Detroit seniors call on private equity landlord to address their demands

In late October, members of the Detroit Tenants Union gathered at River Pointe Tower, an affordable senior housing complex on the east side of Detroit, to demand that their private equity landlord join them at the bargaining table. Launched in August 2025, the River Pointe Tower Tenants Union (RPTTU) is part of a broad coalition of other tenant unions organizing with the Tenant Union Federation nationwide campaign against private equity landlord Capital Realty. In addition to River Pointe Tower, unionized properties include the 72-unit Park Ridge complex in New Haven, Connecticut; the 214-unit American Village complex in Louisville, Kentucky; three buildings totaling nearly 500 units in Kansas City, Missouri; and the 112-unit Rose Park Apartments in Billings, Montana. 

Following their August launch, frustrated senior residents gathered once again on October 27 to broadcast their call for Capital Realty president Moshe Eichler to get down to business and back to negotiations with their union. Residents have complained of long-standing maintenance issues at their building, alleging bedbug and pest infestations, poor maintenance of community spaces, and more. 

During the rally, residents held homemade signs reading “Mr. Eichler! A seat at the bargaining table!”, “Respect goes both ways,” and “We won’t fold, we won’t break.”

Resident and RPTTU member Jacqueline Rice called on Eichler to give living at River Pointe Tower a try: “This is where we live every day. Mr. Eichler could come here and live and stay for a month or two, see the conditions that we live in. If not, come to the bargaining table.” Members of the union told stories about the issues they experienced in their homes, ending each with the exclamation “that ain’t right.” While tenants say some maintenance has been completed since their launch rally in August, many members of the union hope to see more movement from Capital Realty in response to their demands. 

The River Pointe Tower Tenants Union rally was covered by the Michigan Advanceand People’s World. PESP staff member and Metro Detroit resident Sam Garin offered a comment to the Advance: 

This issue is also bigger than Capital Realty, said Sam Garin, a spokesperson for the Private Equity Stakeholder Project. 

“A private equity firm, they will do whatever it takes to make their ‘investment’ more profitable over a pretty short amount of time,” she said. “And unfortunately, what that usually means for tenants of private equity-owned buildings, we’ll see slashed maintenance, rent hikes, increased and more aggressive evictions.”

For more on the Tenant Union Federation’s campaign against Capital Realty, read our previous blog here.