Clawson calls itself The Little City With The Big Heart. And in the early ’80s (1980s, that is) the City built a small 15 unit apartment building on Renshaw Avenue. 14 of the units are 1 bedroom apartments and one unit is an efficiency apartment. The City was hoping to preserve its senior population by alleviating homeownership chores while still keeping senior residents in the City. As the seniors moved out of their homes in Clawson the hope was younger families with school aged children would move in to those houses and boost the enrollment at Clawson Public Schools. Renshaw Apartments ARE NOT subsidized but, rather, rent controlled by the City. The current price, according to the City website, is $495 for the one bedroom apartment and $465 for an efficiency apartment. The rent is rarely raised and when it is, the increase is determined by City Council. The City owns the property and is responsible for maintaining the property.
Currently there are rumblings on City Council that the City no longer wants to be in the business of property management and are looking to sell the building. This will be on the November mid-term election ballot. I don’t think anyone disagrees that a City should not have to act as a landlord. I think the problem comes in when you have a building currently run by the City with all but one unit full being offered for sale with no plan for….
1) What will happen to the residents of the apartment
2) What the proceeds for the sale will be used for (current ballot verbiage says “for, but not limited to, the sustainment improvement of senior services.”)
3) Who to sell to.
The answers matter. Of most importance to me is what will happen to the current residents. Is there a way to limit the sale of this little City treasure to a non-profit that will continue to maintain the low rent and spirit of the apartment? If the property gets sold can there be a stipulation that the current residents are allowed to stay at the current rent rates until they are no longer able to live independently? I think City Council needs to provide better answers than we currently have.
I’m going to devote my next several posts to learning more about the residents of Renshaw Apartments. To learn more about the community they have in the building and what concerns they have about the possible sale of the building. What impact does having the of their housing stability threatened have on the residents?
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