Atlantic Mills tenants meet to combat rumors and defend their tenancy

"If the worst-case scenario happens, what actions will you take?" asked a tenant.

In 2022, the Providence Redevelopment Agency [PRA] began the process of possibly purchasing the iconic Atlantic Mills building in Olneyville from owners Howard and Eleanor Brynes. Two months ago it was revealed that the owners decided not to pursue a deal with the city and put the building on the market for around $5 million. Enter New York-based real estate developer Eric Edelman and real-estate investor Bob Berle. Edelman has been “restoring old buildings and developing new ones in the Northeast with a particular focus on New York's Hudson Valley and Providence, Rhode Island.”

Atlantic Mills provides offices for advocacy groups, maker spaces for artists and creatives, sales space, a flea market, and even a church. It’s the kind of space vanishing from Providence, a city that thinks of itself as a “global destination for arts, humanities, and design, where neighbors celebrate diverse cultural and artistic experiences, and where all residents and visitors feel a connection to arts practice, making, and culture in everyday lives.”

The dozens and dozens of businesses, orgs, and artists who work and create in the spaces they rent at Atlantic Mills are finding themselves faced with possible and existential rent increases and evictions - especially those whose leases are month-to-month - forcing them to look for studio, office, or retail space in a city where options are scarce and much more expensive. Even if the buyers are interested in preserving the space much the way it is, advertised rates for available spaces are double what many are currently paying.

Nearly 100 renters and tenants crowded into the tiny Olneyvill Library for a meeting with elected officials to air their fears, quell rumors, and organize. The following has been edited for brevity and clarity to represent the gist of the nearly two-hour meeting.

“It's important for us to get together, especially at a time like this where there's so much at risk,” said Cindy Miranda, board chair of the Olneyville Neighborhood Association, who helped organize the meeting. “How many of you want to save the mill, and keep the mill as it is for everyone in Olneyille, Providence, and Rhode Island? Can we share any concerns we have? Are there any tenants that want to share their concerns about the future of the mill at this moment?”

Miranda was joined by many elected officials, including State Representatives Enrique Sanchez, John Lombardi, and David Morales; as well as Councilmembers Oscar Vargas who represents Ward 15 where the Mill is located, Miguel Sanchez (Ward 6), and Shelley Peterson (Ward 14).

Nick Cicchitelli, Director of Real Estate at the Providence Redevelopment Agency explained the history of the PRA's involvement with the site, which included paying for “a substantial environmental review with partners from the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and private contractor, Fuss & O'Neill…

“The Mayor and his senior staff recently met with the owner, Eric Edelman, and his team,” said Cicchitelli, “I'm very happy to share with you that we were assured that this building will not be converted to residential use and that there's going to be every effort [made] to maintain as much of the current tenant usage as possible, understanding that this is worker space, a cool maker space, and one of the few remaining assets in the city that offers this type of real estate.”

Renters and Tenants Expressed Frustrations and Uncertainties

Madgy Bader, who owns the furniture store at Atlantic Mills, said that he had already received an eviction notice, even though his lease does not expire until 2035. Bot another tenant disputed that the letters were evictions.

Cindy Miranda says the issue is that the buyers believe that some tenants are using space beyond what is outlined in the lease. “When we were at city hall last week we received notifications that tenants were receiving eviction notices because they're supposedly using more space than they were supposed to.”

“That's not what the letter says,” said another tenant. “The letter does not say anything about eviction. That's taken out of context. Listen, I am not a fan of these new buyers. I don't believe them at their word. I want to see the words put on paper, [but] when I called the buyers, they were responsive. They simply said that they are going off of data from last September. My space has changed a lot since last September. I've taken over new spaces and I've let go of other spaces. The buyers were not given our contact information, they were not given lease information. They're trying to assess how much square footage is available for them to lease to new people. They're trying to correct the paperwork they have. Again, that is reality. I know they were not given those things.”

“I haven't been contacted in any way,” said a renter. “The only abnormal contact that I would describe is that I didn't get my bill for this month's rent and utilities, which was odd. I couldn't make the right payment this month. I ended up just sending in the rent portion without the electricity cost. I haven't paid for that because I have yet to receive it. It's unsettling hearing there's a buyer, then you don't get your bill on time so you can make a payment and you hear all these rumors.”

“The people that are representing themselves as the buyers are also working as the leasing agents. They're working both sides of the fence,” said Mark Carlson, building manager of Atlantic Mills. “I received one of the letters from one of my tenants... You said earlier that you were reassured that the buyers would maintain the current tenancy in the building and that it won't include residential [units], but ... the buyers are advertising the building at $8 a square foot. A lot of tenants have leases that are $3 to $4 a square foot. That's double their rent...

“They're being disingenuous to you and to the leadership of the city by not stating what is fact and reality, what their intentions are,” continued Carlson. “Right now, I'm the business manager of the Atlantic Mills [and have been] for the last 25 years. I do a lot of heart and soul, not just for the building, not just for our people, but our building people and our flea market people.”

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“I've spoken with the buyer, Eric Edelman, and he said nobody in good standing will be evicted,” said a renter. “Could you define what good standing means?”

"I think that '[applies to] anybody that's been substantially up to speed on payment plans or with their rent, and hasn't had any other breaches of their lease obligations,” answered Nick Cicchitelli.

“What is the option for the buyers to [put] this in writing?” asked another tenant. “Because I've learned that I don't trust millionaires and billionaires. If they can come up with a legal agreement that states we will not raise your rent more than X amount and we will not evict - and put that in writing - everyone here would probably feel a little bit more secure. I guarantee that the majority of people here don't feel secure simply because these are new people coming in.”

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“I had reached out to Eric Edelman several months ago at the beginning of the year to discuss his purchase of the Lauderdale Building downtown,” said Representative Sanchez. “I had concerns because all the tenants ended up being kicked out of that building. Those same developers, Eric, Bob, and his team, had requested public subsidies from Rhode Island Commerce. They asked for $2 or $3 million dollars. They ended up getting $750,000 from Commerce. I had a conversation with Edelman through texts about affordable housing and developments because I felt that his approach to addressing the housing crisis was for the state and municipal government to grant developers subsidies, tax breaks, tax cuts, and tax stabilization agreements…

After hearing about the situation at Atlantic Mills, “I tried having a conversation with [Edelman] and realized he had blocked me on Twitter or he deleted me from Twitter because of our disagreements around his project with the Lauderdale Building. Then, a few weeks ago, after I had posted about my concern about the building being sold I was contacted by Edelman to stop spreading misinformation.. And I had said to him, ‘Well Eric, are you committed? Are you not committed to removing the tenants or ending people's contracts leasing?” He's like, ‘I don't have to report to you.’”

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“My brother and I were one of the bidders on the building,” said Mark Carlson. “If these people decide to back away from [purchasing] the building and if the owner talks to me again, we are committed to keeping the building the way it is, not just for five or ten years, for as long as it takes because this kind of a community reaction is what this building is about. People have come after me to tell me that they're going to sue me, that I should drop this, but I can't.”

A tenant’s union?

“I rent at Atlantic Mills. I'm not a lease holder though,” said Grief. “A lot of people, like the commercial tenants and artists, have been meeting separately from this group so they have quite a lot of information. I'm encouraging you to use this moment to talk to politicians like Miguel Sanchez, other PRA members, and Representative Sanchez to make specific demands. Someone has floated the idea of a requirement that a certain amount of square footage be dedicated to artists - that could be in the comprehensive plan. This is the moment when you can make deadlines for these politicians because if these politicians are not able to help us either stop the sale or guarantee that things won't change, then people need to come together and form a tenant union or something to bargain and protect our rents. Commercial tenants have already expressed an interest in that and they can speak up on their own to talk about that. But we must have two plans - to make some deadlines here for politicians and to form a tenants union and negotiate to protect ourselves.”

Getting the buyers to a meeting

“I'm wondering,” asked a tenant, “if the city is now kind of an outsider in this process, who is it that we should be talking to?”

“Definitely to each other,” came a reply from the crowd.

“Talk to the buyers,” said another.

“This should be the start of securing communication with the buyer,” said Nick Cicchitelli.

“When I had the conversation with Eric, I asked him, ‘Hey, can you come? Can we meet? Can we have a meeting with the community?’” said Representative Sanchez. “He's said, ‘I'm not going to meet with you unless my lawyer's there.’ His lawyer is Dylan Conley, a constituent of mine.”

“There's no way that [the buyers] don't know about this meeting,” said a tenant near the back of the room as others nodded in agreement. “They're just not here.”

“What you guys are doing is a testament to how powerful we can be together,” said City Councilmember Shelley Peterson. “I took it upon myself, while you guys were all talking about trying to schedule some meetings, to reach out to [Attorney Dylan Conley] and say, ‘There's a group of about 80 people here, probably more, they want to meet’ and he said, ‘Okay.’ So schedule a date. They should be prepared to speak to you about your list of what you're looking for, so be prepared.”

“What happens if the [buyers] don't commit?” asked another tenant. “What happens if they just continue to blow us off or use their resources to steamroll over whatever initiatives or actions folks have? In that case, every individual in this room, as a collective, needs to come together and figure out what reactions and responses we would have. Because things hit hard and fast. The amount of time [we have] is very limited, so that's something to take into account. What are the worst-case scenarios? And if those worst-case scenarios happen, such as starting next month they say, ‘We want everyone who's month-to-month gone by the end of the month’ - are folks going to let that happen, or are folks going to stand together? If the worst-case scenario happens, what actions will you take? Even if it's beyond your regular means...”

“I understand the concern,” said Nick Cicchitelli. “I would encourage you to be patient and try to see what they have to say first. You haven't heard from them yet and I think that's a logical next step. You can speak with them directly at a meeting like this. That's something the city would like to facilitate.”

“Let's get this union started too,” said a tenant. “I know it's late on a Wednesday night…”

“Yeah,” said Grief. “If you're not already on the list serve please come up to me and I will help you get signed up for that. And if you're a tenant, please literally tell me and other people that you want to be part of the [unionization effort]. We can't assume that. You need to say it to us and each other.”