Hill Tower Changes Hands, Again

by AMY BRISSON

Last week, residents of the Chestnut Hill Tower Apartments received a surprise slipped under their doors: a notice that the building, previously owned by Korman Residential Inc., had just been sold to BLDG Management Co. of New York, N.Y.

Although the Local contacted several current tenants for comment, some had only just been informed by notice of the changeover. Former tenant association president Mimi Glaser said in a phone interview on Friday that she was “ambivalent” about the transfer, but had only learned of it that morning when a paper was slipped under her door. The note, which is meant to serve in lieu of a meeting among tenants and management, lists the names of current staff members and explains new rent payment directions.

Scott Zecher, executive vice-president of BLDG Management, said in a phone interview on Friday that the company intended to offer residents a “high level of service” and would encourage an open dialogue with tenants that had any complaints. The current building staff would be staying on under BLDG Management, he said, and in response to questions about past maintenance problems, he said that he did not anticipate anything that would be difficult to remedy.

Zecher denied rumors that the building would be converted to condos, and said that BLDG Management was a “long-term real estate holder, not a condo-converter.” The original bidder on the building had intended to build condos but had pulled out before the sale, he said.

BLDG Management is a New York real estate company that is just beginning to move into the Philadelphia market. In May they purchased Presidential City Apartments at 3900 City Avenue. Zecher said that the company liked the area and intends to look out for other high-rise buildings for sale around Philadelphia.

It remains to be seen whether the transfer will bring an improvement in the quality of life for residents or increased trouble between tenants and management.

The Chestnut Hill Tower Apartments has suffered a history of poor management in recent decades. In the early 1990s, owner G.A. David and Associates accumulated millions of dollars in unpaid bills before finally filing bankruptcy. In 1996, a company called The Empire Group of Chestnut Ridge, N.Y., then purchased the building from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

As reported in the Nov. 16, 2000 issue of the Local, Empire quickly got a bad reputation among tenants for ignoring maintenance problems and intimidating those who complained about the management. State Sen. LeAnna Washington, a former tenant of the tower, was threatened with eviction in 2000 for being a “troublemaker” and an active participant in the tenants’ association.

Dr. Arlene Bennett, a psychiatrist and former president of the tenants’ association, called Empire “slumlords” in a phone interview last Wednesday, and said that the company had “no respect or regard for people in the building” and she had been “ashamed to have patients in the lobby.”

When Korman Residential Inc. purchased the building in 2002, tenants had high hopes, Bennett said. They were soon disappointed by Korman’s increasing disinterest in maintaining the building. Plumbing and heating problems plagued Chestnut Hill Tower and frustrated both tenants and management. Last winter, Korman was forced to rent a boiler to provide heat and hot water, which they set up in the parking lot. Korman has since replaced the old boiler and solved the problem, current building manager Shallan Kolbusz told the Local on Monday.

According to current tenants, other recent problems include drastically increased rents, slow renovations, dogs urinating in the hallways and tensions among elder residents and students of Chestnut Hill College (there are about 60 students currently in the building, according to the school’s estimate).

Most of the current tenants interviewed requested anonymity because they feared retaliation from management. At least one individual expressed concerns that their security deposit would be withheld.

Kolbusz stated that a plan for major apartment renovations that began under Korman will continue with the new owners, but work will occur only on apartments as they are vacated. Dogs will also not be allowed for new residents. Otherwise, the current rents and building regulations will remain the same.

Bennett, fed up with the building and the management, moved her practice in 2004. Despite disagreements with the building personnel, Bennett felt that the building itself was the biggest problem because it had been poorly planned from its inception in the 1960s.

“It’s the nature of the building,” said Bennett. “[Owners] realize after two years they’ve got a lemon.”

Indeed, Korman decided to sell after owning the building for only three years, despite their original plan to keep it for at least five.

Bennett said of the new owners, “they have to be ready and willing to spend a lot of money and willing to lose some before they make money.”

BLDG Management is owned by New York real estate tycoon Lloyd Goldman, who also jointly owns the Sears Tower, the Enron Headquarters building and, with a partner, owned the World Trade Center until it was destroyed in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Goldman’s name has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Daily News in the past two years, not only for his pricy acquisitions, but also for the demolition of buildings under consideration for preservation as historical landmarks and the controversial eviction of over a hundred artists from The Arts Center in Jersey City, N.J. last year.