They've been working diligently on the building located at 1018 - 1036 West Leland for a few months now, carting out endless dumpsters full of waste and drywall. Now it looks like it's time for the hard work to pay off, with "For Lease" signs posted in the storefront windows.
The saga of this building is long: an owner who illegally converted the residential units to condos; every "condo" in the place going into foreclosure; an abandoned building that turned into a drug den and prostitution base; a broken pipe that ran for days and ruined the ground floor and caused a winter ice floe on the sidewalks outside; a kitten rescue; and housing court, housing court, housing court.
We were happy to see the building turned over to a receiver, and even happier to see the results of the receivership today. We'll be happiest to see retail tenants move in.
This is part of how a neighborhood gets better: get rid of the slumlords, have concerned neighbors become involved, and take the community back from the miscreants who claim it, building by building.
I think that it should be known that Richard Thale, James Cappleman's partner, was extremely instrumental in getting both this, and the 1001 Leland building kitty korner from this one, in housing court and following up on them time and again. It literally took years to get these messes cleared up, and Richard was there spearheading the entire process.
ReplyDeleteAs importantly, he started working on this LONG before James was the alderman and runnng for alderman. Between Richard's working with the Housing Court and the Crime Court Victim's Advocacy program for YEARS, I would like to say Thank You to Richard. I would bet the same can be said from both the neighbors of these debacles and from all of Uptown!
wow good to know.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info Uptown Superhero.
Yes its obvious that this is a pretty key building to get back to business.