Not good:
I recon we could crowd source finding a new place for her if she lets us know the budget and requirements.
If there's anyone in the electronics world who deserves that kind of help, it's Fran. Historical preservation is not financially productive, yet IMHO extremely important.
If just a quarter of her 80K subscribers pitched in 25 bucks each, that'd cover moving and construction costs as well as make a massive down payment to buy a building. Renting just isn't viable in the volatile, skyrocketing real estate market of any halfway-desirable US city.
PITA and part of living in the Tenanted world. I have had it happen to me commercially at the end of lease. I was offered a new lease with a 50% hike or else. I suggested impolitely I would be taking the or else option and they could place their bluestone building somewhere appropriate
No need for outrage or response or campaigns just a sad/annoying event in the quirky, offbeat and slightly kooky (good thing) that is Franlabs
This sort of thing has been happening a lot in Seattle, older buildings being demolished and replaced with high rise buildings full of luxury condos or apartments. I can't even explain how thankful I am that I bought a house back when I did because there's no way I could afford to live around here anymore if I hadn't. Screw renting, I don't ever want to be paying someone elses mortgage again.
If she really is the last one in the building maybe they will offer her a generous settlement to walk away early. That should at least should pay for the relocation etc.
This is what angers me about rental agreements in USA: they are barely worth the paper they're printed on, as far as tenant security goes.
<rant>One of the things I (as an American) appreciate about Switzerland is that tenants are very sensibly protected. (In the US, where tenants are protected, it's often poorly implemented, leading to abuse at the expense of landlords.) Like, if you have a lease, and the building is sold… well, tough luck, new owner, you must adhere to the lease, and you can't just kick someone out with a month's notice. That's the thing that I really hate about US leases: you can end it on far too short notice. Here in CH, it's 3 months notice and not before the lease ends. (If a tenant wants to break the lease, they must also give 3 months notice, or find nominate a suitable replacement tenant. This seems like a very equitable system to me.) And you also can't just raise rent arbitrarily — you can raise it to cover costs and then some, just not open-ended. (I moved into my current apartment right as this neighborhood had begun to gentrify, so I essentially locked in a rent quite a bit below market rate these days. And since inflation here is essentially zero, there have been no cost increases to justify a higher rent.)
I realize that USA has designed its real estate system and laws around homeownership, not rental. But given how real estate prices have skyrocketed, and real wages have remained flat, this just isn't a sustainable model. We can do better.</rant>