As of March 1, 2025, the Belden Sawyer Tenant Association is on a rent strike. The strike will end when landlord Drew Millard negotiates fair lease terms with our union.

On April 1, 2025, our partner union, the Fuerzas Inquilinos de Broadway y Cuyler, declared their own rent strike.

Support BSTA and FIBC by donating to the ACTA strike fund.

The Belden Sawyer Tenant Association

formed on December 19, 2024 after our historic Logan Square apartment building was sold to corporate landlords who want us gone.

We are a democratic organization fighting to stay in our homes. We are working class retirees, doulas, restaurant workers, plumbers, artists, warehouse workers, parents, neighbors, and friends.

  • We live in an historic courtyard building with classic, dutifully maintained oak interiors. Residents have lived here for a combined 110 years and have paid an estimated $2 million in rent. This is our home.

  • Our building was bought by Concord Capital and is managed by 33 Realty Management. Both companies were founded by Andrew Millard. The parent company of 33 Realty was Poplar Homes, a venture capital firm with ties to Google, until Poplar Homes was acquired by Evernest in early 2025.

  • On Christmas Eve 2024, 33 Realty began informing residents that we will need to move out to make way for extensive interior “renovations” and extraordinary rent hikes. These plans have nothing to do with historic preservation or structural integrity—they are solely to pay back the owners’ debt incurred when they bought for the building.

Our demands

Our demands

1. Annual one-year lease renewals.

2. Reasonable rent to be negotiated with management by our tenant association.

3. No renovations. Our apartments are in excellent condition.

4. Ownership must negotiate in good faith with the Fuerzas Inquilinos de Broadway y Cuyler.

What you can do

Call (773) 327-4975 or email metro1@33management.com with the following message:

Hello,

I am a concerned neighbor writing about your management of 2257 N. Sawyer Ave. and 829 W. Cuyler Ave. Your company’s actions are leading to the unfair displacement of my neighbors.

Please honor the residents’ reasonable asks: annual one-year lease renewals, negotiated rent, no renovations, and good-faith negotiations with FIBC. Thank you.

Talk to your alderperson

Email 35th ward alderman Anthony Quezada and tell him you don’t want big developers taking over Logan Square and pushing working class people out of the neighborhood.

While you’re at it, email YOUR alderperson and tell them the same thing.

  • "I’ve lived here for over ten years and in the neighborhood most of my life. This is my home and it’s a shame to see another historic and beautiful part of this city being sacrificed for profit at the expense of people."

    - eleven-year resident

  • "My family and I have lived in this building for almost 8 years, and I work in the neighborhood. We are shocked at the lack of communication regarding the sale of the building and the new property owners and management. We have leases that are not yet expired. We are humans living in this building and no one has tried to explain to us what’s going on."

    - eight-year resident

  • "A lot of people right now are feeling exceptionally powerless while large, faceless corporations buy out their most basic needs, including housing. The power of forming community in response to this cannot be overstated. As the old adage goes: don’t get mad; organize. I say do both."

    - three-year resident

  • "When I saw this building, I knew in an instant it was the place I'd call home. After living here for over 14 years, I'm shocked not only by the selling of my building, but also the lack of communication and basic respect from 33 Realty. I'm deeply saddened that our community is being taken apart piece by piece. And what makes Logan Square a spectacular, unique, friendly, beautiful neighborhood is being undone by groups like 33 Realty."

    - fourteen-year resident

  • “I’ve lived at 2255 N. Sawyer for the last 13 years. It’s my home. This is the longest I’ve lived anywhere in my entire life and I love it. I don’t want to leave. What this company is doing feels criminal to me.”

    - thirteen-year resident

  • "This company claims to be serving the Logan Square community, but actual servants of the community look like the people who live in this building, the people who this company is pushing out: plumbers, doulas, warehouse workers, and service workers. We are volunteers, we are active in our community, and we work to serve our neighbors."

    - three-year resident

  • I started working for [the former building owner] in 1994 as a carpenter ... The building at Sawyer and Belden was remodeled in the 1994–2006 time frame and I believe it was towards the end of that time period. The units were completely renovated. All new plumbing, electrical, furnace and ductwork, new windows and new kitchens were installed. In spite of the work done, rents were kept reasonable. ... I like and respect the tenants currently living in the building, and support them in their efforts.

    – former maintenance person