Residents and neighbors gathered in Austin to demand action from the owners of their building at 143. N. Parkside Avenue. During the rally, which also doubled as a community barbecue, tenants complained of security issues, rampant drug activity and being ignored by property management.
Tenants at the 143 N. Parkside building formed the Parkside Terrace Alliance in February, with the help of the All-Chicago Tenant Alliance.
“Everybody that has had this building has been greedy, but not for us. They have done nothing for the tenants, nothing for no tenant in the building,” Hattie Winston, who has resided at the Parkside building for 14 years, said during the rally on May 10 in the parking lot at 130 N. Parkside. “I have sat up in my bed, and I cried on many nights and many days because I had to figure out if I’m gonna pay rent or I’m not gonna pay rent. I live on the floor where it’s nothing but drugs, [it’s a] drug house, drug dealers, drug sellers and everything. We need our building back.”
The union is demanding:
-Fixes to the parking lot gate
-Reliable access to management
-Maintenance to be done promptly
-Hiring of janitors to regularly clean
-Deep cleaning and renovation to the staircase and hallways
According to residents, Gregory B. Jones, CEO of Infinity Real Estate Management, purchased the building from Mercy Housing last August and “has let the building fall into severe disrepair.” The tenants also claimed that the building has been sold five times in the past year.
The union said they sent a demand letter to Jones and East Lake Management in early March. According to the union, “pleas for a livable home were belittled by management and ignored by” Jones. The residents say they noticed “a large stack of lease terminations for the building” while holding a delegation at management’s office weeks after sending their demand letter.
Jones did not respond to a request for comment.
Eileen Rhodes, a representative with East Lake, said that the management company has been responsive and taken necessary steps to remedy issues, adding that they took over managing the building in March. RPM is the former property manager of the building.
“We have a management office. We’ve been there. We managed three or four properties in the neighborhood. So we’re at that property every Wednesday for the full day so tenants can come down,” Rhodes told The TRiiBE. “We also circulated notices to everybody, saying where they could email us or call us, so that they have ready access to the management there’s somebody in one of the management offices every day. We have 24/7 answering service. So if they call after hours, we get their calls.”
Rhodes said that East Lake staff went “door to door” to check on the needs of residents on April 25. She added that they have taken care of work orders and addressed the concerns of access to management. She also stated that the company has not sent out any notices to terminate.
According to a notice dated May 2, East Lake’s office at Washington Courts and Whitmore Apartments is operating by appointment only due to “incidents involving verbal threats and harassment toward staff.” The Washington Courts office is where tenants of the Parkside property drop off rent payments. Ben Avis, a representative with the All-Chicago Tenant Alliance, said tenants alerted him that East Lake had not been in the Parkside office in the month of May.
A May 6 notice informed Parkside tenants to visit its Lavergne Courts location for assistance with other services on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Andranika Williams says she has lived at 143 N. Parkside for six years, said that the building was safe, but has since become a safety hazard to where she or her husband has to be home when her son gets in from school, as nonresidents have proliferated the building. She also claimed that getting in contact with the building’s management is difficult, as they are not responsive.
“I’ve been trying to get a mailbox key for over I don’t know how many months, you can’t reach anyone in the office. There is no phone number. And then the one time it was a phone number, oh, the phone number doesn’t work,” Williams said. “How are we supposed to know the phone number don’t work? Oh, here’s an email that no one will ever answer. You’re never going to get a response to your needs.”
The parkside property failed two inspections in January and February, according to the city’s building permit and inspection records. According to a special warranty deed dated August 6, 2024, Mercy Housing released the property to Infinity Real Estate Advisors III, LLC.
Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th Ward) was expected to attend the meeting, according to attendees at the rally, but did not. Taliaferro was not immediately available for comment.
During a tour of the property, Cassandra, a resident of 143 N Parkside for 20 years, who preferred not to use her last name, showed The TRiiBE where the locks had been broken off the door to the laundry room. She also pointed to a hole in the hallway wall and damage to the carpet in the stairwell.
Cassandra, like other tenants of the building, alleged at one point that the front door was not secure, which caused people to come into the building and put tenants’ lives in danger. She also alleged pest issues. leading to some tenants to opt to get cats to deal with mice.
Cassandra says her lease is set to expire this summer, but no one under the new ownership has reached out about renewing her lease.
“Since this other company [took over], a lot of people don’t have a lease in this building,” Cassandra said. “If you’ve been here a long time, they can’t put you out. They can force you to get out because they won’t do anything, and then you get tired and frustrated and then move.”
