Boston pledges to crack down on delinquent properties

BOSTON — After an abandoned building in Boston’s South End crumbled to the ground, residents say many others are in similar states of deterioration and could pose serious risk to the public.

The condemned Sahara Syrian Restaurant, which sits on the corner of Shawmut Avenue and Waltham Street, has been unoccupied since it closed down in 1970. The owners, three brothers who now run a small market nearby, say they have no plans to sell it and continue using the boarded up building for storage.

Neighbors, however, are frustrated that the building isn’t being sold -- or at least renovated -- anytime soon.

“Parts of this fell off and almost hit my dog," said Bob Ross, who lives in the area. “I know the gutters are at risk and people walking are at risk.”

Similar structures can be found all over the city, where empty and dilapidated buildings remain untouched for decades. In some cases, like the Sahara, brokers refer to these buildings as “land banking.”

Just two blocks away from the vacant Sahara restaurant, on Upton Street, a building collapsed into an alley below. The building, which was bought by commercial real estate developer Navem Partners LLC last February, was set to be renovated this week, but decades of disrepair got to it first.

“We had an unfortunate accident last week at 23 Upton, resulting in a fire escape collapse and destruction of the rear brick facade. 23 Upton was an abandoned rooming house for decades. We acquired it last year and started the process to approve and permit to restore 23 Upton and convert to a three unit condo. That process was nearly complete by the end of 2019 and we are looking forward to completing that work. While this incident might cause a delay, this building will be restored to benefit the neighborhood. We are thankful to our neighbors, Boston Fire, Boston Police, Boston ISD, and our amazing emergency response team of general contractor, demolition expert, architect, and engineers. We’ve continued work with this team, in partnership with ISD, non-stop since the incident to ensure the site is cleaned up, secured, and stabilized, and that the impact to neighbors has been minimized. We look forward to returning to progress on the originally planned redevelopment shortly.”

—  Pat Dooling, Managing Partner at Navem Partners LLC

“Fortunately, no one was injured but they could have,” said James Alan Fox, a South End resident. “I’m hoping the city can create the tools to deal with owners who neglect their property."

Boston’s Inspectional Services Department Commissioner Dion Irish told Boston 25 News that an investigation and enforcement unit was created within the last six months with the intent of developing new strategies to tackle delinquent properties. By teaming up with fire departments, police and the public health commission, the new unit aims at preventing what happened on Upton Street from happening again.

“ISD ensures the safety of properties through inspections, education, court enforcement and by requesting affidavits from registered safety professionals such as architects and engineers. These strategies have proven to be successful, and result in thousands of properties being made safe each year. In the past 6 months ISD has established an Investigations and Enforcement Unit (I&E) that provides strategic, multi-agency enforcement against the most challenging properties. The I&E team partners with the Boston Fire and Police departments, and the Public Health Commission. This year the department will further increase building safety through continued deployment of this enforcement team, as well as through inspection and education initiatives focused on building safety.”

—  ISD Commissioner Irish

“A lot of the owners aren’t being responsive, they are not really being a good neighbor," said Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn.

Councilor Ed Flynn believes that approach alone isn’t enough, saying the city should do an inventory of all the abandoned buildings across the city, with an emphasis on maintaining an on-going dialogue with landlords and homeowners to determine their short and long-term plans.

“These buildings are troubling, I’m not convinced that their roofs are sturdy," said Flynn. “I don’t feel safe when we have an abandoned and left vacant for several years. It’s not fair to residents of a particular neighborhood who are impacted by it.”

Flynn says the issue of vacant buildings will be further discussed during the city council’s upcoming season.

The commissioner of the Boston Inspectional Services says the department will be further increasing building safety this year through its new enforcement team.

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