Per Brenda at SPAR the owner is looking for 17K for this house, only 17K! I have included a similar house from 4th St to give an idea of the finished product.
1528 Today:
(http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af274/shelbylynnsmith/Walnut.jpg)
Similar house on 4th st (almost an exact match!):
(http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af274/shelbylynnsmith/Ladiesof5thSt4th060.jpg)
For only 17K, if you are looking for a house in Springfield this is a fantastic deal!
What are the structural reasons for this house to be demo'ed?
Phil
The house is structurally sound, needs a roof, but it's otherwise in stable shape. There's absolutely NO reason why this should be taken down. I had sent a letter the first time the owner asked for demo, and it was denied. We all need to work to save this!!
I just sent a letter to Shepperd to help stop and deny the owners request
http://apps.coj.net/pao_propertySearch/Basic/Detail.aspx?RE=0724170000 (http://apps.coj.net/pao_propertySearch/Basic/Detail.aspx?RE=0724170000)
This house was built in 1914
The owner bought it for 15 and would sell for 17. He's made no improvements, but previous owners had. It needs a roof, but is otherwise in very stable condition
Phil, Phil, Phil.
Stop making sense.
I think with our new community relationship with HPC and stance against demolitions like this, this structure will remain standing.
Seriously...the foundation is good, the structural wood is not riddled with termites? It just needs a roof? Doesn't the HPC have a checklist criteria that X% of the structural integrity must be absent before a house can be demo'ed?
I say we tear all empty houses down and replace them with used single-wides. That makes way more sense than preserving historic homes in a historic district.
History! Ick! I HATE HISTORY!
Let's hope so. In the mean time, maybe we could get 17 people with a thousand bucks to buy it? Or start some sort of LLC? I could put my hands on a grand. Just thinking..............
Quote from: 02roadking on July 30, 2010, 09:49:56 AM
Let's hope so. In the mean time, maybe we could get 17 people with a thousand bucks to buy it? Or start some sort of LLC? I could put my hands on a grand. Just thinking..............
I love the way you think!
If 17 people invest $1k each then put in a little sweat equity that place could be shored up and buttoned up until someone could come along and purchase it to restore.
Sounds like a good project for some sort of non profit Springfield Preservation and Revitalization group.
Doesn't RAP do things like this through their RADO group? http://www.radocdc.org/about_us.htm
When I return to Jax., I'm going to talk to someone I know that may be interested in this place. I had already given him the owners phone number, but will remind him that it's once again being threatened with demo...in hopes that this will spark renewed interest in buying it.
Previous owners had started working on it, (although sadly, most of the original wood work, etc had been removed) they put drywall up and much to my shock, they sprayed the popcorn stuff onto the ceilings...all of which can be undone to truly restore it. The structure is not at risk of imploding in on itself, although the roof does needs attention. Another previous owner had started to rebuild the front porch, but didn't finish so the city had to remove that, and it's properly secured. The windows/doors are all boarded and secured. It's an absolutely beautiful house that needs someone to restore it to it's original glory. It would take money, but the outcome would and could be breath taking.
And only half a block from Three Layers/The Cellar, and three houses down from Tommy's!
RAP and RADO are 2 separate organizations. Like ONH and SPAR. One is a preservation council and the other is a CDC, Community Development Corporation
According to the tax records it's in the hands of the bank, People's Bank of Jacksonville, since March and they have not listed it for sale.
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?
The house is properly secured, it has been
Quote from: CS Foltz on July 30, 2010, 05:11:27 PM
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.
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!
Quote from: CS Foltz on July 30, 2010, 08:12:56 PM
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
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?
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.
Springfielder:
Thank you for loving 1528 Walnut. I know what you do and I appreciate you for it.
me too!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
Looking at the siding on the house, it appears to run straight and true. This tells me that structurally the house is in good shape.
I have not crawled under it.