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.
