What happened to affordable housing? Tenants at Marine View Plaza face 30-plus percent rent increase
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In a letter to the tenants, the Empire State Management Co. of Brooklyn, N.Y. cited maintenance and financial debt as the primary reasons for the proposed increase.
However, the request is currently being considered by the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (NJHMFA), who had knocked down a similar request for a 33 percent increase a year earlier when they determined that the building could operate efficiently without it.
An additional 3.5 percent increase was approved, however, on July 29 of 2005 and became effective Sept. 1 of that year. However, Empire is awaiting a July, 2006 state hearing to ask for more.
Marine View Plaza was built in the mid-1970s after Empire State Management Co. received $12.7 million from the NJHMFA to build affordable housing. The company was required to keep the rents artificially low. Once residents moved in, they were allowed to stay in no matter how high their income got, but they were subject to rent increases.
Today, the building holds many of Hoboken's longtime police officers, firefighters and teachers.
The massive complex stretches from Third to Fourth streets between Hudson and River Streets, consisting of two 25-story buildings and a multi-level garage.
Tenant woes "I'll live in the streets before I move back in with my kids," said a 73-year-old Marine View Plaza tenant who refused to give her name. She said she had lived in the complex for 28 years.
"I don't know what we're going to do," she said. "Do they want us out? Do they want to sell it as condos? What do they really want?"
Another anonymous senior said, "I'm 83 years old, a widow with a disability. I just can't afford any more increases."
Darcy Martinez, the president of the Tenant Association, said that many of the residents fear retribution if they speak out. "People are afraid to complain because the building's management is threatening and intimidating," Martinez said.
Tenants claim that those who speak out are made to wait an extended period for repairs.
Annette Illing, a community activist and Marine View tenant since 1977, said, "The owners are harassing us. It's all about greed with a capital G."
The tenants think that Empire State Management is trying to compete with the market rate rent in Hoboken, which has dramatically increased since the towers were built.
The purpose and the problem In Empire's letter to the tenants, they explain the reason for the proposed rent increase. The company claims to owe approximately $1.97 million to the Hoboken Parking Utility (formerly the Parking Authority) for accrued parking charges.
Both Empire management and the Parking Utility Directory John Corea declined to return phone calls.
The Marine View garage is currently owned by the Hoboken Parking Utility. In 1978, Marine View entered into a settlement with then-Parking Authority of Hoboken to become the facility's new owner.
Tenants said they pay their parking fees directly to the Parking Utility, so it was unclear why the money is owed. Empire also cites a whopping $10,960,380 bill stemming from a mortgage modification made in 1990. At the time, Empire was unable to pay the mortgage in full due to construction overruns and a slow rent up of the building.
Rather than foreclose on the mortgage, NJHMFA and the owner agreed to defer these payments plus accrued interest until 2026.
The last fee that Empire claims to owe is a debt of slightly over $4 million to NJHMFA for funds used to finance a depleted repair and replacement account.
However, the NJHMFA said that they could not confirm the figure and had no record of any such debt.
Mayor says it's unacceptable In a letter from Mayor David Roberts addressed to the building tenants, whom he called his "neighbors," Roberts called the rent increase "exorbitant" and "not acceptable."
On Friday May 19, the mayor met with City Council members Theresa Castellano, Michael Russo, and Richard Del Boccio to discuss a strategy to petition the state and prevent this "outrageous action."
Roberts also contacted State Sen. Majority Leader Bernard F. Kenny Jr. in an attempt to reach out to the NJHMFA and prevent the increase.
"We have done this successfully before and I am guardedly optimistic that we will do this again," wrote Roberts in the letter.
The Tenant Association plans to take the fight directly to the NJHMFA, if necessary.
Sean Darcy, a representative from the agency's Department of Community Affairs, welcomes the meeting.
"We have met with tenants in the past regarding Marine View and will do so in the future upon request," Darcy said.
Michael Mullins can be reached at mmullins@hudsonreporter.com
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