Apartment owner: 121 percent rent hike meets average for area Most tenants saw rents rise 80-100 percent, but one saw his rent go from $1,985 to $4,387

Residents display a "Tenant Lives Matter!" sign showing their frustration with their building's new owners, on Friday, April 28, 2017. Residents saw rent increases as much as 121 percent over previous rents ahead of construction work earlier this year in the Lake Union building. The new owners say the increase brings the rent to average for the area. less Residents display a "Tenant Lives Matter!" sign showing their frustration with their building's new owners, on Friday, April 28, 2017. Residents saw rent increases as much as 121 percent over previous rents ... more Photo: GRANT HINDSLEY, SEATTLEPI.COM Photo: GRANT HINDSLEY, SEATTLEPI.COM Image 1 of / 18 Caption Close Apartment owner: 121 percent rent hike meets average for area 1 / 18 Back to Gallery

Rent increases sent to tenants at a Westlake apartment building -- one as high as 121 percent -- were based on average rents for similar-sized units with Lake Union views, a spokesperson for the owners said.

Renters at the building at 1713 Dexter Ave. N. started getting notice of rent hikes in January, a couple of months after the 15-unit building had been bought by Delaware-based Westlake Trilogy, LLC for $5.4 million.

Those rent increases ranged anywhere from 80 percent to 121 percent -- an increase from $1,985 to $4,387 per month in the highest case.

“The rents were based on price-per-square-foot of average units throughout the area with lake/waterfront views,” said Aaron Blank, spokesperson for Westlake Trilogy, by email late Tuesday. “Those numbers were determined in November 2016 when the property was purchased.”

RELATED: Massive rent hikes, remodel render Lake Union building 'uninhabitable'

Blank said the apartment with the largest increase was 1,700 square feet.

The rent hikes, since rescinded and then reissued to properly follow city requirements, came before renovations on the 38-year-old building that began in February and, residents said, made living there miserable.

After rent increases came along, tenants began moving out, no longer able to afford the rents.

“For me, to have my rent go up $1,000, I couldn’t do it,” said Fabrizio Regoli, who moved out in March after 13 years in the building. “I was shocked by the rent increase.”

With aging cedar shake siding still showing on the street-side exterior (at least one other side of the building has been re-sided already), the building stands in stark contrast to more modern glass-and-steel hulks along Dexter Avenue North.

As such, part owner Seneca Ventures, a Seattle-based real estate investment firm, is rehabbing the building, calling the project "The Brittany" and promising to replace windows, siding, decks and railings, as well as interior upgrades of paint, appliances and more.

But the work has drawn complaints from residents who haven’t yet left the building (though all contacted by SeattlePI were either in the process of moving or seeking another place to live). They said work has blocked access to doorways and vehicles, and made the property generally “filthy.”

Tenants said they had little or no notice of the work before it began.

Blank said the owners, through their California-based property manager Elevate SD Properties, issued several letters regarding the planned work well before it began, and the owners believe they haven’t done anything wrong. Blank said management worked one-on-one with tenants about rent increases.

Several tenants had lived in their apartments for 20 or more years, said Chris Mainard, who was the first to make complaints about construction work and who also retained attorney Erin Sperger to represent several current and former tenants. Mainard also was the one who received the largest rent increase.

Mainard and Sperger saw the rent hikes as economic eviction, a plan to push out residents so the new owners could proceed with a remodel and start making more money from the property.

“I think this is a perfect example of what the city calls an economic eviction,” Sperger said. “And it’s a scheme to commit economic eviction by raising the rent to get out of relocation assistance.”

Daniel DeMay covers Seattle culture, business and transportation for seattlepi.com. He can be reached at 206-448-8362 or danieldemay@seattlepi.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Daniel_DeMay.