Street roots., May 13, 2016, Page 9, Image 9

Street Roots • May 13-19, 2016
News
Page 9
Joyce residents await outcome of city’s effort to buy building
are not equipped, and they’re reclusive,”
Tacke said. “Some people have been there
since 2007 and hardly ever come out of
Approximately two dozen residents of
their room. They pay rent timely or they
The Joyce Ho'tel are waiting to hear their
have a payee.”
fate along with the outcome of a deal
A payee is a service that manages the
between the city of Portland and the
finances - most often government subsidies
building’s owner.
for disabilities - for people who are
Earlier this month, the city made its
incapable of doing so on their own.
second offer to purchase the building in an
Central City Concern, or CCC, has also
effort to salvage one of the last low-income
been working to relocate several of the
housing options in downtown Portland. As of
residents. In the past month, CCC placed 14
press time, the deal was still under review.
people from the Joyce into their own
The nearly shuttered building is still
housing, and several others into another
occupied by a dwindling number of
hotel while they work on permanent
residents, despite the closure of hotel
placements.
operations. The management company,
Sharon Fitzgerald, our Senior Director of
Precision Property Management Corp,
Housing
Recovery Support Services with
formally handed over the keys to owner DZ
CCC said they are also working on referrals
Real Estate on May 1.
for health care, and have delivered food
The Joyce Hotel is one of the last
items and clothing for folks who were in
independent, low-barrier housing options in
desperate need.
the downtown core. It was a place for
As of press time, the deal was still in
people who were homeless or with little
negotiations, and Kurt Creager, director of
income to get inside for the week. Its low-
the Portland Housing Bureau, would not
barrier approach and weekly rates meant
specify the amount of the offer.
residents often stayed there for many years,
Earlier this year, the Portland Housing
treating it as a housing alternative more
Bureau had proposed buying the building
than a hotel.
from Zilka for approximately $5 million, with
David Tacke, president of PPMC, said
there were still approximately 20 people left plans to transition management to a local
social service provider and preserve the low-
in the building when he left last weekend.
“The problem is that a lot of these people income units. That offer was only good
BY JOANNE ZUHL
STAFF W R ITER
provided the tenants remained in thè hotel,
and PPMC would continue managing the
facility at least in the short term.
The management of PPMC has been a
sticking point with DZ Real Estate, and in
March, DZ owner Dan Zilka pulled out of
negotiations with the city. Residents were
intitially told they had until March 31 to
vacate the building, but that time was
extended through the end of April.
Zilka has repeatedly refused to speak to
Street Roots about the building or its future.
While most of the Joyce residents have
moved out, Len Smith still calls it home. He
has lived there for three years.
Smith said the remaining tenants
received a letter at the start of March
stating that they need not bother paying for
their rooms The front desk is manned, but
no one can enter or leave without showing
identification, he said. Smith was speaking
outside the front door, waiting on the front
desk attendant to return in order to enter.
Tenants have also been told they are not
allowed any guests, he said.
Smith said he and the other tenants are
waiting on more information about their
future, whether they can stay or will have to
leave. They were told the owners went on
vacation, Smith said.
“Should we be saving money? Should we
get ready to pay rent? Should we be getting
LAUGHINGPLANET.COM
ready to move?” Smith said. “We don’t know
what’s going on.”
Smith, who has lived in Portland all his
life, said many of the residents who remain
are incredibly vulnerable.
“This has been a home for a lot of
people,” Smith said. “They can’t do this out
here,” he said, pointing at the sidewalk.
“There are people who are not going to
leave their room because they are,too
scared.
“Why are they doing this now?” Smith
asked. “There are enough homeless people
on the streets already.”
If the deal goes through, the city could be
looking at about $12 million to bring it into
shape, according to Creager. The building
does not have a functioning elevator, it has
water penetration on the upper floors due
to a failed roof, and it needs a seismic
retrofit.
Actually, several buildings in the city’s
portfolio of low-income housing need
seismic upgrades, which means temporarily
moving residents out to retrofit the
structures. Creager said they hope to use
the upgraded Joyce as relocation housing for
residents while similar reinforcements are
made to other buildings. The first floor
would be repurposed for commercial
tenants.
joanne@streetroots.org