STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Dozens of residents of the Park Hill Apartments gathered Wednesday night to hear from the property’s new ownership group about the ongoing rehabilitation project that will transform their homes.
The tenant meeting, which was held in the auditorium of nearby PS 57, gave residents an opportunity to learn more about the $165 million renovation of the eight-building complex and voice concerns about existing issues and potential disruptions during the two-year construction period.
The meeting was hosted by the Park Hill Apartments’ new ownership group — Arker Companies, L+M Development Partners and LIHC Investment Group — which recently paid more than $364 million to purchase the properties from the previous owner, DelShah Capital.
Upon purchasing the much-maligned apartment complex plagued by years of neglect from past ownership, the new group committed to the rehabilitation project and is making a concerted effort to engage residents in the process.
“We know that this is a real change for Park Hill. We hope it’s going to be a very large change and a very good change. But we know that we have to get to know all of you and get your feedback and make sure that we’re in communication and so that we know if we’re doing a good job,” said Simon Bacchus, director of development for the Arker Companies.
The meeting began with brief introductions, ensuring residents were well acquainted with the new management team, security personnel, social service workers and contractors working throughout the complex.
This before and after photo shows a Brooklyn apartment building that was recently renovated by the Arker Companies, which is now undertaking a similar project at the Park Hill Apartments.Courtesy of Brooklyn Bundle PACT partner team
Bacchus went on to discuss the scope of work for the two-year project that will transform the Park Hill Apartments, showing before and after photos from a similar renovation the Arker Companies had recently completed in Brooklyn.
The rehabilitation will bring significant improvements to each unit, including new kitchens, bathrooms, radiators, flooring and windows, as well as updated electrical wiring and plumbing enhancements.
Other building-level improvements include lobby renovations, boiler overhauls, elevator work, facade repairs, upgraded landscaping, bolstered security measures and increased handicap accessibility.
This before and after photo shows a Brooklyn apartment building that was recently renovated by the Arker Companies, which is now undertaking a similar project at the Park Hill Apartments.Courtesy of Brooklyn Bundle PACT partner team
The presentation then shifted to discuss the logistical aspects of the “tenant-in-place” rehabilitation, which will allow residents to stay in their own apartments while renovations are taking place. Some other apartment complex rehabilitations require residents to temporarily move while work is being done in their units.
“It’s not easy. I’m not going to say it’s easy. Nobody wants to live through construction. But we do find that it’s a lot quicker and easier to do it while people are living there. Further, we find that people are often a lot more comfortable staying in their homes,” Bacchus told the crowd.
He went on to explain that each unit will be renovated piece by piece throughout the project, with window replacements expected to take one day, kitchen and bathroom renovations expected to take two to three days each and floors and walls expected to take roughly one week.
Management will attempt to give residents at least 10 days notice before work is scheduled to take place in their apartments, but acknowledged that residents may at times receive shorter notice.
Construction will take place Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with an adult needing to be present at the apartment on scheduled work days to provide access to the construction team.
This before and after photo shows a Brooklyn apartment building that was recently renovated by the Arker Companies, which is now undertaking a similar project at the Park Hill Apartments.Courtesy of Brooklyn Bundle PACT partner team
After the presentation, Bacchus took questions from the crowd, many of which centered around concerns about the logistical aspects of the project and how it would disrupt their day-to-day lives.
Several residents referenced the fact that they would need to take off work to let construction crews into their apartments given the scheduling. Others asked why their apartments were being renovated piece-by-piece as opposed to all at once.
While there’s not much the owners can do about the timing of the work given their subcontractors’ working hours, Bacchus explained the reasoning behind the piecemeal nature of the renovations.
“We have a lot of different trades that we work with, right? They’re not the same firms. They specialize in different pieces. So when you’re working on 1100 units, you really have to coordinate that process where your plumbers are doing their thing and they’re making their way through, and then your kitchen folks are doing their thing and they’re working their way through,” Bacchus said.
“I get that it’s an inconvenience, but I’ll tell you this, the amount of time that we would be in your apartment and you would need to, in theory, take off work, would be the same amount of time if we did the whole thing at once or if we do it piecemeal,” he added.
Dozens of residents of the Park Hill Apartments gathered on Wednesday, May 6, to discuss an ongoing rehabilitation project with the complex’s new owners. (Advance/SILive.com | Erik Bascome)Advance/SILive.com | Erik Bascome
Residents also raised concerns about not receiving proper notice before workers attempted to access their apartments, with some claiming they received less than 24-hours notice.
Bacchus reiterated that they try to provide 10 days notice for work scheduled in a given apartment, but acknowledged “that that has not happened consistently.”
He also noted that on some occasions workers may knock on residents’ doors and ask to do work that day if they were scheduled to renovate another unit in the building but were unable to gain access to it. He did, however, emphasize that tenants are within their rights to refuse workers entry to their apartments at any time and they should not feel compelled to allow them in if it would disrupt their day.
Other residents brought up ongoing cleanliness concerns, which have long plagued the Park Hill Apartments, claiming that lobbies and hallways have not been cleaned on a regular basis despite new ownership’s claims that this issue would be addressed.
“If you feel like the cleanliness of the buildings and all around the buildings has not improved at all since we got here, that’s disappointing, but we appreciate that as well,” Bacchus said.
Simon Bacchus, director of development for the Arker Companies, spoke to a group of tenants about the ongoing rehabilitation of the Park Hill Apartments. (Advance/SILive.com | Erik Bascome)Advance/SILive.com | Erik BascomeExisting conditions at Park Hill
The rehabilitation of the 1,100-unit development is much-needed, with residents having long complained about substandard living conditions in the buildings.
In 2025, the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development issued more than 1,200 violations across the complex for various conditions. The most consistent violations were for things like pest problems; faulty or missing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors; broken windows and doors; and mold or unsanitary water conditions.
In a June 2025 tour of one of the Park Hill buildings, longtime resident Olga Navarro told the Advance/SILive.com that she’s never seen the building in worse condition during her 30 years living there.
Olga Navarro, a longtime resident of the Park Hill development gives a tour of her building’s conditions Thursday, June 5, 2025.(Advance/SILive.com|Paul Liotta)
Navarro, who lives at 280 Park Hill Ave., alleged that previous ownership had not addressed longstanding issues, leading to an almost untenable situation.
Specifically, the longtime tenant pointed to unsanitary conditions throughout her building’s common areas, leaky pipes and a long, filled-in strip between 280 and 260 Park Hill Ave., an apparent leftover from prior gas line work.
Additionally, Navarro said accessibility has been a growing problem as many long-time tenants age at the development with handicap ramps only in the back of their buildings and elevators that go in and out of service.
Other issues noticed during a tour of the complex included broken mail boxes in the lobby of 280 Park Hill Ave., non-functioning security systems and peeling ceiling paint.
Cracks spider outward from a gaping hole in the ceiling of 180 Park Hill Avenue’s lobby. (Staten Island Advance | Priya Shahi)Priya ShahiHistory of rehabilitation on Staten Island
The Arker Companies’ relationship with DelShah Capital dates back more than a decade, when the company acquired and rehabilitated another apartment complex DelShah previously owned — Terrace Gardens on Steuben Street in Concord.
In January, the Arker Companies invited the Advance/SILive.com to an exclusive tour of the Terrace Gardens apartments to highlight the improvements they’ve made and offer a small glimpse into what the future of Park Hill could look like.
“We did approximately a two-year renovation here at Terrace Gardens, which was really transformational. The changes were significant. There was a lot of deferred capital needs here,” Bacchus said at the time.
In the two years after acquiring Terrace Gardens, the Arker Companies replaced aging building systems, reworked the facades, fully renovated the apartments and common areas and took over management of the two-building complex.
During the tour, Terrace Gardens I, located at 195 Steuben St., appeared clean and in a state of good repair, which as documented by the Advance/SILive.com throughout the years, has not often been the case at the Park Hill Apartments.
“The conditions of the building really are, I think it’s safe to say, night and day, and we feel really good about how we’ve been able to maintain that over more than a decade. We’ve got a great and consistent management team here and we do our best to provide quality service to the residents and they appreciate that,” Bacchus said in January.
The Advance/SILive.com toured Terrace Gardens, which was rehabilitated more than a decade ago by The Arker Companies, which is now undertaking a similar project at the Park Hill Apartments. (Advance/SILive.com | Erik Bascome)Advance/SILive.com | Erik Bascome