All but three of the tenants at an Old Port apartment building have vacated the property, as demanded by Portland city officials last week. Many of them left over the weekend.

Landlord Joseph Soley has offered to provide alternative housing for the three that remained at 10 Exchange St. as of this morning. The hope is that those three will be moved out of the building by Wednesday, to avoid further action by the city.

City officials ordered all residential tenants out of the building because of deficiencies in the building's sprinkler and alarm systems, which have not been improved in more than a year since inspectors told Soley to do the work.

"The goal has been to get these people out of an unsafe building," said city attorney Gary Wood. "We're very pleased with the efforts that Mr. Soley has made to help remove people from the building."

Under an agreement reached between Wood and Soley's lawyers this morning, residents who were forced to vacate the building will have until Feb. 9 to remove their belongings. The rooms will be padlocked, and residents will be given a key, with instructions to use the key only to remove belongings.

Ryan Fish, 24, is one of the remaining three tenants. This morning, Fish said he has reached a tentative agreement with Soley to move into a building directly across Exchange Street. Fish does not have enough money for first and last month's rent, plus a security deposit for another apartment.

He expressed frustration with the whole ordeal, but was pleased to have a place to live.

"It's better than being homeless," Fish said.

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