HUD, Pike Step In

The feds are coming to Church Street South — all of Church Street South. They’ve also offered new help for tenants in unlivable apartments.

Sometime in mid-September, the federal Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) plans to visit the crumbling 301-unit subsidized apartment complex across from Union Station.

HUD inspectors plan to review conditions at ​“100 percent” of the apartments, spokeswoman Rhonda M. Siciliano told the Independent Thursday afternoon.

That’s a big deal. Fvor years the city has battled HUD over its inspections of the complex, where HUD pays around $3 million in Section 8 rental subsidies to the private owner, Massachusetts-based Northland Investment Corp.

Meanwhile, HUD is also making up to 50 ​“pass-through” vouchers available to Northland to relocate tenants, at least temporarily, to other apartments in town. One active landlord in the town told the Independent he’s ready to take in 10 of the families immediately, and potentially quite a few more. But it’s unclear that Northland will agree to the arrangement.

City officials have complained the HUD inspectors were giving higher grades to Church Street South apartments the city was condemning or rating as barely livable. HUD was inspecting only some apartments as ​“samples.” Neighbors said HUD may have been cherry-picking the same higher-quality apartments in the process.

Whatever the reasons, HUD’s inspections allowed Church Street South’s owners to continue receiving millions while the complex continued falling apart and tenants battled mold, leaks, and wrecked walls and tiles.

HUD is now reacting to a request from legal-aid lawyers who have begun representing the tenants in a court action against Northland. The lawyers wrote to HUD earlier this month asking for a re-inspection of the entire complex.

“Right now we are hoping to have HUD inspectors at Church Street South beginning in mid-September,” Siciliano reported.

“Pass-Throughs”

HUD has also decided to offer some long-term alternative housing for up to 50 tenants living in squalid conditions.

So far the city has condemned six apartments at Church Street South, ordering Northland to house the families elsewhere in the meantime. The families are crammed into hotel rooms at La Quinta on Sargent Drive.

HUD has OK’d ​“pass-through” vouchers that would go to Northland, which in turn could use them to pay other landlords to place tenants in apartments while repair work goes on in their Church Street South units.

Siciliano said both Northland and the tenants would need to agree with the arrangement. The immediate focus would be on the tenants already displaced. The city continues to inspect apartments at Church Street South and demand extensive repairs — most recently an order demanding that 17 roofs be ​“repaired or replaced” — so the list of eligible tenants is expected to grow.

“We have received approval to relocate tenants from uninhabitable units,” Siciliano wrote in an email message. ​“The mechanism for the relocation is called a pass through, as the property owner signs temporary leases on behalf of the displaced tenants, and then the HUD subsidy passes through the owner to the new landlord. The tenants will still be responsible for their share of the rent. Pass through arrangements are voluntary on the part of both the tenants and the owner. We do not yet know whether the owner is willing to cooperate with a pass through or whether any tenant relocation will be of sufficient duration to warrant utilization of the pass through.”

If Northland and the tenants agree — not at all a certainty — at least one landlord in town, Shmully Hecht of Pike International, is ready to take in some of the tenants.

Pike — one of the city’s largest landlords — said he currently has 10 vacant two- and three-family apartments he’s happy to rent to the families. He also said he’s confident he can find other units in Pike’s portfolio.

“We would prefer a 12-month lease. But we’ll work with the government and families to accommodate them,” Hecht said.

“There is no set limit” on the leases, HUD’s Siciliano said. ​“It depends on” how long it takes to fix the apartments. However, ​“once the unit is repaired, the tenant has to go back to the apartment.”

Northland Chairman Lawrence Gottesdiener (pictured) hadn’t yet received details about the offer from HUD Thursday afternoon, so he couldn’t say if the company will take up the offer.

“Northland’s priority is the safety and the health of the Church Street South residents,” Gottesdiener said. ​“If HUD’s proposal can help our residents move out of these obsolete buildings and into quality housing, Northland will be very supportive.”

Under the terms of the Housing Assistance Payment Contract for Church Street South, HUD cannot compel Northland to accept the pass-through voucher offer, according to Siciliano.“We have to give them the opportunity to repair the units and correct the deficiencies that are there.”

Mayor Toni Harp revealed on WNHH radio’s ​“Dateline New Haven” show Monday that she had brought photos of conditions to HUD offices in Washington in January to appeal for a re-inspection. ​“They did absolutely nothing,” Harp said. Her predecessor, too, tried to convince HUD to crack down on conditions at Church Street South. Harp credited legal aid for pressuring HUD enough to get results.

“We are completely delighted that HUD is taking this matter so seriously. Nothing short of 100 percent inspection will give us a true understanding of the severity of the problem. We hope this 100 percent inspection includes examining what lies inside the walls and ceilings of these units,” legal aid attorney Amy Marx said Thursday afternoon.

She noted that city inspectors this week have found mold inside walls of Church Street South apartments. That indicates that the number of families needing emergency relocation will indeed grow well beyond the current half-dozen or so, Marx said. (Click on the play arrow to what one tenant’s moldy bathroom ceiling literally fall apart in the hands of Livable City Initiative (LCI) Deputy Director of Housing Code Enforcement Rafael Ramos.)

Marx said HUD’s vouchers for tenants to move should be permanent, not temporary.

“HUD’s offer of vouchers is an extremely important step for the tenants at Church Street South. It’s an acknowledgement that their living conditions are unacceptable, a commitment by the federal government for more suitable housing,” she said. ​“What these tenants really need is permanent vouchers. It is extremely difficult if not nearly impossible for large families to utilize Section 8 vouchers on a quick timeframe. The housing market for multi-family units is extremely tight. It often takes months for families to find a new place. This kind of effort and energy is well worth it for a permanent move. It will be extremely difficult and challenging for families for a temporary relocation.”

Previous coverage of Church Street South:

• Northland Ordered To Fix Another 17 Roofs
• Church Street South Evacuees Crammed In Hotel
• Church Street South Endgame: Raze, Rebuild
• Harp Blasts Northland, HUD
• Flooding Plagues Once-Condemned Apartment
• Church Street South Hit With 30 New Orders
• Complaints Mount Against Church Street South
• City Cracks Down On Church Street South, Again
• Complex Flunks Fed Inspection, Rakes In Fed $$
• Welcome Home — To Frozen Pipes
• City Spotted Deadly Dangers; Feds Gave OK
• No One Called 911 | ​“Hero” Didn’t Hesitate
• ​“New” Church Street South Goes Nowhere Fast
• Church Street South Tenants Organize