Monday, February 4, 2013

Patch: 30 Day Lease Termination Notices Go Out To Chateau Residents, Protest Planned

By Andy Ambrosius
LakeView Patch

With Hotel Chateau on the real estate chopping block, the Lakeview Action Coalition says they plan to march and protest the loss of affordable housing in Lake View this Sunday.
The group says more than 700 affordable single room occupancy units were converted to high-end, market rate housing in the past year alone. That’s including Hotel Chateau, where residents were given 30-day lease termination notices on Jan. 30, the group says.
Behind five of those SRO building renovations, including Lake View’s Abbott Hotel, is BJB Properties LLC Principal Jamie Purcell. The real estate giant’s lawyer announced a planned gut-rehab of the building at 3838 N. Broadway during the most recent court date, meaning all the tenants will soon be vacated.
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26 comments:

  1. I thought it was illegal to evict people during the cold winter months? Where will these folks go? I know the police stations are being used as warming & overnight shelters.

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  2. Oh for....
    A protest? Why didn't LAC get on top of this when the place started going downhill, if they were around back then?
    What about all those people with Master's degrees in "social work" who thought it was a good idea to place developmentally disabled people in with hardcore drug addicts? How about they dip into their saving's account to relocate these people they helped disenfranchise.
    If any Chateau people are reading my comment, listen to me here, you may be temporarily homeless, you may be temporarily inconvenienced, you may lose your prime begging zone near Lakeview yuppies, but at least YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BURN TO DEATH IN A BLAZING INFERNO, which is not a possibility, it WILL HAPPEN unless this building is gutted and refurbished.

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  3. Does this mean any Uptown SRO's all of a sudden became more popular/desired/supported as their client demand multiplies?

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  4. Why is LAC trying to keep people living in a dangerous situation? Instead of protesting against the improvement of a dangerous building, why don't they spend their time lobbying for safer affordable housing?

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  5. Where is the LIKE button for Dangerously's..... comment? Dead on.

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  6. @Alexander

    I hope not. Uptown needs less of this population than Lakeview does. We need to spread the wealth! or in this case, the poor.

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  7. Ummm how many of the people that are part of Lakeview Action Coalition are also members of Organization for the Northeast.

    I got to believe it is the same group of Maoists with a different name.

    Now that NATO/G8 is over they are itching for a new cause for shenanigans.

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  8. PB, its probably a group within the group. These organizations have an invested interest in keeping people at a certain level in life, living in certain conditions.

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  9. Wang Chung, you should be ashamed of yourself. Any of you, who sit at your keyboard looking down on the 'poor' as if with a snap of a finger they could change it all and be a great success like you!

    Get over yourselves, have compassion. And start looking at the cause of these issues: no money for education and healthcare, just money for tax breaks and warfare.

    @PB, itching for a new 'cause for shenanigans?" That's just stupid. honestly, if us "protesters" wanted shenanigans or excuses to go crazy, we could just cite the immense cases of police misconduct, political favors, tax theft etc, no?

    @Toni you said "These organizations have an invested interest in keeping people at a certain level in life, living in certain conditions."

    So you are referring to the rich real estate guys right? The capitalists that will displace these people and help ensure they continue the cycle of poverty? you're right! The ruling class DOES HAVE AN INVESTED INTEREST IN KEEPING THE WORKING AND LOWER CLASS IN CERTAIN CONDITIONS, aka POVERTY.

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  10. I have not done a full study here, but many of the affordable housing units we are losing are the worst of the bunch. They are in buildings that are a danger to residents, neighbors, visitors, and our police, fire, sanitation, public health, etc. workers. Not to mention, the high concentration of these buildings are a danger to our neighborhood's economic growth and prosperity.

    This neighborhood needs to lose A LOT more units before we are restored to a more reasonable, fair level for ALL involved.

    It's a complex issue, and people's lives are certainly impacted. But incrementally improving one building at a time needs to happen, and capitalism is going to help facilitate it.

    I agree with Dangerously...When one of these horrifically dangerous buildings goes up in smoke and lives are lost unnecessarily, will the preservation of all of this unacceptable "affordable housing" have been worth it?

    We can do better, Uptown. Holding slumlords accountable is the right thing to do, and if they chose not to participate, they have every right to sell. Let's divert the limited resources available for affordable housing to only those owners/managers that provide inhabitable, dignified units and hold their residents to some reasonable standard.



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  11. Chitownphilly your crazy. Quite frankly we are all stocked up on that around here. One of the reasons the Chateau was sold by the way.

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  12. @ChiTownPhilly

    “Get over yourselves, have compassion”. Funny, I think the same thing about people who have similar views as yourself. I do have compassion… but for the hard-working, law abiding people in the neighborhood who don’t want to have to worry about dodging bullets and drug needles on their way home from a long day of work so they can pay their high taxes to support the poor. FACT: most of our tax dollars here in Chicago and Cook Co. go to support the poor. But I digress…

    Sorry, but I think your perception is backwards.

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  13. I stayed in another Jack Gore property and have visited Chateau.
    I also received services from Ezra, which led me to hang out with O.N.E., Lakeview Action coalition, a lot of these people all know each other and share similar ideology.
    I walked off into the sunset about 14 months ago regarding those matters, I just couldn't stomach it anymore.
    If you disperse the drug dealers, addicts and other malcontents they can do a lot less damage spread out than all concentrated like some kind of Legion of Doom.

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  14. Okay, I get it rich people are bad. But do you know who is worse? People or organizations who exploit the poor. They could have worked with them to improve their living conditions, they didn't. They could have worked with some to see if they could elevate themselves, they didn't. They don't want you to think you have a way out. They don't want you to think there might be something better. Why? Because then their numbers decrease. I'm not heartless not by a long shot. I'm not a snob. I don't have any money either, none at all. I do know though, if you even talk about life on the other side, its discouraged. I know everyone is not going to go from poor to middle class so on and so forth. I know there will always be have nots, that's the way of the world. What I don't accept is people telling you this is as good as it gets so hold on tight.

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  15. Picture this if you will: you live in affordable housing. You believe in the cause, yet one day you want to move on. You are volunteering with O.N.E. you are meeting, organizing, cajoling, preaching, just all around working your tail off. Because again, you believe in this. You look up and someone has a very well paid position doing the exact thing you were doing for free! This can't be right, they wouldn't do this to you, they know this could have helped you get from point A to point B. Yet you stick with them because again, you believe in the cause and you don't want to seem petty. Then what happens, they expect for you to keep doing the same work as before on the same level. They call you a "leader" and pet you on the head. Or you hear about a position opening, you ask someone to put in a word for you, you are more than qualified. They tell you they don't do that. Can you imagine how disheartening this is? I know they can't employ everyone who volunteers, but no one. And I'm talking about someone in the class they claim to help, not someone who was fine already. Show me one person, just one. Add insult to injury, they stay there a couple of years,pad their resume of the poor, then move on to a job paying six figures...go figure

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  16. Most recently a prominent member of LAC was interviewed about the "Panera Cares" situation and the local newstation made it look like it was just some random guy on the street, instead of somebody who has a vested interest in poverty pimping in that neck of the woods.
    It didn't help him much in my eyes that he wore all red in the interview.

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  17. @ Dangerously, can you direct me to that story?

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  18. HAHAHA

    @Wang Chung said "FACT: most of our tax dollars here in Chicago and Cook Co. go to support the poor."

    Ummmm, that's complete BS. Fact.

    @PB, can you tell me why I am crazy or is all you've got? You said something silly and ignorant, I called you out on it, and so I am crazy?

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  19. Ummmm nothing I said was crazy or ignorant. I do find much of what you said to be crazy. From the looks of the comments I am in good company with my findings.

    So if I were you I would concentrate on rounding up your merry band of Socialists for a morning meal of some tofu bacon and whatever you guys eat instead of eggs at the Heartland Cafe and then take the CTA down to our neighborhood for your little show of petulance of the man.

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  20. @PB,

    What specifically that I said do you find crazy?

    What I find crazy is that supposed adult human beings can sit on a computer, literally hurling personal insults and calling people you don't know crazy.

    Maybe you should step outside of your box and engage in an adult conversation, rather than making snap judgements on anyone that expresses a desire to help poor working-class people.

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  21. There is nothing working class about these people. Unless you count sitting on the corner of Sheridan and Broadway getting drunk work, or defecating on children's playground equipment.

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  22. And start looking at the cause of these issues: no money for education and healthcare, just money for tax breaks and warfare. -ChiTownPhilly

    The capitalists that will displace these people and help ensure they continue the cycle of poverty? you're right!. - ChiTownPhilly

    ChiTownPhilly, first of all, no one is stopping anyone from obtaining a public education. It's free. Some schools are better than others, but if one drops out of school, there's not much of a chance they'll get a good job later. There are also a number of free clinics throughout Chicago. It may not be to the same standards as those with insurance, but oftentimes, those with the least get more opportunity to get health care than those with lower wage jobs.

    Developers who are putting millions of dollars into rehabbing this building have no obligation to provide subsidized housing. If you believe otherwise, please point where you found this requirement. I can't seem to find it anywhere.

    If you have no problem with obligating others to provide subsidized housing when there's no law in place that requires this, then how about starting with yourself with this requirement. Rent out your living room or dining room so that someone in need can have a cheap place to stay. Put your money where your mouth is.

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  23. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  24. I believe in affordable housing and this company didn't have to do that...evict people in the MIDDLE OF WINTER! Where are these people to go? This is going to raise rents and all who can afford these apartments will be the 2% and professionals. This company could have gut-rehabbed and redesigned them as SROs like the one on Sheridan and Argyle. It's kept very clean. This is a shame.

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  25. Lianna, if you believe it's perfectly fine for someone to require another person to provide affordable rent, then I'm requiring you to provide affordable rent to one of the people living at the Hotel Chateau. If you don't then it's all your fault that they are in this situation because you saw the need and did nothing. If you won't rent out your living room, then might I suggest you rent out your own bedroom and then you can get a nice soft blanket and sleep under your dining room table.

    You are obligated to follow through with this because I believe it's your duty to do so. While you're at it, you'll need to rent a truck to help them move their belongings to your home. It's the least you can do and I know they'll appreciate it.

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  26. Nobody is getting put out in the winter. They received a lease termination notice. This means in 30 days, they no longer have a lease. They will then be taken to court if they are not gone. They will not actually have to leave until spring, possibly summer, depending on how many continuances they can get. Instead of getting angry and protesting, people should use this time to help them find and secure new places to live

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