more than 2,200 calls in this area.