A Logan resident has forwarded this to us. The ANC Crime and Public Safety Committee recently issued letters regarding safety matters surrounding this property.
The Plymouth is a 74 unit, non-subsidized building located at 1236-11th St., NW, at the southwestern tip of Logan/Shaw. It is populated mostly by Central Americans from El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico.
The Plymouth 2005 Tenant Association was formed in late April, when the landlord officially notified the tenants of his intent to sell the building. With Manna CDC organizing assistance, the tenants quickly responded with their intent to purchase the building, getting 68 of the 69 occupied units to join the tenant association!! They are currently in the process of evaluating the feasibility of a tenant-sponsored purchase.
The Tenant Association is, at the same time, trying to deal with twice-yearly rent increases in the midst of severe housing code violations and a serious security problem. Because the building is currently exempt from rent control, rents have skyrocketed to as much as $1500 per month.
Manna CDC began working with the Plymouth in April 2005, as part of our ongoing commitment to create racial and economic equity in the Shaw community. We are developing the in-house capacity and external relationships to truly bring together the various communities of color within Shaw to work together for changes that will benefit all of us.
UPDATE! The tenant association at the Plymouth continues to work on the purchase of their 74-unit building to keep it affordable and make security upgrades and repairs needed.
They voted on November 19 to partner with Manna CDC and the National Housing Trust to buy their building and operate it as affordable rental housing, owned jointly by the three groups. The steep purchase price of $7.8 million means a lot of subsidy is needed, and a critical loan application will be made to DHCD next month.
For more information on the Plymouth or our Latino Tenant Organizing, please contact Benito Diaz at: bdiaz@mannadc.org.
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2 comments:
Sorry to be picky, but Mexicans are North Americans. Therefore, the building houses Central Americans and Mexicans.
Here is a good Tenants Association organizing manual.
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