STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Years of neglect at the Park Hill apartment complex have tenants unsure how to feel about a $165 million government investment that officials say will at last see their home transformed.
Prince Thomas, a longtime tenant and organizer of a youth program called Park Hill Leaders, said he was apprehensive about the announcement after so many efforts in the past failed to deliver on promised improvements for himself and his neighbors.
“(I’ve) seen so many that came in and it’s the same story,” he said. “That would be nice, but Park Hill’s been waiting for so long. You talk to anybody, they’ll tell you the same story.”
A September 2023 Advance/SILive.com article touts a $2.25 million federal investment for plumbing and electrical improvements. In 2020, the complex’s ownership secured a $174 million refinancing, as reported by the Commercial Observer. Another Advance/SILive,com article from March 2019 reported apparent concessions elected officials had received from the complex’s ownership to improve conditions.
None of those and a host of other government announcements, investments, and private refinancing efforts have been able to provide humane conditions for the residents of Park Hill.
Tenants have long complained about unsanitary conditions throughout the complex; broken elevators that can make a day out for older and disabled tenants almost impossible; broken appliances that can leave tenants without stoves or refrigerators, and downed heating systems that can have tenants struggling through the winter cold.
The city Department of Housing Preservation and Development this year alone issued more than 1,200 violations across the complex for varying conditions. The most consistent violations are for issues like pest problems; faulty or missing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors; broken windows and doors, and mold or unsanitary water conditions.
Olga Navarro, another longtime tenant of the eight-building development, said she was unsure if the latest investment would lead to the needed improvements, but said that it was the tenants’ best chance in a complex built in the 1960s.
“I hope that at least we’re going to get a decent place to live,” she said. “These buildings are very very old and they need remodeling.”
Neither Thomas nor Navarro received information about the rehabilitation plan, but both said workers had been by taking measurements in units across the complex. The press release announcing the $165 million plan said that information meetings for residents would be held early next year.
The project will receive funding from all levels of government, including $98.5 million from the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development; $50 million from New York State Homes and Community Renewal’s Multifamily Preservation Program, and federal support through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
In what could be seen as a cause for optimism, it was at the same time announced that a new development team would come to Park Hill, something unique for the complex’s 1,100 units.
Since at least the 1990s, the complex and the money funneled to it has been under the control of the Shah family — currently headed by Michael Shah, the founder and CEO of a company called DelShah Capital.
Residents, including Navarro, have long pointed to Shah’s neglect of the development as the main cause of its poor conditions. Now, it is hoped that the introduction of a new development team, comprised of The Arker Companies, L+M Development Partners and LIHC Investment Group, may lead to the necessary improvements.
Monday’s announcement saw that group described as the “new ownership” of the complex, but their exact involvement hasn’t yet been made clear. Shah still retains some degree of ownership at Park Hill, having his companies’ names listed on property records and financing documents from as recently as August.
Additionally, the Richmond County Clerk’s Office has not posted traditional documentation connected to a property sale for any of the lots comprising the Park Hill development.
It is clear, however, that the government rehabilitation investment would not have been possible without the new development group becoming part of Park Hill. All three entities have worked on affordable housing restorations and developments around the city, and Arker has involvement with multiple on Staten Island, including Concord Court at 55 Bowen St. and Seaside Plaza at 20 Father Capodanno Blvd.
At Monday’s press conference where she was joined by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis and State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton, Councilmember Kamillah Hanks, a North Shore Democrat who has been perhaps the most forceful advocate for the complex’s tenants, said she believed the announced deal would lead to the long-sought improvements.
“For far too long, the residents of Park Hill have been forced to live with neglect, disrepair, and conditions no community should ever have to accept,” she said. “From day one in office, I made it clear this was unacceptable. I worked alongside my colleagues in government to ensure that these conditions would no longer be ignored.”