Property Address: 1203 W. Lombard Street, Baltimore, MD 21223
Property Owner: Thomas C. Pluecker, PO Box 111, Annapolis, MD 21404
City Council District and Contact: District 9, “Pistol” Pete Welch
1203 W. Lombard Street
Tag Archives: derelict
1000 S. Ellwood Avenue
Property Address: 1000 S. Ellwood Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21224
Property Owners: Joseph A. and Ann C. Schultz, 3235 Eastern Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21224 (Proprietors of Schultz Development, Inc.)
City Council District and Contact: District 1, Jim Kraft
1000 S. Ellwood Avenue - Abandoned Methodist Church
Campaign signs on a vacant, and before July 15th? That's a big no-no.
Broken/missing windows on the abandoned church
Campaign Consultant Julius Henson is also a Slumlord
MANY thanks to Reader Rusty for the hot tip!!
Property Address: 3713 Liberty Heights Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21215
Property Owner: Henson, Inc., 1532 Havenwood Street, Suite 204, Baltimore, MD 21218
Resident Agent for Henson, Inc.: Julius Henson, 1500 N. Decker Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21239
City Council Contact and District: Sharon Green Middleton, District 6
3713 Liberty Heights Avenue
3713 Liberty Heights Avenue, side view
4311 Moravia Road
Property Address: 4311 Moravia Road, Baltimore, MD 21218
Property Owner: William Thomas Pace and Johnnie Sue Pace, PO Box 7123, Baltimore, MD 21218 / 310 Hamilton Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 21901 / 1 Boymans Court, Baltimore, MD 21206
City Council District and Contact: District 2, Nicholas D’Adamo, Jr.
Clearly this property is not being used as a primary residence, as reported in the property tax database.
4311 Moravia Road
4311 Moravia Road, side view.
The Adventures of Stanley and Bud
It would seem that Charles “Bud” Runkles is a busy guy. In addition to being Stanley Rochkind’s sometime-Resident Agent, he’s also a lead paint abatement contractor. And the address of his business traces back to Stanley Rochkind’s building at 5616 Park Heights Avenue.
Here are some prime examples of Mr. Runkles’ activities in West Baltimore:
Property Addresses 1017 W. Fayette Street, Baltimore, MD 21223, 1021 W. Fayette Street, Baltimore, MD 21223, 105 N. Carrollton Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21223
Property Owner: BGM Realty #5 Corp., PO Box 32118, Baltimore, MD 21282, BGM Realty #6 Corp., (same address), and BGM Realty #7 Corp. (again, same address as #5 and #6)
Resident Agent for BGM Realty #5 Corp., BGM Realty #6 Corp., and BGM Realty #7 Corp.: Charles Runkles
City Council District and Contact: District 9, Agnes Welch
1017 W. Fayette Street
1021 W. Fayette Street
105 N. Carrollon Avenue
Considering the number of lawsuits filed against these men for lead paint violations, we’re shocked that neither of them have been stripped of their professional licenses. Time for MDE and DLLR to get on the ball and make sure these two men are no longer able to wreak this kind of havoc on YOUR community.
It’s Only Bal-ti-more Wasteland…
My apologies to the Who.
Made a quick trip on the “other side” of North Avenue to see what was back there, more importantly how many abandoned homes there were, and who owns them. There are literally hundreds — I didn’t have time to document even a third of them, and I was very disappointed to find out most are owned by…the City of Baltimore.
With the number of people in the city who need affordable housing near public transit, all I could think was “What a waste.” And what a wasteland. I walked for blocks without coming across another person, yet I could tell there were probably people around — on E. 20th Street, for example, a lot of the houses are boarded/cinder-blocked in the front, but they’re open in the back — easily accessible for vagrants, drug dealers, and prostitutes.
400 Block of E. 20th Street, even side. All but three houses are owned by Baltimore City.
Odd side of the 400 block of E. 20th Street. All but one house is owned by the City.
Walking up Barclay Street was no better — we’ve already written about Barclay Street once, and this end is no better. This block of homes is owned by the City, except for two — and we suspect the City will own both of them soon enough.
2010-2018 Barclay Street
Unfortunately, most of the houses I saw today are structurally unsound, open to the elements, and probably not worth saving. Which means they’ll have to be razed at some point, leaving swaths of open space owned by the City. It would be great to see some of the space preserved as open space for a parks, and perhaps some commercial space. This area is sorely lacking in any amenities, with most residents shopping at the Charles Village Safeway or the closest corner store. There is a plan in place to redevelop the area — hopefully the plan hasn’t been scrapped.
I really have to reiterate how shameful it is that our City is one of the biggest slumlords — there is no excuse for these properties to be in such disrepair. I also find it rather ironic that all of these blocks lie within the boundaries of the 12th City Council District, the former district of City Council President Jack Young. (Carl Stokes took over when Jack Young was named City Council President after Sheila Dixon got the boot.) Especially when you consider the bill Jack Young introduced to the City Council in 2010 — Bill 10-0516 Non-Owner-Occupied Dwellings and Vacant Structures. The idea is to raise the financial burden on slumlords in order to get them to comply with the law. How will the City deal with its negligence? That’s what we’d like to know — the City can’t fine itself, or take itself to court. There is one thing that makes sense — fire those in charge of our city’s housing stock and hire people who are capable of making hard decisions, and making the right changes to the system — changes that are sustainable over the long term. Clearly the current leadership is failing. Redevelopment plan or no redevelopment plan — these houses didn’t fall into disrepair in a matter of weeks, months, or even just a few years. Someone fell asleep at the wheel a long time ago, and the agencies involved need to be revamped, from the top down.
The Ongoing Saga of 200 S. Calhoun Street
We stumbled across this building while on a walk through one of the more…marginal…areas of the city. It’s a huge building — SDAT says 17,000 square feet — and it takes up most of the block where it’s located. It appears that it was once used as a school, but not for a few decades, at least. Since the 1990s, it was flipped several times, and has been in a constant state of disrepair.
200 S. Calhoun Street
From an architectural standpoint, it’s a lovely building. Unfortunately, it seems to have suffered some fire damage, and was obviously neglected by all of its owners. It’s gone through five ownerships since 2005, which is typical of Baltimore City abandoned buildings. Everyone wants a piece of the action, but the buildings (and surrounding neighborhoods) continue to decline — whether through deliberate neglect or ignorance, we’re not sure.
From what we’ve been able to patch together, the building was owned by Calhoun Pratt Associates (no record of this company as a registered Maryland corporation exists) and was then sold to Mooring Tax Asset Group, LLC (not in good standing with the state of Maryland) in 2005. From there it was sold to 200 South Calhoun, LLC (corporate charter forfeited) in 2007, back to Mooring Tax Asset Group in 2009, and in February of this year, it was sold to Masjid Bait Allah of Baltimore (corporate charter was forfeited, not in good standing with the state of Maryland), whose resident agent, Abdel Razzag Alraggad has been the subject of multiple assault charges in Baltimore City and Prince George’s County.
It’s also interesting to watch the steady decline in purchase price — from $479,000 to $270,000 to $100,000, despite its current (July 2010) assessment of $342,000.
Side view of 200 S. Calhoun Street
This building could serve as a community center for the surrounding neighborhood, and be a catalyst for change in this section of the city — we don’t have a lot of hope for the current owner, however, but perhaps they’ll prove us wrong. It’s a shame to see the decline of this building along with the decline of the neighborhood. Yet again we wonder if Agnes Welch, City Councilwoman for the 9th District, ever walks around her district, and truly understands how bad things are for her constituents. This building could be a beacon in a sea of blight, yet like most of the 9th District, it’s in disrepair and ignored by the very person who should be working hard to make things better.
Link Roundup
Bay National Bank shut by the Feds, rehabbers listed as source of financial woes:
Mohler said in an earlier interview the bank ran into problems when the once hot real estate market in Canton and Federal Hill cooled and borrowers who had taken out loans to rehab houses in those neighborhoods had trouble repaying their loans.
As of March 31, Bay National Bank had $282.2 million in deposits and $276.1 million in deposits.
Ted Miller, a lifelong Middle River resident, looks at the shore across from his waterfront home and points to these and other glaring examples of the growing problem of derelict boats in eastern Baltimore County.
Baltimore County woman wins large settlement against foreclosure scammer:
Susan Spicer, the homeowner, won her case late last month in Baltimore County Circuit Court against foreclosure consultant New Town Properties LLC and lender Royal Financial Services Inc. Her lawsuit accused the Owings Mills companies and principal Robert Hurd of stealing the equity in her home through a scam.
It’s ironic that Robert Hurd’s residence is currently in foreclosure. Being a scam artist must not be very lucrative these days.
3628 Reisterstown Road
Property Address: 3628 Reisterstown Road, Baltimore, MD 21215
Property Owner: Overview Properties, LLC, 3528 Overview Road, Baltimore, MD 21215
Registered Agent for Overview Properties, LLC: Charles Purnell, same address.
City Council District and Contact: District 7, Belinda Conaway
3628 Reisterstown Road
3620 Reisterstown Road
Property Address: 3620 Reisterstown Road, Baltimore, MD 21215
Property Owner: Lonette Merriman, 601 Emerson Street, NW, Washington, DC 20011
City Council District and Contact: District 7, Belinda Conaway
3620 Reisterstown Road
Yet another example of an out-of-town “investor” eyesore. Sorry for the poor picture — the yard looked like a snakepit, so I stayed on the sidewalk.
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