Residents at the Hamilton on the Bay in Edgewater have several weeks to find a new place to live.
Last month, the owners of the property notified some 200 tenants that they are being evicted and have 60 days to move out.
“I am going to be 72 years old in August and the rent I am going to have to pay to move out to cover the moving expenses is my whole Social Security check,” Larry Schatz said.
He joined other residents in a protest outside of the lobby of the building located off Biscayne Boulevard and Northeast 34th Street on Tuesday. The group has asked the owners, Aimco, to give them more time and money to move.
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“We are not asking for anything out of the ordinary. We all pay our rent on time. We want to stay, and or have more time to leave with some compensation,” Marla LaVoice added.
Aimco purchased the building last year for $80 million. The high-rise has been under construction since 2017 after Hurricane Irma damaged it.
In a statement, the company said, “We had hoped to renovate the building ‘around’ residents, but the ultimate condition of the building and the necessary repairs made that plan untenable… We are considering any and all hardships and will continue working with residents on a case-by-case basis to make various accusations."
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Residents said they were pressured to sign new leases with a cancellation clause, in some cases months before their current leases were up.
"They said they had no intention of beginning construction and kicking people out. We are going to work with you, we are going to accommodate you, so they signed,” their attorney David Winker said.
