With the City having suspended their previously issued building permit for the conversion of 1049 Market Street from its current non-compliant residential use back to office space in order “to enable the City to obtain additional details about the building’s historic and current occupancies,” eleven of the remaining tenants in the building who have defied their eviction notices are now suing the landlord, alleging harassment.
The tenants who pay “around $700 for compact loft-style units with kitchenettes and shared bathrooms” in the Mid-Market building are calling for the landlord to allow them to stay. The owners, who haven’t budged, are slated to meet with city officials again next month.
At least communist Russia was able to have THEIR trains and buses run on time..
what a joke. the city told the building owners they were in violation. these tenants should be suing the city…and then be thankful the owners were dumb enough to let them live in a way below market rate rental for so many years
They should let the Academy of Art buy the building, and classify it as dorm rooms. The city will investigate and bloviate for a while, then settle with the Academy for a pittance. Problem solved!
Where are the gendarmes?
Meetings? We don’t need more GD meetings.
I lived here when I was in my early twenties. I loved it. The neighborhood was a bit gritty, obviously, but one of the few places I could afford at the time. For me, it seemed the ideal way to house working class people and I wished there were more of them throughout the city. It wasn’t dumpy or dangerous. The neighbors were all polite and clean, and not strung out on anything. Frankly, it was the cleanest apartment I’d lived in at the time, and I’m sad to see it go.
The code violation issue seems to be a sham to convert the building to office use. Yes, the building owner has the right to do whatever with it, but in the end it still makes me sad and nostalgic.