I spoke with the patriarch of the family that owns our building. The family bought it from Fred Anhalt, the architect (in the creative sense) and builder of the place, when he went bust subsequent to the Depression in the late nineteen-twenties. At least one, possibly two generations of this family have grown up in this apartment building. However, my understanding is that this patriarch – a wonderfully sweet and understanding man, my favorite landlord ever – is now alone in the family in his desire to retain the building.

The prospective buyer is a real estate management company which currently owns one Anhalt, and has chosen to manage the building as Fred Anhalt would have, as a rental property. That building is among the most carefully maintained of all the Anhalts in the neighborhood. However, the care which has been lavished on that building is reflected in the rent – apartments notably smaller than ours rent for about 1.5k, quite higher than our rent.

Stay tuned.