Curbed received notice from a tipster that residents at 180 apartments at the Park Avenue House received eviction notices early this month.
The notice states that tenants must move by 11/5/18. Richard LaBelle tells Curbed that tenants paid their rent for October, then were sent the notices, essentially denying the “one month rent plus security deposit” that many would need to move to another place.
He says that many of the residents are older, on disability, or working class, and that he sees many in service jobs around downtown. LaBelle says most apartments are smaller and run $550-620 per month, while some double apartments rent for more.
The building was advertised on LoopNet for a sale price of $15 million. Records have not been updated yet to reflect a sale.
On October 18, Crain’s reported that Troy-based developer Mario Kiezi is buying the property, although the sale won’t be finalized until early next year. Kiezi does have plans to turn it back into a hotel, but is not saying through which company yet.
In regards to the eviction notices, a spokesman for the buyer, Bill Nowling, tells Crain’s,
...Kiezi and the investors want the seller, the Harringtons, to “back away from that notice” and give residents more time, probably until the end of June 2019. They met with Mayor Mike Duggan last week, who asked for more time for the residents, and the developer agreed, Nowling said.
Town Pump Tavern sits on the ground floor of the property, located at 2305 Park Ave. The owner, Sean Harrington, also owns the building across the street with the Centaur Bar, which is currently closed, according to Eater.
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Mayor Mike Duggan said on Thursday that the city is working with the United Community Housing Coalition to help those affected:
We are building a city for everyone and will not allow long-time Detroiters to be treated this way. We are working with our partners at @UCHC_Detroit to assist each resident to make sure they know their City will be with them every step of the way. https://t.co/fcp3sl7UXX
— Mayor Mike Duggan (@MayorMikeDuggan) October 11, 2018
The Free Press reports that the city is looking to help out the residents facing eviction with $400,000 in emergency funds.
Designed by Louis Kamper as the Royal Palm, the building was opened as a hotel in 1924. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
This is a developing story that we will update when we have more information.
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Note: This story was originally published on October 11 and has been updated with the latest information.
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