The Hill

Alders Dish

by | Oct 5, 2015 9:07 am | Comments (1)

Lucy Gellman Photos

Colon.

Two New Haven alders, Dolores Colon of the Hill and Santiago Berrios-Bones of Fair Haven, spoke about what they’re up to in elected office — and about the upcoming Oct. 15 Board of Alders’ Black and Hispanic Caucus annual gala, a fundraiser for youth and elder programs — on the latest episode of WNHH radio’s K Pasa.”

Continue reading ‘Alders Dish’

Few New Details For Left Behind Tenants

by | Sep 29, 2015 12:14 am | Comments (5)

Markeshia Ricks Photo

Church Street South tenants wait for a meeting about their fate.

Families who have been, or will be, displaced from Church Street South for health reasons will be moved first, and then everybody else.

Officials don’t know how long it will take to get the 200-plus families moved out who are still living in the apartment complex, but when they leave, they won’t be coming back. And the entire complex will be demolished.

Continue reading ‘Few New Details For Left Behind Tenants’

HUD: Help’s Here. Details To Follow

by | Sep 24, 2015 11:37 pm | Comments (10)

Allan Appel Photo

Cepeda: Our lives have been uprooted.

Paul Bass Photo

Rodriguez: No turning back.

The previously faceless officials determining the fates of 288 families from the crumbling Church Street South apartment complex showed up in person Thursday night to declare that safe new housing is on the way, though key details remained sketchy.

Continue reading ‘HUD: Help’s Here. Details To Follow’

Welcome Home

by | Sep 10, 2015 7:13 am | Comments (2)

Aliyya Swaby Photo

Tahis Caraballo returned to her condemned Church Street South apartment a few days ago and found clothes in her children’s bedrooms tossed on the floor and the beds propped on their sides.

Continue reading ‘Welcome Home’

Shoddy Repairs Raise Alarm—& Northland Offer

by and | Sep 3, 2015 5:58 pm | Comments (8)

Aliyya Swaby Photo

Lorenzana with her son Marrero.

Erika Lorenzana watched her bathroom walls and ceiling crumble to the touch and reveal a severe mold infestation — moments after contractors supposedly finished repairing them.

As a result, a possible breakthrough emerged hours later in the festering and fast-moving housing crisis at the Church Street South housing complex.

Continue reading ‘Shoddy Repairs Raise Alarm—& Northland Offer’

Northland Gets Default Order—& A New Offer

by | Sep 2, 2015 6:28 pm | Comments (16)

Aliyya Swaby Photo

Tenant Gonzalez Wednesday in her apartment, where she said repairs are being done shoddily and illegally.

Harp: First fix mess, then we’ll talk.

The federal government issued the owners of the crumbling Church Street South complex a notice of default — while opening the door to a longer-term plan to allow for demolishing the buildings there rather than fixing them.

Meanwhile, the chairman of Massachusetts-based Northland Investment Corp., the complex’s owner, personally pitched Mayor Toni Harp on a plan to have his company do that job, razing the 301-unit federally subsidized apartment complex across from Union Station and rebuilding it as an 800 – 1,000-unit mixed-use, mixed-income development.

Continue reading ‘Northland Gets Default Order—& A New Offer’

HUD, Pike Step In

by | Aug 27, 2015 5:21 pm | Comments (9)

City’s Jim Turcio, right, alighting from this week’s roof inspection.

Paul Bass Photo

Hecht: We have room.

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

Continue reading ‘HUD, Pike Step In’

Church Street South Evacuees Crammed In Hotel

by | Aug 25, 2015 4:53 pm | Comments (8)

Markesha Ricks Photo

Church Street South families at La Quinta.

Jessica Rivera said her four children don’t mind eating hotel restaurant food every day. But after two weeks of living in a single hotel room, they’re ready to go home — to Church Street South.

It doesn’t appear home will be ready for them any time soon.

Continue reading ‘Church Street South Evacuees Crammed In Hotel’

City Issues New Condemnations, Orders At Church St. South; HUD Mulls $$ Transfer

by and | Aug 21, 2015 3:54 pm | Comments (7)

Aliyya Swaby File Photo

Waterlogged, destroyed floor in unit condemned this week.

The federal government will decide next week whether to take some money away from the operators of the troubled Church Street South complex in order to have some tenants live elsewhere in town.

Continue reading ‘City Issues New Condemnations, Orders At Church St. South; HUD Mulls $$ Transfer’

Church Street South Endgame: Raze, Rebuild

by | Aug 21, 2015 2:00 pm | Comments (27)

Paul Bass Photos

Gottesdiener: Wants to “create something better.”

Colon: Northland record has been “criminal.”

The owner of Church Street South almost reached a deal with the city two years ago to demolish the crumbling subsidized apartment complex across from Union Station to build a bigger, more diverse development. Now it would like a second chance.

Aliyya Swaby Photo

Waterlogged, destroyed floor in unit condemned this week.

Continue reading ‘Church Street South Endgame: Raze, Rebuild’

Church Street South Hit With 30 New Orders

by | Aug 18, 2015 1:09 pm | Comments (7)

Markeshia Ricks Photo

An electrical box outside of an apartment, covered by black plastic.

The City Building Department has declared several structures at Church Street South Apartments unsafe and issued orders giving the owners of the complex 10 business days to fix a roof, repair deteriorating stairs and obtain the proper permits to make the repairs.

Continue reading ‘Church Street South Hit With 30 New Orders’