In three apartment complexes stretching across the Kansas City metro, hundreds of renters have dealt with cockroaches, mice and flooding — but their landlord is more than 1,000 miles away in New York.
Now, a majority of residents at the complexes are unionizing to demand better living conditions.
The effort represents more than 476 units across three properties: Parker Square Apartments and Paraclete Manor Apartments in east Kansas City and Sage Crossing Apartments in Lee’s Summit. Tenants say they’ve dealt with mold, pests and unresponsive management. Collectively, they’re demanding that Capital Realty Group, the New York-based private equity firm overseeing these properties, meet with them on Sep. 11 to continue bargaining.
“This used to be a place that felt like home,” said Donna Jackson, a resident of Paraclete Manor for 25 years. “Today, we live with mold in our homes.”
Tenants also demand that Capital Realty Group recognize the unions in good faith and not retaliate against them for organizing. Other demands include comprehensive pest control, a collectively bargained lease agreement, timely maintenance and transparency around rent increases.
Capital Realty Group did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.
Paraclete Manor offers affordable housing for seniors. The tenant union there has 58 members, about 52% of occupied units.
Jackson said Paraclete Manor along Prospect Avenue used to feel like a stronger community until Capital Realty Group took over about 6 years ago. Neighbors used to come together for cookouts, Jackson said. Now, they’re locked out of common areas.
“Our right to live in safe designated homes has been stolen, and we are here today to take it back,” Jackson said at a rally on Tuesday.
The three new tenant unions in Kansas City are joining a larger coordinated effort by the Tenant Union Federation targeting affordable rental housing overseen by Capital Realty Group. Renters in New Haven, Connecticut, Detroit, and Louisville — all of whom live in buildings owned by Capital Realty Group — unionized in the past month.
According to KC Tenants, the launching of these three tenant unions marks the first major organizing effort by the citywide tenant union tackling the portfolio of a single private equity firm.
Since forming in 2019, KC Tenants has helped form more than 20 tenant unions made up of about 10,000 Kansas City-area renters.
“Enough is enough”
Capital Realty Group is a big player in the affordable housing market. Its LinkedIn page describes the company as “a leading private equity real estate group focusing on the preservation, acquisition, redevelopment and management of affordable housing communities across the United States.”
The complexes offer federally subsidized affordable housing, a hallmark of Capital Realty Group’s portfolio. The three buildings in Kansas City describe themselves on their respective websites as an “income-based community.”
According to KC Tenants, its portfolio includes at least 14,000 units of housing across 28 states, making it one of the largest owners of subsidized housing in the U.S. The company acquired 2,992 affordable housing units last year, the fifth-highest acquisition of affordable housing, according to Affordable Housing Finance.
But Capital Realty doesn’t boast a clean record when it comes to keeping its units up to date and addressing concerns from tenants. Reporting from In These Times, a left-leaning publication, last year showed more than a dozen tenants in Connecticut who suffered from health problems connected to growing mold in their units.
Tenants at Thursday’s rally criticized Capital Realty for receiving federal subsidies to profit off affordable housing.
Paraclete Manor and Parker Square participate in the Section 8 rental assistance program under the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Sage Crossing participates in the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program.
Capital Realty received $32 million in bonds from the Port Authority of Kansas City, a local economic development group, plus $19 million from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, to renovate Parker Square.
Despite the investment, tenants there say problems with pests continue.
“They have made hundreds of thousands of dollars off of people like me over the last decade,” Jackson said. “But enough is enough, thanks to the power we're building across the country.”
Desire for 'safety, security and peace'
Amy Plant started seeing cockroaches almost as soon as she moved into her apartment at Sage Crossing three and a half years ago.
“My daughter was supposed to have a sleepover shortly after we moved in, but she had to have it at my mom's house in Blue Springs instead,” she said.
After telling management, she said she didn’t see pest control until six months later. Roaches are still a problem.
“Three and a half years later, my daughter still can't have a sleepover in her own home because of the roaches,” she said. “I feel embarrassed.”
The Sage Crossing Tenant Union marks the first of its kind in Lee’s Summit. Seventy people are part of the tenant union, a little more than half of occupied units.
Tenants at Parker Square have dealt with similar problems. Parker Square resident Blanca Sanchez said pests and mice are persistent.
“We've had pest infant infestations for a long time,” Sanchez said. “All of my kids are traumatized, because when it's cold out, the mice get in my children's blankets in their beds.”
The Parker Square Tenant Union has 105 members, representing 53% of occupied units. Maribel Hernandez has lived at Parker Square for a year and a half. She’s also dealt with pest infestations. Her neighbor has even dealt with bats. Hernandez said joining the tenant union means protection for families and kids.
“But more than anything, it is about living with security, safety and peace,” she said. “That is very important to me.”
