Word: silverman
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...largest landlord in Cambridge. It owns a total of about 2500 commercial and residential properties, 900 of which fall under the domain of the Cambridge Rent Control Board. And HRE still loses money. "One of the main reasons HRE is not making money because of our accumulated losses," Robert Silverman, HRE vice-president, says, adding, "For years Harvard was charging tenants too little money year after year...
...form HRE, Thomas O'Brien, vice president for financial affairs and a member of Wyatt's committee, explains: "We wanted not to lose money and to provide decent housing for our own students and the community in general." On the first score HRE has failed and according to Silverman, it has little hope of success for at least "several years." The second point continues to be debated by Harvard officials, who perceive improvement, and tenants, who see erratic heating systems, poor insulation, slipshod workmanship, and inflated rents...
...especially those in rent-controlled buildings, provide the most vocal, objections to HRE policies, in part because they are largely protected from the fear of retaliation by the rent-control bureaucracy. In the past few months, activists in many Harvard buildings have come together form the HTU; and though Silverman says the group will probably "fade away" like small-building groups of the past, Turk says the HTU "has the potential to be substantial and enduring. There is a sense of tapping into a really powerful feeling among Harvard tenants...
...Most of the buildings Harvard owns now were not purchased until the 1960s and most of the deferred maintenance occurred before then," Silverman said. He added that HRE will continue making capital improvements to reduce energy waste and seeking subsequent rent adjustments through the rent board...
...Silverman said. "The level of service is not related to the number of people you have out there, but how skilled and motivated they are," adding that maintenance by HRE had improved as a result of new personnel...