Honors for a developer spur protests

Firm is planning to end rent aid

May 31, 2011|By Meghan E. Irons, Globe Staff

Bnai Brith Housing praised the firms late patriarch, Max Kargman, who grew…

Several housing advocacy groups and tenants of apartments owned by First Realty Management Corp. are protesting a plan to honor the company’s president for championing affordable housing in the region.

The nonprofit B’nai B’rith Housing New England is planning to honor William Kargman, First Realty president, at a ceremony Monday.

First Realty, which has been repeatedly cited as a premier developer of affordable housing, was among dozens of private developers that participated in a 40-year federal program offering low interest rates in exchange for providing Section 8 and low- and moderate-income housing.

But those deals are expiring, and First Realty, which owns five Boston properties, has come under fire in Roslindale and the Fenway for moving to end rent subsidies. At Burbank Apartments in the Fenway, tenants and advocates have filed suit alleging that the decision to end subsidies discriminates against low-income tenants.

Some now say B’nai B’rith should rescind the award or press him to do more to help tenants at the Boston properties.

The Kargmans have contended that they are keeping the Burbank units affordable by offering tenants enhanced vouchers to continue living there at reduced rates. But tenants argue that once they move out of Burbank, the affordability of their apartments will be lost for good.

“He doesn’t deserve the award,’’ said Burbank tenant Conrad Ciszek. “He’s phasing out affordable housing, not just here but at other properties.’’

B’nai B’rith Housing, which works with cities and towns for affordable housing and is affiliated with the antidiscrimination humanitarian group B’nai B’rith International, defended the award, hailing the Kargman family’s company as a pioneer in affordable housing for more than 40 years and praising its patriarch, Max Kargman, who grew up poor in the Jewish tenements of Chicago.

“We have been wanting to honor the Kargmans since before Max Kargman died in 2005, and we decided to do it months ago,’’ said Susan Gittelman, executive director of B’nai B’rith Housing New England, which works with cities and towns for affordable housing.

Of the 1,081 units of affordable housing Boston has lost in the past five years, 1,069 belong to the Kargmans, said Sheila Dillon, housing adviser to Mayor Thomas M. Menino. The Kargmans said the figure is 518.

Dillon, who has tried unsuccessfully to sway the Kargmans on ending rent subsidies at Burbank, struck a neutral tone over the B’nai B’rith award and pointed to the group’s record in affordable housing.

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