Residents Take Action Against Property Firm
Four flats in the Papallona building at 20 Carrer de Llançà, near Plaça d’Espanya in Barcelona’s Eixample district, have launched a rent strike against New Amsterdam Developers (NAD). The move follows nearly two years of campaigning with the Sindicat d’Habitatge Socialista de Catalunya (Catalan Socialist Housing Union), culminating in a direct effort to pressure both the landlord and the city council. The rent strike targets NAD, a property investment company that owns around a dozen buildings in Barcelona. According to tenant unions, NAD has been systematically evicting long-term residents to subdivide apartments into high-cost shared housing, often bypassing urban regulations. Out of the 12 homes in the Papallona building, six have already been vacated by NAD, while the remaining six are either under eviction proceedings or have contracts expiring in 2027.
We want them to expropriate the building without NAD profiting from it.
One resident continuing to pay rent, Anna Olesti, said the strike aims to "attack NAD's economic gains" and hold the PSC-led city council accountable for enabling what she calls complicity in housing misery. "We want them to expropriate the building without NAD profiting from it," she stated.
Legal and Financial Violations Alleged
The Sindicat de Llogateres (Tenants’ Union) and the Sindicat d’Habitatge Socialista have filed 13 complaints with the Agència Catalana de l’Habitatge (Catalan Housing Agency) over rental advertisements by NAD that allegedly breach price caps in Gràcia, Eixample, and Ciutat Vella. Since 1 January 2026, these caps apply to both long-term and seasonal rentals, including shared rooms. At 14 Sant Agustí Street in Gràcia, a room is listed for €950 per month, far above the €811 paid by a current tenant for an entire three-bedroom flat. Tenants also report missing mandatory information in listings, such as the official rental reference price and the company’s status as a large landlord, suggesting deliberate attempts to obscure compliance.
NAD is also under scrutiny for unauthorised building works. The Papallona building is listed as a cultural asset of local interest (BCIL), yet the company has been carrying out extensive renovations, which tenants describe as property harassment. It faces at least six sanctioning files for unlicensed works and owes €223,886 to the Spanish Treasury.
International Ties and Financial Troubles
NAD is led by Jeffrey Todd Kaye and Paul Christiaan Petermeijer. Each property purchase is registered under a separate limited company, such as NAD Llançà S.L. or Santa Madrona 27 S.L., a structure that obscures ownership and aids regulatory evasion. Kaye is also linked to Stone Street Properties in New York, a firm active in Manhattan’s real estate market. Between 2011 and 2015, the company acquired dozens of buildings, evicted tenants, and raised rents to deliver investor returns over 10%. In 2015, it sold 16 buildings to Jared Kushner for $131.5 million, having paid $73 million in 2012. However, Stone Street Properties is now in financial distress. It has been sued by Community Preservation Corp for failing to repay an $8 million mortgage on a Chelsea property. Court records show no payments have been made since January 2023, with the debt now reaching $12.9 million.
What This Means for Tenants
The rent strike is part of a broader campaign to halt NAD’s expansion and enforce rental regulations. The unions claim success in stopping apartment partitioning, severing NAD’s ties with management company Enter Coliving, securing judicial recognition of NAD as a large landlord, and halting three evictions. Tenants continue to demand that the Barcelona City Council use its powers to expropriate vacant buildings like the Papallona block for social housing. For now, the strike remains a key tactic in their fight for housing justice.
Reported by directa.cat, beteve.cat, Directa.
