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Tue
Jun 5
2012

Blight of the Week: 2417 Brown Street

A reader reached out to us on Twitter about 2417 Brown St., a blighted property near their house. Located just down the street from the still-being-built Fairmount Court 2.0, this property hasn’t interfered with the efforts to sell these new homes, but as its condition declines, it could become a quality of life issue for people living in the area.

The property

Doors and windows, anyone?

According to out reader, a pigeon infestation indicates that the property is not currently occupied. Looking at the building, our guess was that a tax delinquency could push it to sheriff’s sale. We were surprised to see that it wasn’t delinquent but the reason for this became clear when we noticed that the property is tax exempt. Purchased by John DeLuca in 1948, it has an exemption designation for a VFW Post. Does anybody remember when this building was in active use for this purpose? Does anyone remember when it stopped being used?

According to OPA, DeLuca owns this property for Saint Francis Xavier, a nearby school at 24th and Wallace Streets. Was this building used for school functions at one point? Is it possible that the school doesn’t even realize that it still has an ownership stake in this dilapidated property? We certainly don’t have all the answers, but we imagine that the near neighbors hope that this situation gets resolved sooner rather than later.

These people across the street can't be happy

Anybody have any ideas about what can be done here?

12
COMMENTS
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Posted in Fairmount | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments
  • Dfortino

    The property next door to it doesn’t look all that great with no windows on the first floor, although the other two floors look ok. What’s up with that property?

  • Anonymous

    I live in the area and actually emailed St. Francis Xavier about two weeks ago, inquiring about the state of the property.  There is no active affiliation.  Apparently, the property is registered to a number of now-deceased veterans, who were once members of the parish.  It seems the OPA website cuts off the full ownership registration. The contact who replied for St. Francis Xavier also said they had sought counsel to ensure there was no legal exposure.  In summary, I was unable to get to the bottom of this one.  One thing is for certain — this building is an excellent candidate for L&I’s Doors and Windows ordinance.  The entire first floor side facing Wallace is ply, as is that rear bay.  

    The neighboring property looks awful but is current on taxes.  With no first floor windows, it is completely out of place in the neighborhood.  Is there any applicable building code that applies here, or are we pretty much stuck with this one until it is sold?

  • Nanyika

    I see on the BRT site that the property next to it also pays zero taxes. Peculiar.

  • PhillyRE

     Does the doors and windows ordinance help to get the property sold at all?  Are you able to request it be sheriff auctioned if the property reaches a certain amount in fines assessed?  I’ve wondered this about several properties around the city where owners have disappeared in some way and properties have been boarded up for at least a decade but taxes haven’t reached the $800 to push it to sheriff sale.

  • barryg

    Yes several properties in Fairmount alone have gone to sale and were bought by developers after cited and fined by L&I for the doors and windows ordnance. It can spur the owner to sell.

  • PhillyRE

    Barry thanks for the quick reply that is very helpful information :)   Do I just have to call 311 to make these reports (I thought you used to be able to do it online but anything I see now recommends calling that number) and is it something I can do anonymously?

  • Joequinn121

    busduct1,
    I’m interested. Right price, I’ll renovate. Great place to live!!

  • http://twitter.com/nkt0 Nicholas Tulach

    Progress report: L&I posted a notice sticker on the front door. Now it REALLY looks blighted! :)

    Not sure what the next steps are, but my neighbors and i were discussing contacting Councilman Greenlee, who’s at-large but lives in the neighborhood.

    Any ideas for what to do next?

  • Tcrowell1

    I don’t understand Mr. Graff’s complaint.  Should the building not be rehabbed and put to good use?  Right now, it’s not — and it seems like no one really has a handle on it.  Glad it seems to be moving forward.
    BTW, lots of people get dogs for their kids.  I wouldn’t lump all dog owners together as people who “don’t know how to live and raise families.” 

  • Jeff

    If anyone lives within 500 feet of the property, you can sign an ACT 135 Petition and my company can gain conservatorship of the property. ACT 135 mandates that the Conservator remove all signs of blight within a tight time frame. The house would then be listed on the open market. ACT 135 is explained on our website: http://www.scioliturco.org. There would be no cost to you, although you would have to show up in court for several hours.

  • jdontherocks@gmail.com

    Leave a message…

  • http://nakedphilly.com/fairmount/renovation-for-blighted-former-vfw-in-fairmount/ Renovation For Blighted Former VFW in Fairmount | NakedPhilly

    [...] summer, we wondered about 2417 Brown St., a blighted property in the Fairmount neighborhood. A former VFW Post, the building was an important fixture for army [...]

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