'People can't live like this': Asbury Park renters blast 25% hikes at Steinbach building

ASBURY PARK - Residents of the Steinbach building on Emory Street have asked the City Council for help as their landlord has raised their rent upwards of 25% despite complaints of mold in the building.

But whether the city can do anything about the rent increases is doubtful. While the city's rent-control ordinance limits annual increases to 3.5%, the Steinbach building is one of four Sackman Enterprises properties in the city that are exempt from those rules.

Multiple residents from the Steinbach building told the City Council that their rent has been raised by as much as 25% in one year and upwards of 32% over the past two years.

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A state law designed to encourage the construction of new multiunit apartments rentals allows developers to apply for an exemption from municipal rent-control ordinances.

There are four Sackman properties in Asbury Park that were granted exemption by the state according to city officials.

The four Sackman properties include:

• The Steinbach building at 300 Emory St., which has 66 apartments, with an exemption that expires on Aug. 10, 2042.

• 700 Bangs Ave., which has 42 apartments, with an exemption that expires on Aug. 10, 2048.

• 550 Cookman Ave., which has 26 apartments, with an exemption that expires on Aug. 10, 2042.

• 521 Lake Ave., which has 60 apartments, with an exemption that expires on Aug. 1, 2052.

Dozens of tenants of the Sackman-owned properties filled the Oct. 11 meeting of the City Council.

Bordered by Cookman Avenue, Bangs Avenue and Emory Street, the Steinbach building is located in the center of the downtown area.

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More than a century old

The Steinbach building was once a flagship department store in Asbury Park. The business was founded in 1870 by the Steinbach brothers, John, Henry and Jacob, on Broadway in Long Branch.

Four years later, John and Henry expanded to Asbury Park, first on the northeast corner of Lake Avenue and Main Street, then, in 1897, at Cookman Avenue at Press Plaza. It celebrated the business' 50th anniversary in 1920 by adding a fifth floor.

With the rise of shopping malls and the decline of Asbury Park's downtown, the Asbury Park store was shuttered in 1979 and moved to Seaview Square in Ocean Township.

The Steinbach building was reopened in 2007 after renovations and it became the first historic restoration project in downtown Asbury Park, which has enjoyed a renaissance.

Jill Occhipinti has lived in the Steinbach building for over a decade.

"For the first 12 years of my time there my rent was raised $50 a month per year. So I had every expectation based on just past precedent that would be the case," Occhipinti said. "Last year, off the pandemic they didn't charge for one year. They love touting that."

Last year, Occhipinti's rent went up $250 per month, and for her new lease this year it is going up $350 per month.

She added that she fears she will become "Public Enemy No. 1 now" for getting her neighbors to the meeting. "I worry if there is no cap this year, what will they do for me next year because my name is attached to this," Occhipinti said.

"Is there no cap? Can the city get involved in any way?" Occhipinti said. "People can't live like this."

Robert Goodman, the city's director of Community Development, told the public state law has the council's hands tied.

"There is very little that could be done," Goodman said. "As it stands today there is nothing the city could do to provide a remedy."

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Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn said "I think legally there is nothing. We can't prevent (Sackman) from doing it."

"We spent our 90 minutes in executive session with a rent-control attorney trying to figure out how we capture, not only Steinbach, but all of the one-bedrooms, single-family houses, two-bedrooms, all these other units where very similar circumstances are happening," Quinn said.

She clarified that discussion wouldn't apply for the Steinbach residents because the state says that building wouldn't be covered under a rent-control ordinance for quite some time.

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Mayor John Moor sympathized with the residents.

"Does the city think it's totally wrong? Absolutely. Can we do anything legally? No. Can we support you in other ways? Yes, by having (the director of community development) reach out to them, if the city attorney has any ideas, what (the tenants) as a group or singularly could do. I think all five of us are very supportive of the dilemma you're caught in," Moor said.

'This has created so much disruption'

The current conditions of the building do not warrant significant rent increases, according to multiple tenants at the meeting.

Aubrey Hunt and her husband have been tenants of the Steinbach building since 2013. They say they have been dealing with water damage and a subsequent mold problem with little help from Sackman.

Hunt says she has experienced vertigo, severe mood swings, tinnitus, lethargy, sinus and chest infections, muscle weakness and memory loss. All these symptoms can be connected to mold toxicity and she says they have hindered her professionally.

"I am a trauma therapist and I have literally had to cut back on my hours because of these mysterious illnesses," Hunt said. "I had full bloodwork done and it showed I had an excessive amount of mold in my system, and some of these molds are neurotoxic.

"This has created so much disruption," Hunt said. "It is really hard to swallow the fact that your home might be making you ill. We love this place and we don't want to leave, but we just feel there are constant leaks. They didn't come to fix a toilet and it flooded two floors. They admitted to me today that they found more mold in another area of the apartment linked to my home office."

She feels very sad but "it has been falling on deaf ears."

"I understand it is an historical landmark. I lived in this area my entire life, but it just seems like they are not keeping the building up to livable standards," Hunt said.

She added "having your rent raised $800 a month in two years is insane."

"And because I haven't been able to work, I feel like I am letting my patients down, and I can't gross the income anymore. It has been a struggle," Hunt said.

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Sackman Enterprises provided a statement to the Asbury Park Press.

"Sackman Enterprises prides itself on providing the highest level of residential rental product in Asbury Park at fair market prices," it read. "With rising inflation, interest rates and expenses, Sackman has had to make the appropriate increases, but in doing so, have maintained its ability to offer apartments at or below market value. Our property management division has been in business for over 50 years maintaining our holdings, many of them being historic buildings and will continue to work diligently to address tenants' concerns."

Charles Daye is the metro reporter for Asbury Park and Neptune, with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. Contact him: CDaye@gannettnj.com @CharlesDayeAPP

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Asbury Park Steinbach building tenants slam 25% rent hikes