(Image: John Winthrop Apartments)
Retrofit plans
By Brenna Gauchat
Residents from the century-old John Winthrop Apartments on First Hill met last week in the Cal Anderson Shelter House community space to discuss the possibility they might be evicted.
Alongside the Puget Sound Tenants Union and residents from sibling buildings, they brainstormed ways to stop the new owners of their building from relocating residents as the structure undergoes earthquake safety retrofitting.
“We’re not against earthquake retrofitting, we’re just against this BS process that they’re using to do this,” one John Winthrop resident said. “Like a loophole to just evict the whole building.”
In April, Nordic Falk and Seattle real estate entrepreneur Kevin Falk acquired the 1020 Seneca building in a $11 million deal and began structural renovations in its unoccupied units. At the same time, the building’s new owners also applied for a permit to retrofit the rest of the building, which included a request for a Tenant Relocation License as the work would be invasive and make a unit “uninhabitable,” according to the firm.
Residents at the John Winthrop have pushed back. Out of the 62 occupied units, one resident said more than half have joined in trying to find a solution to keep tenants from being uprooted, temporarily or permanently.
Others are watching.
Nordic Falk’s retrofitting project only applies to the John Winthrop but the resident said there was a “massive turnout” at Wednesday’s meeting. Neighbors were seeing the union’s event posters on the street and came to bring ideas based on their experiences in other Capitol Hill and First Hill apartment buildings.
“One thing that we were saying [in the meeting] is, okay, so you want to do the earthquake retrofitting? Just do it one by one and then as people naturally move in and out, you can keep going,” the John Winthrop resident said, just one of suggested solutions brought to the table that evening. “There’s so many avenues, I feel like this actually will end up being successful.”
(Image: John Winthrop Apartments)
According to the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections, John Winthrop Apartments is just one of over 1,000 buildings in Seattle considered “Unreinforced Masonry” (URM) and will require retrofitting within the next decade. The SDCI classified it as having a “high vulnerability” to earthquakes given the building’s location on a steep hill.
“This work is, first and foremost, a life-safety measure: a URM building like this one poses a real risk to the people who live in it during a significant quake,” the investors said in a statement from Nordic Falk provided to CHS.
Under the Tenant Relocation Assistance Ordinance, landlords must provide renters with adequate time to find new housing and move, as well as financial assistance to low-income households in situations of “substantial renovation”. Nordic Falk said relocated residents may have the opportunity to return and sign a new lease once a retrofitted unit becomes available again.
“We are coordinating closely with SDCI at every stage and communicating with each household individually about timing and resources, so that the most accurate information comes directly from us and the City, and every resident has a clear point of contact for their questions,” the statement from Nordic Falk said.
According to Nordic Falk, its TRAO permitting is in the “early stages” and has not been approved yet. Residents say the new landlords have stopped offering lease renewals to current residents and are in the process of distributing packets that outline its relocation plans –- which each household has 30 days from the date they receive the packet to apply for assistance — causing confusion among residents about the urgency and actuality of the situation.
“It’s not even accidental or just a miscommunication, that’s their stated MO,” the resident said after receiving a packet on Friday. “Zero communication, zero notice on the eviction, blindside with the homemade packets before this even goes through.”
The pushback on retrofit relocation comes as tenant groups have won some new ground in some key tenants rights battles in Seattle. CHS reported early this year on effort to ban the use of unfair “ratio utility billing system” charges. Mayor Katie Wilson has launched a Rental Junk Fee Town Hall series to begin shaping policies to address the problem.
Organizers say the next step for the John Winthrop is to work with District 3 representative and council president Joy Hollingsworth’s office – who they met briefly before Wednesday’s meeting – to find a way to prevent John Winthrop resident from being unfairly relocated before any permits are issued and make a dent in preventing more unfair evictions in similar buildings across the city.
“Some of their buildings are the exact same profile as ours,” the resident said, referring to John Winthrop’s history, infrastructure and community. “So they’re probably next up, right?”
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