1528 Walnut- It's coming down

[CS Foltz]

Why have they not listed it for sale? Seems real simple to me..........in order to sell either list it or advertise it! Unless this is a tax write off for them, then it makes sense! Either way this house needs to be mothballed at the minimum...........might be a good startup for the mothball project?

[Springfielder]

The house is properly secured, it has been

[sheclown]

Why have they not listed it for sale? Seems real simple to me..........in order to sell either list it or advertise it! Unless this is a tax write off for them, then it makes sense! Either way this house needs to be mothballed at the minimum...........might be a good startup for the mothball project?

This is the CRAZY thing CS! It is "mothballed".  What we need to do now is get the city to acknowledge "mothballing" as an alternative to restoration or demolition.

They are going to want a promise of time.  Like...how long will it stand mothballed.  Time is something that we are going to have to protect.

It takes a lot of time to restore a house.  Now, folks are fined if they aren't finishing it fast enough.  It is crazy.

[CS Foltz]

sheclown.........I agree 101%! City does need to take "Time" into account and 2 years is not near enough when you are basically starting from scratch! I wish I were just a lousy 10 years younger and had some real money in the bank.........house's like this just make me quiver! Wife wants to run by there just to see what that part of Springfield looks like...................tomorrow at sometime during daylight!

[02roadking]

sheclown.........I agree 101%! City does need to take "Time" into account and 2 years is not near enough when you are basically starting from scratch! I wish I were just a lousy 10 years younger and had some real money in the bank.........house's like this just make me quiver! Wife wants to run by there just to see what that part of Springfield looks like...................tomorrow at sometime during daylight!

Some of us will be here......

Report this postReply with quote Neighborhood "Make it Happen" Preservation Project
by iloveionia » Tue Jul 20, 2010 2:07 pm
Work Date:
July 31, 2010, 8 â€" 4 p.m.

Location:
“Miss Maggie’s” bungalow on East 2nd Street (betweeen Ionia/Walnut)

Focus:
Exterior paint and trim, exterior repair (minor,) yard clean-up, planting a flower garden

Rationale:
In an effort to protect homes that are currently owned and lived in from the possibility of landing in a case file for Code Compliance due to issues that relate to curb appeal i.e. “nuisance violations,” a group of volunteers will paint, clean, and plant a garden for a house in need of love. This project is about preservation. Preservation helps the homeowner, neighborhood, and the economy. This project is a revival and embodies a renewed spirit from the community. One can not however, deny the human factor that is involved in this project. The "pay if forward" principal, "The Golden Rule." Preservation, pro activeness, and the contagious spirit of helping. Welcome to Historic Springfield!

Volunteers:
As many people as can help will expedite the job. EVERYONE IS NEEDED.

Donations:
Need actual material donations and/or money donations

Materials Needed:
1. Exterior paint (have donation already, color is beige/taupe)
2. Exterior trim paint (can get away with a quart, but a gallon is better as will only do front windows, looking for a terra-cotta trim)
3. Primer
4. Plastic or paper to cover windows
5. Porch floor stain
6. Caulking and Caulking guns
7. Paint scrapers
8. Hand sanders/sand paper
9. Paint Sprayers (have one can borrow already)
10. Paint brushes and/or rollers
11. Blue tape
12. Mulch, tree bark, pine needles
13. Low maintenance, drought tolerant, plants
14. Stepping stones, bricks, other recycled items to make small retaining walls
15. Gently used porch furniture
16. Hanging plants
17. Gently used pots for plants
18. Cases of water for volunteers
19. Sandwiches for volunteers

Jobs:
Scraping
Sanding
Repairing wood to prime
Caulking/Patching
Taping windows and prep for painting
Priming with Sprayer
Painting with Sprayer
Painting trim on front windows and door
Staining porch floor
Digging up grass/weeds on small front yard
Building decorative retaining walls, planters with recycled material
Planting plants
Mulching plants
Decorating front porch with potted plants and furniture
Facilitating feeding lunch to volunteers

Contact nicolelopez89@yahoo.com to confirm your commitment to donate or volunteerNicole Lopez

[sheclown]

I had some good news on Monday regarding this property from thr Historic Planning Dept.  The emergency demolition order was just issued on the front porch.  The remainder of the house is not in imminent danger of demolition.

I'm waiting on some documentation on this.

This is great news, as this house is a beauty.

We need to keep an eye on her, though, and make sure she still stands, strong.

JB, you already knew this.  Didn't you fight for the house a couple of years ago?

[Springfielder]

Yes, I did...when the owner wanted to bring it down, I sent a letter to the board in protest of that request. The house was built in 1914 and is in overall, good shape. The roof needs work, and the building is not at risk of collapsing, so there's absolutely no justification for demolishing it. There was an emergency demo of the front porch, which one of the owners had started to replace and did a horrible job. It was indeed, a safety hazard and needed to be removed and the remainder supported...of which was done. The house is properly secured and I do keep a close watch on it.

[iloveionia]

Springfielder:
Thank you for loving 1528 Walnut.  I know what you do and I appreciate you for it. 

[sheclown]

me too! 

[Debbie Thompson]

The current owner told Brenda Boydston he wanted to demolish it. Brenda asked him not to, to allow us to find a buyer. He only wants $18K. What he paid for the house, plus the taxes he paid.
Brenda has his phone number, and has permission to show the house to people.  The owner told her to call him if someone wants to see it.

He's one of those who doesn't "get it" with old houses.  He asked Brenda who would want it because it needs work.

Look for buyers, you guys!  He is willing to sell.  I don't know why he doesn't have it listed, other than he probably doesn't want to pay a real estate commission, and still thinks he can get a demo order.  So, talk it up.  I told someone about it yesterday.

[Springfielder]

It's Richard and he told me last year he bought it for $15 grand....he's done absolutely nothing to it and it's remained closed all along. The last time he tried to bring it down, I sent a letter requesting that it be denied because it's properly sealed, the building is structurally safe but the roof in the rear is in need of repair. Other than that, the building as a whole is very workable.

[strider]

This is one of the houses mentioned in the original "Tear 'em Down Louise" e-mail.  While not one of the two denied at the time, it was the one mentioned that had been denied earlier. I drove around and tried to guess which house on Walnut was the one mentioned.  I never would have guessed this one as it so far from meeting the requirements to be demo'd.  But this is the issue, this person bought with the idea that at 15K and 5K or 6K to demo, he had a cheap lot. Remember that per SRG, the lots were worth 50K and up.

Part of what we have to do is to educate the investors (and while many are gone, some are still here) and the developers (as the construction cost drop and the economy comes back a bit, there will be more) that the old houses are worth far more than the cheap lot that you can build a cheap house on.  

That roof area on the back is also enclosed porch rather than the main house.  This house should be sold for less that what he is asking.  If he lets the city take the house, he will have to pay the demo lien if and when he sells the house.  The lots are now not worth more that the 18K number so he loses the demo lien costs.  He may as well lose it now and not go through the hassle. Also, as he is a contractor, he could package the house as very cheap (or even free) and a preset contract to rehab it.  There are realtors that could probably work with that.

[Debbie Thompson]

Maybe, but he told Brenda that's what he wants.  Don't you think it's worth $18,000, Strider? Reportedly, it's in pretty good shape structurally.

[fonz]

I have renovated a few houses recently and was intrigued when I read the first post.  I checked out the house a few weeks ago and found that it does have some major structural issues.  A majority of the main support beams under house are rotten and need to be replaced.  Several of the piers have also deteriorated and are not really supporting anything.  One corner of the house is currently supported by a couple of cinder blocks placed on top of each other.  A large portion of the sub floor is also rotten.  It would theoretically be possible to jack the house up and fix these issues but when you include those costs with the rest of your renovation costs I believe it would be cost prohibitive from an investment stand point.

It was sad to see such a charming house in that condition.

[uptowngirl]

Actually I have done just what you described Fonz and it cost me (jack, piers, and new beams) less than $5,000. I really do not think that is much considering the price of the house. Subfloor? Again, pretty cheap. And we are talking about 17K. I personally did not go under the house to see what it looks like, but had been told structurally it was in fine shape- anyone else look at this?