Rental Roast

Dear Jaeger Partners,

How do you sleep at night?

Why do you feel raising rents an obscene 400 percent on tenants who have been long term in the beautiful and historic El Centro Building is the right thing to do? Have you lived in the community long?

Are you aware that El Centro is home to, among others, Boxtales Theatre Company? Boxtales is a nonprofit that has entertained and taught countless children as well as adults by bringing stories of myth, folklore, and the like to life. It has been here 20-plus years. By raising the rents, you would greatly affect them as they run on donations. Not to mention that El Centro houses the offices of the Lobero Theatre, the revered queen of performance venues and another nonprofit that relies on donations. I’m sure you must have enjoyed many a concert in that beautiful theater. Do you have kids? Ask them how much they love Boxtales.

From everything I read on your website, I can see how you must be “hurting” and how you are “forced” to raise rents. Half a million square feet of office space in town, and how much of it is sitting empty?

Could you be setting the market rate with all that space?

You stated that you were willing to “work” with the tenants, that possibly the rents could be raised incrementally. What difference will that make? It remains a cost too high for many of them to afford — now or later.

I urge you to please reconsider. That might be your way to give back to the community.

Here is how you can “work” with them. Take down the “For Lease” sign, leave the tenants as they are, paying the same rent as always, and go pick on someone your own size.

They say business is business.

Where does your sense of community and humanity fit in?

Or is it always about the bottom line for you?