Eviction-Demolition Is All the Real Estate Rage

Want to knock down your building and build a new one? You'll get to kick out your tenants, if you do! There are two interesting stories about apartment building owners using a loophole in order to evict their tenants who rent below market rates.

In Tribeca, residents at 131 Duane Street claim their landlord is falsely claiming he will demolish the building in order to evict them. In NYC real estate, owners can evict even rent-stabilized tenants if the buildings are unsafe - and if they are planning to demolish the building to build a new one (the owners do need to prove they have the plans and financing in place). Tenants and other elected officials say that 131 Duane Street is a landmark; plus, City Hall restaurant, which is on the first floor, is supposed to stay open, so that sounds more like a "gut rehabd" rather than true demolition where the walls and foundation are torn down. AM New York reports that State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick is introducing a bill that would "amend the housing law to define a demolition as a complete destruction of the building."

And uptown, 220 Central Park South's building owner is trying to do the same thing: Evict 80 tenants on the grounds of demoltion, replacing a 20 story building with a 41 story "glass tower." Some people living south of CPS will be pretty pissed their views will be gone, but one of the developers claims the building is "obsolete" with many problems. The NY Times has a great quote from tenant lawyer William Gibben about the demolition practice: "This is new territory. It's a scorched-earth policy. If this gets done, it is open season on every building in the city." In the case of 220 CPS, the building owners mean business and will file their plans soon. However, it's possible no construction will happen for a while if the tenants are ready to fight.

Here's a description of 220 Central Park South from The City Review.

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By Jen Chung in News on May 19, 2006 11:47 AM

Comments [rss]

kissel

simple, because you rent... you don't own. you have no claim to be a charity case for the owner of the building. Just like everywhere else in the country, you'll have to move where you can afford. No one has a right to live on CPS.

Tenant Underdog

Yikes! I certainly hope the first comment didn't come from our landlords, the folks that want to get us out of our homes. The same company that is invested in Toys R Us, selling toys to kids, and Babies R Us, is kicking Senior Citizens out of their homes at 220 Central Park South.

220 CPS was designed by the same architects that built 240 CPS. 240 CPS recently became a landmark bldg.

The remaining tenants at 220 Central Park South most are Senior Citizens. The majority is the middle class. For example, I am a secretary at an ad agency. I work hard, and long hours to pay my rent, just like many New Yorkers.

However, Steven Roth the CEO of our primary landlord, Vornado, does not fall in the category of middle class. The company he runs has 12 billion in equity.

In the NY Post, Bradel Keil stated the following about Steven Roth:

Now that mega-developer Steven Roth has moved into his sprawling prewar co-op apartment on Park Avenue, he's selling his vacated residence a few blocks away.

The Chairman and CEO of real-estate giant Vornado Realty Trust, is listing his full-floor 10-room co-op at 800 Park Ave. (between 74th and 75th streets) for $9 million. The seventh-floor unit, with a private elevator entry, includes three family bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, servants' quarters with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, a living room with a wood-burning fireplace, a library, an office, formal dining room and a large kitchen.

http://www.nypost.com/realestate/63874.htm

and here is an inside peek into the home for sale:

http://www.corcoran.com/property/listing.aspx?Region=NYC&ListingID=858915

They could make 1.2 Billion Dollars in sales, maybe mor.

This is about people that have lived in a building for more that 40 years. This is about a zoning area of NY that was changed to reflect stricter restrictions on building heights.

"If this gets done, it is open season on every building in the city," stated tenant lawyer "William Gibbins" in the NY Times article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/19/nyregion/19condo.html?ex=1149393600&en=0be48ad764d9102d&ei=5070

Our two buildings at 220 CPS have different zones. The building facing 58th Street has commercial zoning.

Therefore, if they actually do intend to tear the two buildings down, they will share two zones.

In other words, you could potentially see a McDonalds from Central Park, or a Toys R Us.

Interesting enough, Vornado has a big focus on commercial interests, as of March 2005 they had an aggregate of $475,692,000 (475 million dollars) invested in McDonalds shares, and they participated in an $8.8 billion aquisition of Toys R Us (in 2004 or 2005).

Can the underdog survive gentrification and advert eminent domain? I hope so, because I love NY, I want to stay. Why should I have to leave, just to enable the rich to build another big glass building (in an area that was zoned for small buildings) so that they could get richer?

simon

its a rental building, if they follow the regulations they should be allowed to do whatever they want. The building is the property of the owner not the tenants and if he wants to rebuild its his/her perogative.

Ceca

Can't be any worse than having your building illegally converted into a hotel. There are apartments in it that have been empty for six years!

s

fuck the rich greedy landlords. we need MORE renter friendly laws in this city, not less. the landlords must be tightly regulated, they are out of control (greenpoint arson the latest most heinous example)

Dave

This is not a loophole, but a very recent amendment to RS/RC law. This is only the beginning of what will prove to be a waive of demolitions, until the city realizes that its being used a little outside of its intended scope.

MT

This is new territory? It's just Title 1 let loose on rich people. Karma's getting some good revenge.

Tim N.

Doesn't sound like The City Review gives 20 CPS much love. Knowing the building, one can see why.

Still, throwing people out of their homes if the rent is paid is wrong. Always.

Larry

Anyone living on CPS with rent control/stabilization should be shot. That is the best block in the city, yet the housing stock there mostly looks crappy.