Lawsuit Over Northwest Village/Albany Housing

Stuart Flashman, an attorney for the "Committee for Affordable Student Family
Housing" sent notice to the University on Friday, July 2nd that if they move forward with the plan to tear down some of the University housing and rebuild it, then he would file a lawsuit to prevent this from happening.


So far, I have had the chance to speak with Flashman about this matter, but I won't be able to reach anyone at the University until probably mid-day Tuesday at the earliest. First, a brief summary of what is happening, based on information from Flashman, as well as a resident of the University Village.
*Currently about 600 students in University Village are living in old buildings (former army barracks I was told) that the University would like to tear down and rebuild.
*According to Flashman, rent would increase for these people from around 700-900 dollars to 1,500-1,700 dollars.
*Final approval for this project has been granted, along with the completion of an Environmental Impact Report, and Flashman claims that the University has been unwilling to work on a negotiated settlement, which is why he is readying the lawsuit.

According to Flashman, the increase in rent will drive some current residents from the housing. He also claims that in the Environmental Report, the University assumed that automobile use would remain the same and therefore there would be no increase in pollution. He claims that people who could afford the more expensive apartments would be likely to drive more and cause more pollution.

According to Flashman, one simple solution would be to allow for a revolving loan fund so residents of the University housing could pay back any loans they needed after they graduated and got a job.

More on this soon, including comments from the University and a copy of the notice sent to the administration about the lawsuit Flashman would file sometime in July...

Click here to see the notice by Stuart Flashman of his intent to file suitEmail This Post!