By Cesar Canizales

Concerns are growing for tenants of a Central District building after ownership changed hands, sparking fears that new management will mean higher rent for their modest but affordable apartments.

The Madkin, located on 17th and Madison and built in 1905, has been their home for years. Some of the four dozen residents have lived there for decades, and they have been fortunate enough to pay rent below market rates, thanks to previous owner Fally Tyson, who passed away two years ago.

“The state of emotions and the state of mind in the building has been tense, fearful, destabilized,” said Meagan Angus, who lives in the building and is the president of the Madkin Tenants Association. 

A building with history

The Madkin has been owned by three generations of Black families. 

It was named after one of those families, Robert and Esther Madkin, who bought the building in the mid-1950s. Robert Madkin was “involved in several anti-discrimination efforts,” according to the MTA, which researched the building’s history as part of its work to “Save the Madkin.” 

Esther Madkin worked with the NAACP and local nonprofit agencies, including Neighborhood House, where she was a board member.

Tyson bought the building in the late 1970s and held rent intentionally low. He passed away in 2020 due to COVID. He left the Madkin to his family, who sold it to Bode, a real estate and development company. 

A fight for affordability

After learning that their building had been put up for sale, some residents formed the MTA to work to keep the building affordable. 

They asked the Tenants Union of Washington for help. The two organizations held a news conference on Aug. 17.

“Rents have remained below market up until this point, which means Seattle will again lose another asset in the affordable housing stock due to the lack of rent control,” said Violet Lavatai, executive director of the Tenants Union of Washington.

Since then, the residents have received written notice about the change in ownership—along with guidelines about how payments are to be made. According to the notice, “Personal checks WILL NOT be accepted,” in apparent violation of state law RCW 59.18.063, which states, “A landlord must accept a personal check.”  

In a phone interview, Lavatai said the company also violated city code that requires the new owners to post the change of ownership on the day of the sale. 

Lavatai added that for-profit companies buy buildings, fix them up and increase rent for their occupants, forcing many to move out. She called that a form of “economic eviction.”

After requesting an interview or a statement from the company about these issues and its plans for the building, Lindsey Spears, regional manager for Bode, said in an email, “We’re working on our plans which in an old building like this invoice [SIC] a lot of issues with systems that are complex. We will have more specifics to share in the next month or so.” 

“Nowhere to go”

Nearly 50 people live in the Madkin, many of whom are low income, elderly, and at high risk for displacement. They don't know what they'll do if their rents are increased to unaffordable levels.

Angus said those residents “are just going to become more people the city has to find more housing for, or they’ll become homeless. That’s not an exaggeration.”

She added that she’s not sure what she’ll do if she’s forced to move out due to higher rent.

“I, like most Americans, do not have a giant savings account ready to go to relocate for what we have in this building,” Angus said. “In terms of the livability of the apartments, as well as the affordability of the apartments, I will not be able to find that anywhere else in this city or kind of really any other city.”

Liz Tyson, Fally Tyson’s niece who has lived in the Madkin for years, said she’s not sure what she’s going to do if her rent goes up.

“It's hard to find a place that's affordable in any sense of the word. I was born and raised in Seattle. I’ve watched what's happened over and over again,” said Tyson. “I have literally nowhere to go. I have a good, safe job that 10 or 15 years ago would have been fine. I would have found something—no problem. But now, rents are two to three times what I could reasonably afford.”

Joey Barlowe, vice president of the MTA, said he fears for the tenants who cannot afford to move. 

“Obviously, I would need to find a new home—whether or not I stay in Seattle. I mean, this is where I planted some roots over the last 15 years, where I worked for 15 years,” Barlowe said. “I’m sure I will find another place, but there’s a lot of people here who may not be as lucky in finding other living situations.”

Jose Suarez, who has experienced homelessness, is worried. 

“This is bringing fear, you know, because we are in the unknown. We don't know what's going to happen. You know, right now we’re here, but tomorrow we don't know,” said Suarez. “You know, maybe tomorrow we’re down by the bridge…for many of these people, that's, that's what they're facing.”

But the tenants do not begrudge Fally Tyson’s family for selling the building. 

“We absolutely, as a collective celebrate the creation and the sustaining of intergenerational Black wealth,” Angus said. “This is a huge win for these people as individuals and for that kind of work that needs to be happening in America.”