In March, Joyce Warren smoked a cigarette outside Memphis Towers, her home for more than 10 years.
She noticed William Tuggle walk out the front doors of the building, hollering in excitement. As members of the Memphis Tenants Union, Warren and Tuggle had been working together for the prior two years to force their landlord, The Millennia Cos., to improve the conditions in the building or sell it.
“They gone! They gone. They gone,” Tuggle yelled.
When Tuggle explained Millennia would no longer operate the building, Warren filled with pride.
MTU members MLK50 spoke with are thrilled with what they’ve accomplished, in a city where landlords rarely face consequences for unsafe conditions. While executives of The Richman Group, the property’s new landlord, declined to be interviewed by MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, their public comments have indicated the tenants union played a role in the ownership change.
Meanwhile, Millennia continues to own multiple Memphis apartment complexes, and the city’s Health, Educational and Housing Facility Board continues to give it and other landlords leniency on property conditions. So the members don’t see their job as finished. MTU wants to help more tenants across the city — it’s already working with tenants at other Millennia properties — while pushing for continued improvements at Memphis Towers.
MTU organizer Alex Uhlmann said the group is currently focused on working with Richman, fundraising and planning its next steps.
So far, he’s been impressed by the property’s new owners, who have fixed many of the major problems MTU was created to address. They’ve hired 24/7 security, began monitoring the pull cords in residents’ rooms and forgiven many residents’ past-due rent.
“In terms of our central demands … we’ve seen the major issues addressed or on their way to be addressed,” Uhlmann said. “It’s a big difference. It’s (almost) all the things that we wanted.”
There are still multiple smaller issues that MTU is working with Richman to address. For instance, the property management firm installed by Richman hired many of the same onsite property managers who have been treating residents poorly for years, according to MTU members such as Tuggle.
But meetings with Richman about such things have been cordial and productive, Uhlmann said, which is a welcome change. The company has respected the union and even encouraged residents to participate in it, through a flyer.
Uhlmann believes Richman’s commendable efforts are tied to its strong desire to keep the building’s tax break in place.
The property is currently subsidized by a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes authorized by the Health, Educational and Housing Facility Board. In return for this financial assistance, Millennia had promised to maintain healthy, safe and attractive exteriors and provide certain “tenant benefits,” such as renovations, upgraded appliances or social services.
In early 2024, the HEHFB filed a notice of default against Millennia for the poor conditions MTU was advocating against and the building’s low occupancy numbers, placing the PILOT in jeopardy. Before this, Richman was a limited partner in the ownership of Memphis Towers — meaning it had an ownership stake but left the responsibility of operating the property to Millennia. After the notice of default, Richman removed Millennia and took control of the towers, citing both the default and the conditions at the property.
Uhlmann is confident the board would have never placed the property in default without MTU’s advocacy.
In March, the board also filed notices of default regarding two of Millennia’s other local properties: Cavalier Court and Gospel Gardens.
Millennia is trying to sell both properties, as part of selling off most of its affordable properties across the country.
But in the meantime, Millennia representatives promised the board at its June meeting that the company will start spending more money on the properties to quickly address the major issues.
To ensure conditions improve at Cavalier, Gospel and Millennia’s other local apartment complexes, MTU has started working with tenants living there.
“I’m trying to get it where everyone who rents from Millennia can get what we got,” Warren said.
The union’s activism has already rippled out from Memphis Towers, catching the attention of local political and nonprofit leaders.
In late April, when it came time for the City Council to approve the reappointment of two HEHFB members, the process wasn’t as smooth as usual, though the reappointments were ultimately approved. Councilwoman Pearl Walker asked the members and Charles Carpenter — an attorney who speaks for the board publicly and leads its meetings — to spend a night at Memphis Towers or a similar property. And Councilwoman Yolanda Cooper-Sutton reprimanded the members for not protecting tenants well enough.
“(Memphis Towers tenants) have suffered and have not been served genuinely and wholeheartedly by anyone (on the board),” Councilwoman Cooper-Sutton said. “(Going forward), I want you to remember (the tenants) who were living in that deplorable, horrible place.”
MTU’s efforts have also inspired the Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope to start advocating for changes to how the board operates.
“(MTU) identified systemic problems that can be solved with policy solutions,” said Austin Harrison, an assistant professor of urban studies at Rhodes College and leader of MICAH’s housing task force. “The City of Memphis HEHF board needs to … (use better) guardrails to protect our most vulnerable Memphians.”
To fund this work — along with its criminal justice advocacy work — MICAH recently received a $210,000 per year commitment from the Community Foundation for Greater Memphis.
Uhlmann has been pleased to see the board come under increased scrutiny. But he doubts the board will be able to improve substantially until the City Council installs new leadership.
“I think we’re going in the right direction,” Uhlmann said. “But we need our city leadership … to take more of a leadership role … before we’ll see the changes that are truly needed.”
Jacob Steimer is the housing and development reporter for MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. Email him at Jacob.Steimer@mlk50.com
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