Evicting the elderly to make a millennial ‘live near friends’ utopia

In 1977, at 36, Dave Dunham became the first tenant to live at the newly completed multi-unit building in Ashbury Heights. (The Standard is not revealing the address of the home in order to protect the current owners’ privacy.) His three-bedroom, three-bath apartment boasted vaulted ceilings, a wood-burning fireplace, and a wet bar. His unit was subject to rent control; by 2018 — 42 years after he moved in — the rent had climbed to $2,400.99 per month, which housing activists who assisted him say was covered by his retirement payments.

Dunham, who was not at liberty to speak with The Standard directly, watched generations of neighbors come and go. When Jesse Payne-Johnson moved into Unit 3 in 2015, Dunham playfully called him a “young ’un.” Payne-Johnson, 54, a partner at law firm Scale LLP, recalled this fondly, explaining that he chose the building for its tight-knit community. Unlike other residents, Payne-Johnson did not accept a settlement or sign an NDA, and was able to speak with The Standard directly. He said residents looked out for one another, hosted coffee catch-ups, and celebrated birthdays together. 

The first time he met Carol DiBenedetto, 61, a climate strategist who had lived in Unit 2 since 2004, she invited him and the rest of the building’s residents to her annual Chinese New Year party. Payne-Johnson responded in kind, fetching groceries for neighbors with mobility issues and helping with small repairs. By 2019, he was paying $4,231 a month, according to rent board documents — one of the few tenants paying close to market rate.  

DiBenedetto paid $2,470 a month for her two-bedroom, two-bath unit, while some of the elderly tenants paid nearly 70% below market value, according to the rent board. “It wasn’t just an apartment building. It was a home for us all,” Payne-Johnson said.