CHICAGO—(ENEWSPF)—September 12, 2013. Close to a year after BJB Properties purchased the Astor House building at 1246 W. Pratt, tenants and a large number of supporters will gather outside the bank that made the purchase possible.
Tenants will demand that the bank immediately convene negotiations between current building residents and BJB, and they will discuss the horrifying situation they have found themselves in.
They will rally at 12:15 p.m. Friday Sept. 13 outside First Merit Bank at 20 N. Clark St.
In spite of superficial renovations paid for by First Merit’s $10 million loan to the company, the building is still filled with terrifying small creatures like rodents and a variety of bugs. The ghastly conditions include no hot water, lack of heat, and a death trap of an elevator.
Tenants, many of whom are on the brink of homelessness, urgently need to negotiate with the building’s owners for relocation assistance.
“If First Merit Bank does not convene a meeting between tenants and the property owners, people will end up on the street,” tenant Melvin Jennings says.
Adds former tenant Arbie Bowman: “The bank needs to have BJB sit down and negotiate with the tenants. It’s unfair what they are doing.”
