NYCHA’s privatization push includes a landlord who still owes the city $148 million of unpaid property taxes.
The city’s public housing authority awarded a contract to the Kraus Organization early in 2018, according to WNYC. The company is now a part owner of Highbridge Rehabs near Yankee Stadium in the South Bronx.
Six months after awarding Kraus this contract, NYCHA received a background check about the company’s debt and other issues, including a report from tenants complaining about conditions at a Kraus-owned Bronx building called Roosevelt Gardens.
The company is in negotiations with the city over its unpaid taxes and mainly focusing on the large amount of interest that has accumulated over the years. Kraus said in a statement to WNYC that they are “nearing a final agreement” with the city “that will resolve all open issues, protect the quality of life of tenants, preserve affordability of the apartments, and deliver substantial tax revenue to the city.”
The Real Deal ranked the Kraus Organization as number 10 on its list of two-generation real estate owners by square feet in its 2017 ranking. [WNYC] – Eddie Small