A Lone Eyesore Kindles Anger in Brightwood

 

By David Betancourt
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 16, 2006; DZ03

When Kamili Anderson looks around her neighborhood, she likes what she sees -- except for one big blot on the landscape.

That's the long-vacant and boarded-up apartment building at 6425 14th St. NW.

For years Anderson, president of the Brightwood Community Association, has urged government officials to do something about the building. But it remains a scar on an otherwise pretty neighborhood.

" I have called every telephone number there is, including the D.C. hotline. I've complained about the excess trash, the grass being too high, everything," Anderson said.

Residents' discontent in the middle-class neighborhood has grown over the two decades that the property has been abandoned. Graffiti mar the boards over the windows, and neighbors fear that the five-story building might be a fire hazard.

"It seems like an incredible waste of a building that could be put to good use, especially if it can be inhabitable by others," Anderson said. "It's like an unattended eyesore to the neighborhood. The fact that it's there is a real problem.

"If you look at the rest of our neighborhood, even in the most modest places, people are going all-out to beautify their surroundings, and then there's this place that is just a drag on everything. I want to see that property either redeveloped or demolished."

Neighbors and D.C. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) say that the background of the owner, Vincent L. Abell, should disqualify him from ownership.

Abell was convicted for his role in a huge real estate fraud in the 1980s, and in 2004 he was sued in D.C. Superior Court for allegedly tricking a senior citizen and two other D.C. homeowners out of the deeds to their homes.

" We in D.C. have a responsible development community," said Graham, who is chairman of the council's Committee on Consumer and Regulatory Affairs. "When you get guys like this with criminal convictions who are just out to make a buck . . . you have to be tough. The best solution is to take steps to put these people out of business."

Marta Bertola, Abell's lawyer, said in an e-mail that "Mr. Abell is not currently charged."

Her statement blamed the D.C. government for the building's condition. She pointed out that the city took over the property after a previous owner fell behind on property taxes. During the period that city officials were responsible for the building, "the District of Columbia ran the building into the ground and rendered it uninhabitable," Bertola states in her email.

According to a city database, Abell's company, Modern Management Inc., has owned the building since 2000.

In a Nov. 5, 2002, letter to the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development, Abell stated that the D.C. Superior Court had ordered the city to pay $100,000 for repairs to the building and that he should have received the money when he purchased the property.

"It is due to the District of Columbia's failure to comply with the Court's order and pay $100,000 to the owners for over a ten year period that the property remained in disrepair," Bertola wrote in a separate e-mail. "The District should not be casting stones when the District lives in a glass house and is the worst landlord in the District."

Deputy Mayor Stanley Jackson, a former director of the Department of Housing and Community Development, said he could recall no such ruling.

Abell's argument is unconvincing for neighbors who doubt his credibility and criticize his handling of the property.

"The biggest concern is that the building is owned by someone with a very questionable past," said Lesyllee White, director of marketing for the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust and a resident who lives near the property. "Mr. Abell has not been responsive in terms of the development of that building. The building has been vacant for over 20 years. The property collects trash on a daily basis, maintenance has not been kept up. As a property owner, I'm concerned not just with the look of the building, but how it's going to affect my property value."

In a Nov. 8, letter to Graham, council member Adrian M. Fenty, D-Ward 4, whose district includes Brightwood, wrote that the district has issued $7,000 in fines against Abell because of the property's poor condition. Efforts to redevelop the building stalled when Abell could not secure financing, Fenty's letter stated.

"The community has waited long enough for this blighted property to be brought up to the clean and safe standards that the neighborhood expects and deserves," Fenty wrote.

Anderson couldn't agree more.

"Overall, this is a very attractive real estate market," she said. "Most of the residents are middle-income residents who have lived in the area for many years and take pride in the neighborhood. There's no reason why this building should be sitting there vacant. There are a number of high-profile projects in development that are being welcomed by the community, so, for this building to be sitting here should be a red flag for government officials to take action."

© 2006 The Washington Post Company, all rights reserved.

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