According to the Mercury News, the City Council of Mountain View, California voted to move forward with the eviction of more than 70 tenants and the eventual demolition of their rent-controlled apartment building. Dividend Homes, a developer based in Morgan Hill plans to replace the building with 15 new town homes. The Council noted that the current owner of the building has the right to sell out and move on. “We can’t force them to stay in business and rent to you all in perpetuity until the building falls down,” said Councilman, Christopher Clark.
Most of the Royal Viking residents are Latino and work low or middle-income jobs as nannies, construction workers, receptionists and nursing assistants. They pay about $2,000 a month to rent two-bedroom apartments — which would typically cost $3,395 in Mountain View, according to RentCafe.
Josh Vrotsos, a representative of the developer, on Tuesday emphasized that though his proposed town home plan would reduce the overall number of housing units on the site, it would increase the number of bedrooms from 40 to 43. Residents have been offered the city’s required three months of market-rate rent, plus an additional year’s rental subsidy to make up the difference between what they are paying now and market-rate rent, and help finding a new place to live. Vrotsos estimated Royal Viking tenants will receive an average payout of $25,000 or $26,000 per family. The new town houses likely will sell for $1.3 million and up, he said.
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