Seniors at the Williams Residence rallied on Wednesday against a plan by the Salvation Army to sell the building to a private developer for $108 million and then move people to a new residence in East Harlem. Political leaders also spoke out, urging the Salvation Army to consider selling the building to a nonprofit instead, so it can still be used for senior housing. There are 212 residents now at the Williams, on 95th street and West End Avenue, and there are 353 units in the building — the Salvation Army has not been taking applications as it gets ready for the sale.
“It will be a great loss to our community, and it’s a disgrace on the Salvation Army’s part,” said Gale Brewer. “This sale has happened in the dark of night and it is not aligned with the mission of the Salvation Army.”
Christine Cruz, who has lived there for two years is upset that she’s going to have to move “There were rumors that this sale was being discussed back in 2011.”
There were at least 50 people at the rally.
One senior said she was okay with moving:Â “The building needs work and living there where it’s happening would be disruptive,” said Jeannine Kiskaddon
In an interview on Tuesday, Major Jim Betts, the second-in-command at the Salvation Army’s New York headquarters, said that the Williams needed millions worth of repairs, and the Salvation Army could not foot that bill.
“We began to explore over the year ‘Would it make sense to build a new facility?’ Without a sale we wouldn’t have the money to build a new facility.”
“This was our best option at this point.”
Local politicians say that they were in talks with the Salvation Army to come up with a good solution when the nonprofit went behind their back last month and filed papers for the sale with the Attorney General, who has to approve the deal. Betts did not directly answer the question about why he had not notified them ahead of time: “We’re doing the best we can with what we’ve got. At the end of the day we had to make the best decision for everyone. There will always be people who question the decision.”
“It’s easy for other folks to second guess what we’re doing but they don’t know what we’re faced with in providing services.”
He said that several residents have expressed support for the move.
“We’ve had a good deal of residents say “Where do I sign up?’ The ones in opposition are loudest and most vocal but it’s hard to say they’re in the majority.”
Betts said there are no restrictions on the deed for the residence — the Salvation Army bought the building outright and moved seniors there in 1965 after having to relocate the original Williams Residence in Flushing.
“The idea that people can’t be moved doesn’t hold water. It was already moved in its existence.”
The attorney general and a state court will have final say over the sale; the timing of the ruling is unclear.
Top photo by Emily Baer.
Concerned seniors living in the Williams are not a minority. My husband’s aunt lives in the building, so I know rumors have been going around for months that the building was going to be sold. The Salvation Army actually went into each room taking pictures and specs. When residents asked whether the building was going to be sold, the Salvation Army lied and claimed it was getting the building updated to current fire code. My husband’s aunt was so upset that she had a panic attack. Residents are concerned, and have been for a while.
“Major Jim Betts, the second-in-co0mmand at the Salvation Army’s New York headquarters, said that the Williams needed million worth of repairs, and the Salvation Army could not foot that bill.”
Even if they could, the SA might feel the money is better spent elsewhere. If those who object can come up with $108m then they are free to buy the building and remain. Otherwise relocate, or feel free to find your own apartment in the neighborhood.
I doubt the Salvation Army will ever raise another dime from people who live in the neighborhood or follow the story. As someone familiar with CRE transactions, this is a sick move and cynical, disingenuous dealings by the Salvation Army. If the building needs millions in repairs (I don’t buy it), why all the secrecy over the past months and why not lay those required repairs and their costs out now for the public?
CRE deals go rotten all the time when your business plan is along these lines – look at Stuy Town – and this is as good an example as any.
The building probably does need millions in repairs. According to city record it is almost 100 years old. It may require some of the following to bring it up to code:
New elevator
New roof
Facade repairs
New boiler, heating system and chimney
New windows
New electrical
New plumbing
ADA compliance
Kitchen and bathroom upgrades
Painting of dwelling units
New floors in dwelling units
Additional items
Outside interference of businesses and private organizations by elected officials and community activist groups do not have good outcomes. The JHL project is one such example on the UWS with similar circumstances. If these housing units are so important to the community, the city should make a serious offer to buy them and convert them to affordable housing.
Buildings built back in the 1920s were way better constructed than new buildings. Lots of the items you mention have already been done. The building is inspected annually and passes on safety. Most of the needed work is fixing the shoddy repairs done by the SA over the years.
Oh, sorry. CRE is shorthand for commercial real estate.
I don’t know the details of this property’s asset management (strikes me as especially implausible that this property is not ADA compliant)… but most of the Upper West Side buildings are close to 100 years old. http://www.bdon.org has a great graphical view of NYC building ages, I believe based on somewhat imperfect city tax records. It’s pretty cool, you can zoom to see a neighborhood and specific property. Responsible landlords keep their properties up to code all the time without tossing market-rent-paying tenants out of their homes. Especially seniors…
nicely said, DMH
Additional map sites are:
https://maps.nyc.gov/doitt/nycitymap/
https://www.oasisnyc.net/map.aspx
What does CRE stand for?
As a resident of the UWS currently in my thirties who has now lived here for almost 10 years, I wonder about what might happen in fifty or sixty years time when I myself consider housing options. Sheltered housing of this sort seems like a win-win for many reasons: it keeps elderly in their community where they are comfortable, surrounded by family, friends and amenities. Medical professionals know the value to a person’s self esteem and health of keeping them in a home environment for as long as possible rather than moving them to a hospital or nursing-home like setting.
I would also add that there’s also a benefit for everyone in making sure that younger people see and interact with the elderly in their own neighborhoods. Age-stratified neighborhoods and warehousing the elderly out of sight is damaging to all age groups.
Even people renting at market rate in the Windermere will grow old at some point, and I suspect they too would prefer to be surrounded by family and friends rather than moved to what is, relatively speaking, the middle of nowhere next to the Triboro Bridge in East Harlem.
Clearly, economic realities in the neighborhood push prices ever higher. I wonder if a reasonable compromise could involve keeping some portion of the building fixed in perpetuity for use as it is currently, and the rest renovated as market rate rentals? That way, the Salvation Army could cross-subsidize the provision of the space for the elderly and also attain, within a single building, the kind of interaction between young and old that is so valuable for our society.
the purchaser here is Brack Capital, which has a horrible track record in harassing tenants during the condo conversion process. I should know, they converted my building (230 RSD).
The report on needed repairs did not say that millions would be needed. The SA knew 2 years ago that they had brokered a deal to sell, but still allowed people to move in without telling them. There is no doubt that the vast majority of residents do not want to move, when channel 1 tried to find some pro move residents, they could only come up with one. The SA has so little respect for us that they told the Daily News about the move the day before they told us. Their plan to keep us living here until the new building is constructed is unworkable. You can’t maintain and staff a huge building for a tiny group of people. They’re already cutting back on services.
And how much was the building purchased for? Very much less than the sale price!
Who makes out in these shady deals I wonder? The SA isn’t showing any compassion with regard to re-housing the tenants and the repairs over the years sound suspicious… Someone always has a friend they allocate these projects to and the profit margin ends up in someone’s pocket. I know because I live in Senior Housing run by Project Find who scam the system in a million ways. They provide tiny studios around 200 sq feet for $1000 a month … Way above the cost per square foot on the UWS. And they have incompetent ‘staff’ who are insulting stupid and disrespectful.