Bringing the hammer down

[we vs us]

I like this whole "assertiveness" thing that Mayor Kathy's got going on here.  At least she's got a finger on what might spur the average landlord to action:  their wallets.

Quoted in full from the  World:

quote:  Vacant building's owner faces hefty fine

The owner of the Tulsa Club Building will be fined $1,000 a day beginning Monday until the building is brought up to code, city officials said.

The historic 11-story building at Fifth Street and Cincinnati Avenue has fire, electrical and plumbing code violations, said Harold Adair, the abatement coordinator for the city's Neighborhood Inspections Department.

The building, which has been vacant for more than a decade, also has safety and health code violations.

The structure is one of 60 vacant buildings within and near the Inner Dispersal Loop that the city targeted last year in an effort to rid the downtown area of vacant and substandard buildings.

"Our goal isn't to demolish these buildings," Adair said. "We're trying to make them habitable."

A building inspection conducted in September and an administrative hearing two months later led to the fines, he said. Under regulations that took effect in August, the city can impose fines of up to $1,000 a day until the property owners bring a building up to code.

City officials said they have attempted for months to reach the building's owner, Carl J. Morony of California, to discuss bringing it up to code.

[booWorld]

One concern of mine is that this might be considered selective enforcement of a law.

Is the Tulsa Club Building the only vacant building in Tulsa?  

Please, let's not destroy another Art Deco building designed by Bruce Goff.


"When you only have two pennies left in the world, build a fountain in the middle of the intersection of Fifth and Main with one, and build a fountain in the middle of the intersection of Fifth and Main with the other."  ~DTU proverb

[dsjeffries]

I don't think it's selective at all... There are around 60 buildings in and around downtown that have been put on notice.

And in the article, it states that the city does NOT want building to be torn down, but to be rehabilitated.  It seems like it's a step in the right direction, but I'm afraid the owner will decide that it's cheaper to demolish it than to pay $1,000/day that it's not up to code.  [B)]

[si_uk_lon_ok]

He could always do the sensible thing and sell it. There have been people who have wanted to buy that building and convert it into lofts for a while, but he's refused to sell.

Could the city also refuse to issue a demolition permit on it?

I think this is the correct use of the legislation to stop landmark buildings crumbling before our eyes.

[sgrizzle]

The guy wants to make money pure and simple. I think they assume that by placing fines on the building right when downtown real estate interest is getting higher, they might coax him into selling.

[si_uk_lon_ok]

quote:Originally posted by sgrizzle

The guy wants to make money pure and simple. I think they assume that by placing fines on the building right when downtown real estate interest is getting higher, they might coax him into selling.

I suppose it beats a compulsary purchase order, the city can at least make some money off the fines.

[booWorld]

quote:Originally posted by DScott28604

I don't think it's selective at all... There are around 60 buildings in and around downtown that have been put on notice.

But the emphasis is on the Tulsa Club Building, not 60 buildings.

quote: ...but I'm afraid the owner will decide that it's cheaper to demolish it than to pay $1,000/day that it's not up to code.

So am I.  And my guess is that another Art Deco building designed by Bruce Goff will be ripped down and replaced by another surface parking lot.  Many buildings downtown have been vacant for years.  Vagrants were getting into the Mayo Hotel a few years ago, but thank goodness we didn't tear it down.


"When you only have two pennies left in the world, you might as well forget the idea of buying a loft in the Tribune Building."  

[we vs us]

quote:Originally posted by booWorld

quote:Originally posted by DScott28604

I don't think it's selective at all... There are around 60 buildings in and around downtown that have been put on notice.

But the emphasis is on the Tulsa Club Building, not 60 buildings.

Yeah, but you have to start somewhere, and as I understand it, that's definitely a high profile kick in the pants.  I'm new to Tulsa and I've even noticed that building.  It sticks out like a sore thumb.

[sgrizzle]

While not pictured in the article, I believe they are going through the same process on teh abundant life building, etc.

The Tulsa Club building sticks out due to the very obvious vandalism.

[EricP]

Ugh... I was just driving past this building the other day taking a new way home from work. What a waste. If they have to tear this down too and we let it happen, then I guess these buildings really are too good for Tulsa. Maybe we just deserve a bunch of crappy parking lots and prefabricated-looking garbage buildings if we can't manage to hang on to the most beautiful buildings we have. What a waste.

[Chicken Little]

In the longer story from today, it appears that the owner of the Abundant Life building is cooperating with the city in trying to get the building up and running.  Reponsiveness seems to be a key difference, and it provides some indicator of why Mr Morony was selected:  

quote: City officials said they have attempted for months to reach the building's owner, Carl J. Morony of California, to discuss bringing it up to code.

The city sent letters to Morony and the other owners of the vacant buildings, Adair said.

If the guy won't even reply to a letter, I think he selected himself.

[Chicken Little]

Nice article on the building from KOTV.  The redo of the site is impressive.

[cannon_fodder]

I'm on board with this plan.  

While a strong advocate of property rights, in this instance, the owner's neglect is harming the property of those near him.  By having everyone in a "wait and see" mode each of those buildings continues to decline.  Eventually we all lose out - just like a blighted house in your neighborhood.

What's more - they are only attempting to force the owner to live up to existing laws.

[si_uk_lon_ok]

quote:Originally posted by inteller

My nose can smell the future and I smell smoke coming fromt the Tulsa Club Building.  Smells like the same smoke from the Towerview Apartments.

At least the people in the Philtower overlook the Tulsa Club Building and unless he's planning to dynamite it, the fire brigade should get there in time. Personally what with people gaining entry to it, I'm surpised it hasn't caught fire before.

If its been empty for a decade I don't know why the problem wasn't sorted out 9 years ago.

[breitee]

Screw that California slumlord. If this doesn't get his attention nothing will.