"In federal court on Friday, a receiver, the
Laramar Group, was appointed to manage four residential buildings owned by the Menetti family, including the Lawrence House and 4526 N
Sheridan. A motion for receiver had been pending, but this emergency
action resulted from the termination of gas service at 1020 W Lawrence
last week.
The
receiver's bond was approved Monday afternoon and Laramar is currently
in the process of taking over the properties. Laramar's responsibilities
include restoring and maintaining utilities, collecting rents, and
day-to-day management of the buildings.
Laramar, our
office, and the Department of Law have been working with People's Gas
to expedite restoration of the gas service at Lawrence House and prevent
service termination at 4526 N Sheridan. Evidence of tampering and
damage to the meter caused delays to service restoration,
but People's Gas is scheduled to be at Lawrence House tomorrow morning
to begin repairs.
Heat and hot water should be restored to the entire
building by Thursday evening. Each gas-burning appliance needs to be
separately safety tested, so cooking gas restoration may take a few
days. Dept. of Family and Support Services has been providing
well-being checks, blankets, and food at the building and the ICA
builidng across the street has opened their doors to tenants who need
temporary respite from the cold.
The
housing court cases against these buildings will continue as
scheduled. We will continue to monitor the buildings through the
foreclosure and housing court cases. Please consider attending these
hearings with us to push for compliance and enforcement of the building
code. Thank you.
1020 W Lawrence, Lawrence House
7 June 2012, 11:00 am, Daley Center
7 June 2012, 11:00 am, Daley Center
4526 N Sheridan
26 July 2012, 9:30 am, Daley Center"
Ofcourse. So the Menetti brothers trying to sell their properties was just a desperate move and ofcourse it didnt happen. So emergency receivership? Thats interesting, so will this be a short sale eventually
ReplyDeleteor just sold at auction?
Maybe a security gaurd out front or in the main lobby would be a good investment as well.
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping for actual improvement and not just a few coats of paint!
Gas shut off? Ridiculous. I understand how that may not be all too uncommon for some properties, but where is the responsibilities for the tenants to provide/protect its residents? And yes, I realize we've had a warmer than usual Spring, but if it's come to this, it could have just as easily been a cold December when this could have happened.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope that this is the beginning of the end of skid row or that which is Lawrence between Broadway and Sheridan.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope this building is auctioned off cheaply to a developer who perceives the potential of Uptown and how much it will improve under the stewardship of this aggressive new alderman who refuses to pander to slumlords.
ReplyDeleteThis is a gorgeous little Art Deco skyscraper, a very classic and dignified example of the style. It was once a hotel back in the WW2 era when Uptown was a hot, happening neighborhood. It would be great to see it gutted clear back to the exterior walls and reconfigured into larger, full-amenity market-rate apartments with 1 and 2 bedrooms. But the building will have to sell very cheaply for that to be possible and I believe that will happen.
The Sheridan Plaza is a good example of a beautiful old building that was beaten up pretty badly, then revived, and it's not as well-located as this place.
Can't wait to see it happen.
LH remains one of the major keystones in turning the area around. I had asked before, but is there any chance in getting this rezoned similar to Somerset in order to prevent another SRO-drug den from re-establishing?
ReplyDeleteAlek, all you need to do is call the Alderman's office and ask.. they would know better than anyone on this forum...
ReplyDeleteMan I can only wish this property would be rezoned to be market rate 1-2 bedrooms. I live really close by and it doesnt matter how active blocks and blocks of homes are in fixing up our homes and trying to make then nice when we have this one building that has the equivalent amount of people as several city blocks causing all these problems and hanging out.
ReplyDeleteAbout 9:30 this morning there were a couple heating/cooling vans parked on the Kenmore side. There were also lots of people in the common area (with the windows on Lawrence) with what looked like either social or case-type workers talking to the residents. I took these as positive signs for at least giving some attention to this mess. The loitering on Lawrence is getting ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteYes Daniel 85 the influence this building holds over the area and the city is enormous. Its jeopardizes the whole Uptown Lawrence Area and its EL stop and many people dont come to Uptown because of the trouble caused by this building.
ReplyDeleteI can tell and tell and tell you guys about it, but to truly experience the abject horror of the place you'd have to live there 24/7 for at least a week.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe in Hell but if there is one, I hope the Menetti brothers end up in it.
They have/had security guards but they are usually chummy with the crooks and therefore worthless.
I gave up working with O.N.E. and Ezra about this place due to their involvement with "Occupy" nonsense.
A lot of people there are Thresholds/Trilogy patients and don't always have the cognitive skills/etc to really understand how they've been abused and exploited. It's pretty common in some buildings that have these people in it that the staff treats them in unlawful or disgusting ways.
ReplyDeleteI personally witnessed one of the front desk staff smoking crack with a resident shortly before I moved out, don't know why they didn't close the front door but I saw what I saw.
The aftermath of this and what's to come is going to be a damn mess for YEARS. There are people who need to be in jail and publicly shamed for this.