Here's more on the saga of 50-58 E. Third St. As Curbed noted, the new owners are GRJ, a fund co-founded and co-managed by brothers Graham and Gregory Jones. (Pictured.) They closed the 78-unit, three-building package for $23.5 million.
Someone slipped this following note under the door of the building's remaining tenants...
Good afternoon,
I wanted to send you an email to introduce myself as I will likely see you around the building in the coming weeks. I work with GRJ who is the new owner of 50-58 East 3rd Street. As you may have heard, GRJ has extensive plans to renovate 50, 54, and 58 East 3rd Street and I am personally speaking with all tenants about relocation opportunities and buyouts.
Many units on your floor and the floors above you and below you are already vacant or will be vacant in the next few weeks. Heavy construction will begin in all of the units and hallways in 30 days and many tenants have accepted our offer as most people aren't interested in living in a building that is under construction and they would much rather move during the summer months.
Are you available to speak this week? Please give me a call at the number below. Thank you in advance and I look forward to speaking with you.
Meanwhile, we also hear that tenants who live in basement apartments were given notice that they had 10 days to vacate their homes ... given that that space was zoned with the city as storage/commercial space ... and their apartments were now deemed "illegal dwellings."
However, according to the tenants, the previous landlord renovated the spaces into habitable apartments. Some tenants still have time left on their leases for these units...
Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader report: Three apartment buildings sold on East Third Street
Advocate for East Third Street buildings moving to Washington Heights
More about the lease renewals at 50, 54 and 58 E. Third St.
Tenants at 50, 54 and 58 E. Third St. banding to together in face of building sale
33 comments:
Some of the douchiest looking dudes in the city, which is saying something.
Some lady was outside the building the other day asking about how many units were in the building and if the basement had tenants. The super lives in the basement with his family, really hope the city doesn't try to force them out in 10 days.
What did the lady look like?
Gee whiz...you don't think their daddy had money do you? Naaaah, couldn't be. These guys look like real salt of the earth.
Far too many of thee depressing "frat boys from the Midwest or LI coming here to make a killing at the expense of peoples' lives" stories these days. You need to change the name of your blog to "Vampire Diaries".
Saw some creepy guy with a notepad stomping around the front yesterday, pressing all buzzers trying to get in...
Well, they are handsome.
I will give them that.
"Many tenants have accepted our offer as most people aren't interested in living in a building that is under construction and they would much rather move during the summer months."
Such fucking arrogance ought to be confronted head-on....
watch out Shaoul, there's a new Douche Sheriff in town, and there's two of them.
I don't think they look "douchie" I think they're both hot and clearly they're successful. Maybe one is my husband?! Anyone have their email/phone/or more pics perhaps? They are giving tenants options to move and for the ppl who stay...why not get all crazy and design yourself a new apartment and make them pay? If you're going to have construction at least try to pick it out? Is anyone from the suburbs....updating property is a natural evolution. Plus, if they are gut renovating each unit, I can only imagine (or maybe I don't want to imagine) what they presently look like.
It is what it is and you can't hate on two successful real estate hotties...that's just....weird.
What an ugly situation. Who has the resources to up and move in under 30 days. Buyout aside, it's a full time job to apartment hunt and pack. What a nightmare for these people.
My suggestion is to take whatever their first offer is and multiply it by 6 as your counter. They'll come back at 3x. happy birthday.
Any tenants who have rent stabilized leases - unless they give you enough money to BUY a comparable apartment in the East village (AND pay maintenance/taxes), stick it out and don't move - you will be sorry.
Be very sure to follow your end of the lease to a T - pay rent every month, don't sublet the apt, etc.
Anon 11:35, I'm from the suburbs. I escaped there 20 years ago to get away from people who use terms like "ppl" and "hotties" and "it is what it is."
They are giving tenants options to move and for the ppl who stay...why not get all crazy and design yourself a new apartment and make them pay?
Word salad, my friend, word salad.
Re Anony 11:35 AM, it’ so nice that Ann Romney was able to chime in knowing how busy her schedule is. Yes, “You people” indeed.
Yellow tie. Hah. I wore one back in the late 80s’ It was douchey thing to do back then, it’s douchey now. This decade is the 80’s to the 10th power on steroids with none of its “charm”*.
*Gordon Gekko: The richest one percent of this country owns half our country's wealth, five trillion dollars. One third of that comes from hard work, two thirds comes from inheritance, interest on interest accumulating to widows and idiot sons and what I do, stock and real estate speculation. It's bullshit. You got ninety percent of the American public out there with little or no net worth. I create nothing. I own. We make the rules, pal. The news, war, peace, famine, upheaval, the price per paper clip. We pick that rabbit out of the hat while everybody sits out there wondering how the hell we did it. Now you're not naive enough to think we're living in a democracy, are you buddy? It's the free market. And you're a part of it. You've got that killer instinct. Stick around pal, I've still got a lot to teach you.
Anyone who can walk around with that tie over that shirt can surely afford 6x their first offer.
Sure they are Handsome, I'll give them that :). They are also doing the right thing by renovating the buildings, because at the end of the day it makes the building and neighborhood better, safer and cleaner for everyone.
Does anyone have their phone number for personal reasons? LOL
I'd love to be one of their their "tenants" ;)
Ew gross! Now their female friends are leaving comments about their appearance. I'd rather kiss a newt!
@Anon 11:35 - your bus to Greenwich leaves in 26 minutes.
@Anony 1:17 PM-As long as it’s not Newt Gingrich.
@Cosmo 1:25 PM-You nailed it, as per that recent NY Post article that Jermiah posted on his FB page, "You go, girl – out to ’burbs for real romance".
Give me a break. About every other landlord in the city does this (unless they don't care about the buildings and allow their tenants to live in run down, non-functional, apartments). Who cares? Sure families may be at risk, but what about half of the nation facing foreclosure? Shit happens, you make due and move on. This is all good. Stop crying and stop pointing fingers claiming they are rich kids from Greenwich). Get a life and get a job!
They might be douchey looking, but at least their clothes don't have rips in them, are too small & have a political saying on them. Funny how that works?
WOW, EVG, what the heck is it about THIS post that has attracted all of these shallow, insensitive and ignorant commenters? Or am I missing the post-post-post-ironic humor?
HEY, Anon 3:19.....WHEREVER it is your living....you have got TEN days to GET OUT or you WILL be thrown out.....feel good asshole? (And while you're at it, GET THE FUCK OUT OF NEW YORK CITY....NOW!!!)
Hey, Anon 10:52.....Beauty is ONLY skin deep baby....and sometimes NOT EVEN that....and enjoy the feeling after they would screw you ragged for ONE night.....totally ignore your TWATS.....sorry, TWEETS the next week.....then jack-up your rent 50% next year.
Hey, Anon 11:35 & 12:58....."hate on'' shows your youthful thumb-sucking ignorance....you don't think being told you gotta move in 10 days OR ELSE is a legitimate complaint?.....GROW THE FUCK UP....oh, that's right, that'll happen anyways and when (or IF)that happens I hope you remember how UNTHINKING and UNCARING you were about other people's troubles....EVERYTHING you do gonna come back on YOU!!!
Jesus, has it really come down to "Don't trust (or listen to) ANYONE under 30?"
Kicking out the super living in the basement with his family is morally repugnant. The requirement of a certificate of occupancy is for the protection of tenants - so they aren't rented an unsafe apartment - and these guys are using it as a weapon to kick out the current tenant. They will then renovate the basement, get a certificate of occupancy, and rent it market rate. Any moron with money can use the law to make money by being cruel to those who lack power.
As for the buyouts, they seem to generally be on the up-and-up. The previous commenter about regulated units is probably right - they need to be giving you a ton of money for it to be worth it. The thing I find objectionable about the letter is that they're acting like it's a favor to tenants to offer them a buyout, when such extensive renovations result in a breach of the lease with the other tenants by depriving them of the ordinary use of their apartments (or if not a breach of the lease, a breach of the warrant of habitability and quiet enjoyment). You're allowed to do as much construction as you want, but if it impinges on a rent-paying tenant's use of their apartment, they're entitled to a refund to the degree of the deprivation of the use of the apartment (i.e. probably 100% if there's very extensive construction). That said, it's all about the numbers.
Maybe those "girlfriend" posts and the posts about how cool these guys are for fixing up those awful tenements in the crappy East Village are brothers Graham and Gregory Jones themselves?
G&G, introduce yourselves guys, you don't need to use sock puppets just to say "Hi".
Gross. I feel really sorry for the tenants.
"Relocation Opportunity".... How bout that... WIth less than 1% vacancy in NYC rentals at the moment. What an awesome "Opportunity". Finding a new home amidst THAT madness?! Rents at an all time high?!?!!
As one of the displaced tenants- it fucking blows. All of it. Every bit of it.
There is a special place in hell waiting for these two...
Oh. And before anybody jumps on my dick about being appreciative of my buyout and they were so generous- look at your new opportunity- blah, blah, blah- there was no buyout. I was fair market. I got sued- THAT'S what I got...
Awesome.
...basement...
Um, actually, nothing below ground level in NYC is technically residential. (It's a leftover law from when every building had a coal furnace and the gases from those killed enough people for the city code to be changed so that _nothing_ below ground level can be zoned residential.) However, there are plenty of workarounds so don't worry those spaces will be rented. You can fairly easily get them zoned commercial or commercial with some restrictions, like they have to be "show rooms" or doctor's offices or community spaces and then, doh, you work around that. However, because below ground residential is flat out not legal (though done all the time) it's fairly easy to get tenants out on that excuse.
Assuming the usual 30% down payment on their $23.5 mill purchase price, leaving a mortgage balance of $16.45 mill, these UGLY ass parasites would need an average of $2,108 per month from the 78 apts just to cover their $164,500.00 monthly PITI (principal, interest, taxes and insurance).
The ugly brothers did not buy these buildings with an eye toward making improvements that would benefit our community, as several of their shills are alleging here. The only motivation for these fuckers paying so much for these buildings is to kick the tenants OUT so they can lure in monied transients who will pay ANYThing to live in the cool and edgy "East Village."
Tenants in these buildings can bankrupt these ugly scumbags by refusing any buy-outs. With a monthly nut of $164,000, how long could the ugly brothers hold on if tenants refused to budge?
There is a larger cost to the community by tenants accepting buy-outs: once rents for these apartments exceed $2,000 per month, they become "market rate" which enables the owners to charge anything they like.
Whether tenants take buy-outs, sue or just stay put, the ugly brothers should be forced to spend as much as possible to make their investments unprofitable. They can't hang on forever!!
"frat boys from the Midwest or LI coming here to make a killing at the expense of peoples' lives"
I personally prefer my slumlords to be local NYers of various ethnicity. So much less PC to criticize.
Anony 8:52 PM. Here, are you happy now?
http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-03-16/news/new-york-s-ten-worst-landlords/
Since Crazy Eddie is always "fair and balanced", here ya go as well.
http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-03-09/news/nyc-ten-worst-tenants/
This is so crazy. I used to live in 58 East 3rd and just on a whim looked up the building to see what my apartment was renting for now. I moved out in February 2012 and had no clue any of this had happened until now. The place was a hellhole and I was glad to get out of there. I could literally SEE INTO THE APARTMENT BELOW MINE through the cracks in the floor. One time the doorknob to the door fell off and trapped me in my own apartment. These are things that don't pop up on the initial look through! Dark hallways, graffiti in the stairwell and vomit that remained for weeks on the landing. Gross. As soon as I could leave, I left. This place needed a facelift and, yes, new ownership.
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