Oakland: Changes coming to troubled residential hotel
March 2016
http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/03/24/oakland-changes-coming-to-troubled-residential-hotel/
OAKLAND — At long last, change is afoot at one of Oakland’s most troubled residential hotels.
This month, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge approved the sale of Empyrean Towers to a local nonprofit planning a costly makeover of the decaying 96-unit building into livable affordable housing.
For the most part, the days when 344 13th St. was crawling with rats and bedbugs and street people slept in hallways and common rooms are gone. Even so, tenants of the downtown building on Wednesday complained about holes in ceilings and floors, electrical problems and the broken elevator in the seven-story building.
“It was hell for a while,” said 35-year-old Brandon Gunn, who lives with his wife and 10-month-old son on the third floor. “Don’t get me wrong; it’s gotten better.”
The Empyrean, formerly known as the Menlo Hotel, is one of several single room occupancy hotels in downtown Oakland that are part of the city’s affordable housing stock. A recent survey showed that there are 1,224 SRO rooms downtown, said city spokeswoman Karen Boyd in an email.
Conditions in the Empyrean’s three towers and its poor management have been the source of complaints for years. In 2011, landlord Richard Singer, of Tiburon, was sentenced to 27 months in prison after admitting to trying to hire an arsonist to torch the building.
Last year, Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker sued the new owner of Empyrean, Alice Tse, based on code violations and asked for a court order to require Tse to comply with building codes. The city also last year temporarily evacuated the building due to contaminated water supply.
Tse later declared bankruptcy, and Alameda County Superior Court turned the property over to a trustee, which today serves as its manager. Tse’s lawyer, Steve Whitworth, did not return a call seeking comment.
On Wednesday, workers were hanging art in the newly-furnished and painted lobby. More workers were in the stairwell, painting the hallways a light blue color. Outside on 13th Street, three-year tenant Maria Anast said the work amounted to window-dressing. Step inside the units, and you can find holes in ceilings and residents who walk up flights of stairs because the elevator is broken, she said.
“It’s not even a Band-Aid; they are just painting over things,” Anast said, as a homeless man left feces near the building’s entrance. “This is a Third World country, this building. It’s a joke; it’s a sad, sad joke.”
On the third floor, Gunn pointed to his broken bath tub and said his power frequently goes out because he shares a circuit breaker with three other units.
“Every time I want to cook, (with a hot plate or toaster) I have to knock on the neighbor’s door” to make sure they aren’t cooking, Gunn said.
Anne Omura of Oakland’s Eviction Defense Center has represented the tenants and is optimistic things will change once Berkeley-based nonprofit Resources for Community Development takes over.
“We have our fingers crossed,” Omura said. “If it does go through, it’s nothing short of amazing.”
The March 4 ruling by Judge Roger Efremsky allows RCD the option to purchase the building and maintain it as affordable housing for 55 years, keeping low-cost housing in a city that badly needs it.
Carolyn Bookhart, RCD’s director of housing development, said they plan on converting all the units to new studio and one-bedroom apartments with kitchens and bathrooms. Most of the rooms do not have bathrooms and none have kitchens.
It’s a herculean face-lift: the building is in need of a new elevator and repairs to the plumbing, electrical and heating systems, Bookhart said. She estimates the construction cost at $10 million; the building’s price tag is $4.5 million.
The nonprofit is currently raising money to buy the building and finish the project, she said. The purchase agreement is in effect until Oct. 15. At half occupancy, Bookhart believes it can work on the building without displacing current residents, she said. Work will begin in spring 2017; the grand reopening is set for summer 2018.
Parker, the city attorney, called the bankruptcy court ruling a “landmark decision.”
“The court’s order makes it possible to ensure that this property is preserved as part of Oakland’s critical low-income housing stock and that the horrendous conditions at the Empyrean Towers are remedied,” she said in a statement.
David DeBolt covers Oakland. Contact him at 510-208-6453. Follow him at Twitter.com/daviddebolt.
