Residents of the Cross Street Village apartments hit the sidewalk to protest the planned change in the building's rent structure from affordable to market rate.
The protest was designed to bring attention to the change that the property owner, Yccb - 97 LDHA LP, plans to implement at the end of August. A clause entered into with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) allows the switch, with a transition period of three years that would begin September 1.
American Community Developers, which is owned by Gerald Krueger, received federal, state and local tax credits to turn the former Ypsilanti High School into apartments. The building opened in 2000 and has 104 units, according one of the residents who spoke with Action News.
Rents have been increasing as agreements expire but Jim Harrigan, whose company manages the property says the increases are still well below the program limits set by the government.
He did confirm the developer's intent to move the building to market rates but emphasized they are not asking anyone to leave or that anyone is being put out immediately.
City councilwoman Beth Bashert was among those who helped organize the gathering and protest.
"They are doing nothing illegal," Bashert said of the building owner. "What they are doing is unethical and immoral."
Ann Ball has lived at Cross Street VIllage for 16 years. She is 93 and does not want to move again.
"I never thought I'd ever even live this long, never be down here protesting at my stage in life," she said. She sat in her chair with a picket sign and watched as dozens of others marched in front of the building.
"There's nobody getting that much from social security that they can afford over a $1,000 a month rent," Ball said. "That's ridiculous."
