Tommy Washbush
The Royal Arms Apartments, formerly Karen Arms.
The new owners changed the name of the 11-building complex of garden apartments from Karen Arms to Royal Arms Apartments.
Residents of Royal Arms, an 11-building complex at 420 N. Segoe Road, are fighting back after receiving word on Feb. 7 that their rents would be increasing by more than 20%.
More than 100 tenants have signed a letter to management asking for rent increases to be reduced to match inflation, for heat and water fees to be removed (heat and water had been included in the rent), and for the lease renewal deadline to be extended from Feb. 21 into April, among other changes. The letter described increases ranging from 20% to 40% throughout the complex, “by far the largest rent increase in the property’s history.”
The 144-unit apartment complex, built in 1964, is located in an area behind the Hilldale shopping center among other large apartment buildings that have traditionally served seniors and offered affordable rents. Residents, who still know the apartments as Karen Arms despite an official name change last year, say the complex’s no-frills, simple style without upscale amenities had kept rents affordable under the previous landlord. The building was bought in August 2023 by Orosz Properties. Isthmus could not reach Les Orosz for comment.
Rents in Madison have been increasing faster than almost anywhere in the country, growing 14% in 2023. Average rent in Madison is now $1,622.
Sally, 75, who did not want to use her real name for fear of retaliation, has lived at Royal Arms for 16 years. She is retired and relies on Social Security and a part-time job for income. She says she was notified that rent on her three-bedroom apartment would be increasing $325 a month, from $1,275 to $1,600, and that additional fees would be added for heat, water, and a parking space that will raise total monthly costs for her by more than 25%. Other residents described similar increases to Isthmus.
“I was just in shock,” says Sally. “I can’t afford it…It’s put us all into just a quandary. We don’t know where to go and what to do.”
She says that many of the tenants have been there for years or decades and are tightly connected. “It’s a little piece of heaven here…I don’t think they realize they bought a community.”
About 50 residents met with Les Orosz on Feb. 20 to talk about the rent increase and other concerns. According to David Rivera-Kohr, a graduate student who lives in the complex, Orosz agreed to extend the timeline for residents to decide whether to renew their lease but offered only vague assurances about “reevaluating” other terms of the lease, including the rent increases. Orosz promised to get back to tenants on Feb. 22 with a decision, says Rivera-Kohr.
Rivera-Kohr says he started gathering residents to discuss what they could do about the new lease terms once he found out that rent on his two-bedroom apartment would be increasing from $1,225 to $1,500 — a 22.4% increase — not counting the new fees.
“My increase was modest in comparison,” he says, but he began distributing flyers from Madison Tenant Power, a group founded in 2019 to advocate for renters, adding a sticky note telling residents to contact him if they were concerned about the rent hikes. About a dozen residents quickly expressed interest and gathered more than 100 signatures for a letter asking Orosz Properties for reconsideration of the changes. After a handful of residents delivered the letter to management, the deadline for lease renewal was extended by two days until Feb. 23 and Orosz agreed to meet with residents. At the meeting, Orosz agreed to extend the deadline again to an unspecified future date.
Some residents have already made plans to move out, while others are determined to stay. “I have no choice,” says Sally. “There’s no way I can move by the end of May [when my lease ends]. But I can’t afford it. I’m 75. I’m on a fixed income, and I’m not the only one.”
