Sens. Warner and Kaine condemn Southern Towers owner for predatory practices

Tenants’ complaints about increasing costs and shoddy maintenance at the Southern Towers apartments are finally getting some traction.

On June 26, African Communities Together (ACT) chartered a truck to circle Alexandria with messages calling for “safe, affordable, and dignified housing” for Southern Towers residents.

The next day, Virginia’s two senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine issued a press statement highlighting a letter they sent to the property owner, the CIM Group, condemning their predatory practices against tenants.

Southern Towers consists of five high rises with 2,321 units on Seminary Road next to I-395. It has a history of providing affordable housing to a mostly immigrant population.

According to census data, over three-quarters of the residents are people of color and over 60 percent are foreign-born. Three-quarters of the immigrants are from Africa, many from Sudan, Ethiopia, and other sub-Saharan countries.  

Unlawful eviction notices

The statement by Warner and Kaine says tenants “have been subjected to eviction filings during the eviction moratorium, changes in how utilities are billed combined with rent increases that have led to substantial price hikes, and unaddressed maintenance issues that pose health and safety risks.”

CIM sent tenants who were late paying rent a confusing notice saying will be evicted in five days, but also stating that the CARES Act requires a 30-day notice before they have to vacate.

The letter from Warner and Kaine to Bethany Chang, the CIM Group’s principal for on-site property management, urges the company “to take immediate action to address these issues by engaging directly and frequently with the tenants and working quickly to resolve outstanding concerns.”  

“These issues are all the most staggering when considering that our nation is in the midst of an affordable housing crisis,” they state. “Alexandria lost an estimated 90 percent of its market-affordable units between 2000 and 2017.”

Rising utility costs

Makonnen of ACT cited additional problems: CIM raised the rent by 9 percent and moved some tenants into more expensive month-to-month leases. Utility bills are no longer included in the rent, and instead of utility fees based on usage, some tenants are charged a flat rate, making their apartments unaffordable.

Other complaints by ACT include leaky roofs, rodents and other pests, broken laundry equipment, broken air conditioners, and broken doors. When tenants complained about mold in their AC units, CIM painted over the mold, rather than removing it, Makonnen said.

In addition to addressing their concerns about rent and property maintenance, ACT wants CIM to install security cameras around the property, increase security staff, and create a tenant-management committee.

“As a federally backed property, it is incumbent upon CIM to manage Southern Towners in alignment with the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s mission to promote quality affordable housing,” Warner and Kaine asserted. “At a minimum, federally backed properties should be well maintained, free from health and safety risks, and have a responsive management team with transparent rent and utility pricing procedures.”

CIM purchased the property in August 2020 with financial backing from Freddie Mac and investments from pension funds.

In 2022, ACT filed a complaint with the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Freddie Mac about CIM’s unaffordable rent increases, predatory practices, and improper eviction notices.

In expressing gratitude for the senators’ letter, Sosseh Prom, housing justice director at ACT, said, “I am hopeful this is just the beginning of ongoing federal involvement to make sure CIM knows they can no longer act with impunity and use taxpayer money to finance displacement.”  

In the past CIM had refused to meet with tenants despite repeated requests, said Makonnen. Then ACT changed its strategy, reaching out to investors by having tenants testify at pension fund meetings.

CIM met with tenants about three times since last summer, she said, but “nothing has come out of it.”

Redevelopment in the works

Several Southern Towners residents confronted CIM’s director of development, Jason Lifton, at a meeting hosted by the City of Alexandria June 28 on planning for the future of Alexandria West.

Lifton said CIM will keep Southern Towers affordable. He acknowledged a lot of work needs to be done and said the company will update the property.

Since CIM purchased Southern Towers, Lifton said, “we responded to over 40,000 maintenance requests.” He blamed the deteriorating conditions on deferred maintenance by the previous owner and the difficulty of getting work done during the pandemic.

Another CIM executive said the company is in replacing windows and refinishing corridors on the older buildings, already replaced the playground, and is working on roof replacements, pest control, and installing new laundry equipment.

Lifton, one of several developers at the meeting who spoke about their future plans, said CIM will carry out a major redevelopment to increase density on the Southern Towers property but doesn’t have a detailed plan.

A previous plan to construct an office building and hotel on the site has been scrapped. Instead, the company is looking to build more “committed affordable housing” and a transit station. The complex is close to a future BRT line Alexandria is planning for Beauregard Street.