@marionsd As @klaus says, these small landlords only provide stability for as long as they’re here. Once they sell, it’s a crisis for their tenants b/c the new owners will move to recoup their costs & may need to renovate, which requires empty units.

Agree that there's no single solution.

Let’s remember that 3 deckers are energy inefficient, inaccessible to the disabled, and are all ~100 years old.

At some point, each & every one needs to be replaced, purely b/c nothing lasts forever.

@marionsd @klaus @ef4 @StephanieLearns most of them are still uninsulated. They can be retrofitted, but let’s remember that’s a form of upcycling (I.e., making those homes more expensive) and thus can encourage displacement b/c those costs need to recouped by the owner.

Keeping the buildings the same, but making them nicer, tends to displace in favor of higher-income households.

@marionsd @klaus @ef4 @StephanieLearns a new owner may not know about MassSaves (and maybe commercial owners aren’t eligible?)

Even w/ MassSaves though, you’re still talking about having to empty an apartment to do major renovations, which means somebody is gonna lose their home & be displaced to do those upgrades.

We still need more homes to accommodate folks.

Whatever we do, they’re not all going to disappear at once! We’ve many more years of having 3 deckers around.