CATSKILL — Top officials with the Hudson Catskill Housing Coalition vowed Tuesday that the organization will fight a huge, unexpected rent increase at its 361 Main St. office by the landlord Foreland, and there are no immediate plans to close the office they have occupied for three years.
The Coalition is a Black-led tenants’ rights and racial justice organization that empowers low income and public housing tenants in Columbia, Greene and Albany counties, three historically Black communities facing gentrification. It is comprised of activists, allies, low income and public housing tenants organized for collective power and self-governance. Its long-term goals include rent control, divestment from overpolicing and mass incarceration, and reinvestment in social services and affordable and safe housing.
Campaign Manager Lukee Forbes confirmed that the rent increase is the Coalition’s first and that the increase is 135%. Coalition Director of Operations Elliott Matos said that Foreland is raising the rent from $400 a month to $950 a month and that the organization tried unsuccessfully to negotiate a gradual increase with Foreland owner Stef Halmos.
“We tried working with Foreland to see if this was an increase we could make happen over time, but unfortunately our landlord was unwilling to work with us and only gave us a short extension period,” said Matos, a Bard College graduate with a degree in human rights. “Stef refused and told us she had to get to market price. Our office lease will now be terminated at the end of this year. We’re extremely upset and disappointed, but the truth is, this story isn’t uncommon. The funny thing about all this is that it’s not the price, it’s the principle.”
Halmos is the daughter of a Texas oil magnate, Matos said. The Foreland administrative office is located on the second floor, above the Coalition office, at 361 Main St. Foreland also owns 111 Water St., along the banks of the Catskill Creek. The 85,000-square-foot campus includes commercial art tenants and retail, art studios and wedding venues for private rentals and corporate retreats.
Neither Halmos nor any representative of Foreland immediately returned a call seeking comment.
The Coalition finds itself in the strange position of its tenant-clients who are forced from their homes by gentrification, Matos said.
“We’re experiencing exactly what we’re trying to fight against — displacement due to rising costs of living,” Matos said. “Our experience mirrors what our community faces every day, but instead of losing an office, people are evicted from their homes, pushed out by rents that are ridiculous.”
Permanently closing the Catskill office is not an option, Forbes said.
“Right now our focus is on how to be in the community and saving this space, especially because this was a surprise to all of us,” Forbes said. “We assumed that we could get along and come to an agreement, but now we’re going to fight this and try to keep this office.”
Forbes conceded that challenging Foreland will be a difficult task.
“I know it’s their building and they can do what they want, but unless we raise the funds ourselves or convince them to change their minds, we will have to find a new location,” Forbes said.
The Catskill Coalition office employs five people who would likely be transferred to the Hudson office if there is a permanent closing. Matos said this can’t be allowed to happen.
“We have to stay in Catskill,” Matos said. “We’re the only Black-led nonprofit in Greene County. We have to have representation there. We’re going to do our best to keep our doors open and serve our community.”
Making the news of the rent increase more troubling, Matos said, is that the announcement came at the end of Black August, a month commemorating the Black revolutionaries who fought for basic human rights and recognizing the achievements of Black-led grassroots organizations.