Toll Brothers Hudson Tea Building, Hoboken Ruling

In what could be a precedent-setting decision, the Hoboken Rent Leveling Board ruled last Wednesday night that Toll Brothers, a development company that is converting the 525-unit Hudson Tea Building into condominiums, is not eligible to keep bucking the city’s rent control law like the former owner did. The ruling came after Raul Perez, a renter at the Tea Building at 15th and Washington Street, officially challenged his rent. Even though Toll Brothers is converting some of the lofts to condos, renters may stay indefinitely. But Perez argued that Toll Brothers was de facto evicting his family through excessive rent increases. The board sided with Perez and ruled that Toll Brothers could only charge market rents that increase with annual federal cost of living increases, normally 2 or 3 percent.